Will the iPad ever replace the MPC?

[QuarterRoy]

Before you MPC heads out there bite my head off, I just want you to know that I'm very opinionated so be ready for a good argument.

I own an MPC 1000. I have loved it since the day I brought it home and starting making beats on it. But I have to say I'm thinking about selling it.

With the direction that technology is going, the IPad and other tablets are slowly replacing everything. So if you think for a second that our precious beloved MPC is safe then you are wrong my friend.

I spoke with a friend the other day that tried to tell me that there will always be beat machines. I laughed and said, "I remember when my mother said the same thing about VCR's".

If this is the wrong section for this discussion, I'm sorry I'm new.

What do you guys think? Are you keeping your MPC? Should I keep mine?

-Quarter Roy

[Griffin Avid]

Before you MPC heads out there bite my head off, I just want you to know that I'm very opinionated so be ready for a good argument.
Yay!
I own an MPC 1000. I have loved it since the day I brought it home and starting making beats on it. But I have to say I'm thinking about selling it.

It's an individual decision. Nothing to argue about. Someone else uses iPads and software and is thinking of buying a drum machine. How many doing what and the size of the shift is worth looking at and paying attention to.

With the direction that technology is going, the IPad and other tablets are slowly replacing everything. So if you think for a second that our precious beloved MPC is safe then you are wrong my friend.
Safe in what way? Do you mean to say that AKAI (and other companies) will stop making drum machines? Or that it will be done by boutique manufacturers and won't made in mass numbers? I think worst case scenario is the latter. Long as people WANT to use them, they will be made.

I spoke with a friend the other day that tried to tell me that there will always be beat machines. I laughed and said, "I remember when my mother said the same thing about VCR's".
Depends on how you look at it. Your DVR is now your VCR. All they did was do away with the physical tape. The system is still in place. The idea of you Taping Something is still with us. When it ALL becomes streaming (that seems to be where we are going) your DVR/VCR might go away and the idea of saving stuff might become an old concept.

Even your gaming console is now a VCR of sorts. Storing games, movies and such.

As such, just like anything else an MPC is a bunch of things. Beyond the intangibles are points like workflow and the hardware. As you can see, AKAI has taken direct steps to keep the workflow and hardware while not making it a serious choice for most already-on-board users. It's not a hard choice of one verse the other. An iPad isn't SOOOOO expensive that this is a VERSE argument. It's about how you want to work.

MPCs are like Synthesizers. They never went away, they just weren't as popular to the masses for a while.
I'm still using somewhat vintage synthesizers. People will still seek out MPCs far into the future.
They will ALWAYS have value. Someone will always want one.

You deciding to switch up- and to be honest, if the MPC 1000 is your entry point, you aren't overly rooted in that system.
Have you found your ultimate solution for beat-making with the MPC 1000? No.
Have you made a bunch of hits with it and are scared of changing your winning formula? No.
Do you have 400+ beats saved in its native format that you want on standby? Probably not.
Do you have history or any sentimental attachment to the MPC series? Probably not.
Do you feel like you are following a tradition and keeping the faith by using the tools of some of the forefathers? Probably not.

A lot of the crap above are the intangibles that make for good arguments, but really boil down to wherever life has planted your feet. You tend to see the world around you from that perspective. I think the MPC will be around for as long as AKAI chooses to be.

And the toughest part about your pseudo-argument to follow is the fact that the MPC is already on your iPad waiting for you show up.
Akai releases MPC Fly for iPad, waits 'til you get the pun (video) -- Engadget
http://www.slashgear.com/akai-mpc-fl...ad-controller/

[QuarterRoy]

First off, you seem like a really intelligent guy Griffin Avid. I was hoping that some beat maker wouldn't respond. I would have had to go in on him.

All of your points are valid. Like VCRs, 8Tracks and Palm pilots, there will always be some old dude out there who swears that his MPC is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

When I said safe I meant as in demand as they have been in the past. Producers have a way of not letting anything truly die off because each piece of equipment produces unique sounds and experiences.

For instance, my Uncle worked with some big name artist in the 80,'s and he still loves doing things his way. He hates FL Studio, Reason and even Smartphones with those damn touch screens.

Equipment dies off when new producers stop embracing it. Also when seasoned producers stop pushing the old stuff to the new guys.

I agree that the MPC 1000 is not the best version but it got the job done for me. Like i said I've loved my MPC since I purchased it in 2005.

I like how you brought up the fact that some MPC producers are scared to change. You have to embrace change in any industry or you will be forgotten.

If Akia wants to stay around they will have to move to mobile platforms(which is what they are doing) and risk alienating their current customer base in the process.

Keep hitting those Pads!!

[Griffin Avid]

I think I see a good correction in your post. MPCs will be around until producers let go of them. That makes so much sense.
When music split a few years ago (I almost want to say North Verse South) it really did cause a rift in the production world.

See, when it was MPCs verse Fl Studio and Reason, you had cats trying to do what MPCs did in software.
That at least gave the traditionalists legs to stand on- when they went by things like
1. Sound Quality (in terms of quality and character). Remember when you had to argue kids into buying sound-cards for their DAWS?
2. Programming/Swing/Feel etc....
3. Using Drum Pads to enter the hits verse stiff 16ths grid programming.
4. You had all this HISTORY so and so used this to make this......

Even the ...Sounds Warz when it was big expensive ROMpler workstations verse VST libraries....

I think the rise of Southern (not just Southern, but you get my Civil War theme) Music changed all that as dudes started making HITS with crappy keyboards. They used whatever they had lying around and did the best they could. It became much more about the spirit of the music and not the gear. Generating a lot of money certainly helped swing things southward.

(new) History is being written every day.
It's hard to argue that YOU NEED a monster analogue, classic synthesizer when almost all of the current hits are done with cheap VAs and basic/common sounds.
And you are right. It's hard to see a question about producing in 2012 NOT being answered with something computer-related.

[ObiK]

I think they will easily replace MPCs. You'll be able to select your own Pad interface or any MIDI interface with products for iOS like iRig MIDI + Your midi controller of choice. Then you also have the built in TOUCH interface of the iPad itself. You can have an app like SampleTank iOS that has a 16 pad interface for banging out beats.

I think in the future people will easily pick an iPad over an MPC for production. The technology is only going to get batter, faster and cheaper.

[WonderBoyProductions]

Eventually as the world progresses Yupp

[thunderkyss]

Will the iPad ever replace the piano?

[Griffin Avid]

Will the iPad ever replace the piano?
The piano is an acoustic instrument. Will an iPad app and a keyboard MIDI controller replace a keyboard?
That's the question.

The trouble is the interface. An MPC is more than drum pads.
So will an iPad ever replace drum pads? No. Will it replace everything that occurs AFTER the drum pads? Yeah sure, why not.

If you want a particular thing, you can't say anything is its replacement.
If I want an MPC, nothing replaces one.

If I want to enter my drum hits using pads with a pattern based sequencer, I got some choices.

If I want to sit at a Grand Piano, there is no substitute. If I want piano sounds in my music and I can't or choose not to get a Grand piano, I got some choices.
Like anything else, your mileage will vary.

[QuarterRoy]

Will the iPad ever replace the piano?
.

No