FM | PRODUCER’S GUIDE
Exploring Akai MPC
Leo Maymind takes a detailed look at an iconic groovebox whose influence helped shape modern hip-hop and much more besides
Akai MPCs have been a mainstay in so many genres, it’s difficult to keep count. Though the MPC has shifted shapes over the years, the iconic four-by-four grid is still recognisable a mile away. The MPC line lost a lot of folks when they switched over to a controller-based platform in 2014 with the launch of MPC Touch, but thankfully they redeemed themselves in 2017 with the release of the brand new MPC Live hardware, an updated version of their iconic beat machine that, unlike the previous Touch version, was capable of working both in standalone form and as a controller with the included MPC software, when hooked up to a computer via USB.