Marco Polo breaks down the science behind “Take Money;” from his 2010 project The eXXecution with Ruste Juxx featuring Rock of Heltah Skeltah and Freddie Foxxx. He chops up some piano on the MPC and some drums from his record collection to add to it. He also adds a horn, low bass, synth bass and pulls out the MPD.
Marco Polo takes us through his process for making a beat, which is basically being inspired by sounds and then putting them all together until they make sense. In this video he plays around with the MPC and MPD; incorporating elements of various different records. He also talks signature sounds and Pete Rock.
Low Budget’s Kev Brown in LA’s Fat Beats making an impromptu beat using a record he’s never heard before and the MPC 2000. He chops a portion of the Sheb Wooley record, adds a bass line and hi hat, and reveals his four-bar creation. Trek Life was in the building to spit over the end result.
This Beats Per Minute video presented by Flud Watches shows Araab Muzik shedding light on how he started working with the MPC and how he perfected his skills. He speaks on drumming since the age of three and following a natural progression that led him to producing by the age of twelve.
Akai Pro shows off the MPC Renaissance in London, England; letting UK producers like The 4orce, Rishi Rich, Steve Octave, Craigie Dodd and Curtis Lynch JNR test it out. Feedback includes praise for its size and light weight, its distinctive sound quality, convincing younger producers to use hardware and how it transforms different genres of music.
Hip hop/electronic producer Benjamin Durazzo works his magic on two MPCs in real time. In this video he recreates the “Clockwork” track from his Beats Volume One album. The Oakland, California native performs the entire track without sequences or loops. The sixteen-track Beats Volume One is available free of charge on Durazzo’s Bandcamp page.
Episode three of the Wizz Dumb Process shows the Timothy “Timbaland” Moseley protege in the studio. While there he speaks on his mentor’s massive drum collection, his own process of sampling sounds into the MPC, and working without an engineer. He calls YouTube the “mecca of inspiration,” and talks about using the Access Virus, the Yamaha Motif, and the Roland Fantom Poly Evolver. Although he likes the efficiancy of Apple’s Logic software, ”nothing hits like the MPC.”
An official endorser of the MPC, Providence, Rhode Island’s finest AraabMUSIK drops in to the AKAI Pro offices and does what he does best on the AKAI MPC Renaissance. He uses his signature rapid rhythmic touches on the integrated software and hardware system to weave sounds together, including elements of Maceo Parker’s saxophone solo from James Brown’s “Soul Power 74.’”
In this video producer Owen Hill JR. gives his audience an inside look as he makes the beat “Sunglasses”. Owen Hill JR. uses a state of the art studio, MPC for drums, recording his own clap for the snare, then plays out the hi-hats on an amazing drum set, adds electric guitar and more. Check it out!
Producer Remy Cold lets you in on a day in the life, giving you a detailed version of his process. He uses the MPC 5000 so pay attention and study up! Well done Video as well
Producer Disko Dave chopping up Eric Gale’s 1977 cover of Hall and Oates’ “Sara Smile” on the MPC 2000 XL. The beat was also a tribute to the Masta Ace Incorporated track “Terror” from the Sittin’ On Chrome album.
Queens producer live at Fat Beats on the MPC 60 while patrons shop, talk and nod heads. His two disc box set, Live From The MPC 60 was released in early August, 2010.
Providence, Rhode Island native Araab Muzik in the studio with Busta Rhymes and Duke Da God. Araab Muzik, shows everyone in the studio something they’ve never seen before on the MPC 2500.
Detroit record producer and artist, Dwele, produces a track before your very eyes in this impromptu video. He utilizes an MPC 2500, the industry-standard beat maker/sequencer. He opens the track with a simple snare drum following a mild tempo, and begins to construct a full-fledged song as he layers in a soft synth, bass guitar, electric guitar, vocal harmony, and a rapped vocal lead. Dwele definitely makes it look easy! Artists and producers alike often write songs like these just [...]
Here is a video of Ron “Amen Ra” Lawrence re making the beat for Jay-Z’s “Where I’m From” on his MPC 3000 and his Roland JV28.
Famed producer Showbiz of the hip hop duo Showbiz & A.G., and member of the Diggin’ In The Crates crew talks shop with DJ Premier at Headquarterz Studios. They talk about what they like in a beat, what hip hop was like when they first started and different types of hip hop. He also gives us some audible treats while in the lab.
Another episode of Livin The Life with Jermaine Dupri. In this clip he digs in the crates of break beat albums looking for drum sounds. When he finds something acceptable he goes to work on the MPC. Simultaneously new artist Dondria is recording in the next room.
In this episode of Living the Life with Jermaine Dupri he leaves the club in the early morning hours and heads straight to the studio. Once in the lab we find him working with Native Instruments’ MPC style Maschine, which B Cox put him on to.
Super emcee Jay Electronica, musician and engineer Mike Chavarria and others in the studio while production king Just Blaze goes in on the MPC; creating what would become the critically acclaimed “Exhibit A”.
Adding to his dub step creation, DNAEBEATS finds a vocal sample and puts a filter and delay on it to give it a muffled sound using Ableton 7 on a MacBook pro. He then records it from the computer onto the MPC 2500.
DNAEBEATS explores the pre-pressed drums on his MPC 2500 sampler and work station. The MPC 2500 is the next step up from the MPC 2000 and holds about 14 minutes of sample time. He gives us a basic lesson while he works out a simple beat before adding bass from his keyboard.
DNAEBEATS continues crafting his dub step creation on the MPC 2500 and Korg MS2000. EQ-ing and compressing the drums and dumping electronic sounding bass from the Korg into the MPC he tries to find the perfect take.
DNAEBEATS takes his rare Bollywood finds from Groove Merchant Records back to the lab. He then shows how he dumps a sample into the MPC 2500 and then cuts it up into more samples. Adding drums and tweaking the timing, he quickly transforms a few seconds of the record into something unrecognizable.
Soul Brother Number One Pete Rock is on the pads of his MPC 2000 trying his hand at a few combinations that sound like the makings of Soul Survivor 2′s “Fly Til I Die” and The Surviving Elements‘ “Flying”.
This video shows Rsonist of the Heatmakerz in the studio chopping up a soul sample on the MPC. He pairs the sped up sample with some hard go-go influenced drums to create what sounds like a party groove.
Ayatollah reminisces about scratching and mixing with belt drive turntables and using a rack mount DigiTech sampler to form his first beats. Fortunate enough to get his first Akai MPC 60 from Juice Crew Legend Marley Marl, he began working with artists like Tragedy Khadafi, Capone-N-Noreaga and Black Market Militia to name a few. He also discusses sample clearance and paying the artists that inspire the albums.
In this video interview, former Cash Money superproducer Mannie Fresh makes a beat in his studio on his keyboard and MPC2000XL. He talks about his roots as a DJ (take note producers, most of your heroes started as DJ’s!), his departure from Cash Money Records, and more. Don’t miss this one.
This video is really kind of strange and interesting. Producers Shondrae, responsible for numerous hits from artists like Ludacris, sets up his Fantom and MPC2000XL in the middle of P Diddy’s restaurant and remakes a beat in front of the patrons and fields questions at the end. The beat later appears on Kelis’s album.
This video shows DJ B-Roc and Reflection Eternal producer Hi-Tek at a G-Unit recording session. Hi-Tek sequences a dope beat on the MPC3000 while B-Roc mans the mixing board.
This video shows producer/DJ Hi-Tek (best known for his work with Talib Kweli) in the studio making a beat from scratch. He starts out recording some live drums, then moves to the MPC3000 to sequence, and even digs into the crates to find a hot violin sample. Very inspirational video for hip-hop producers especially.
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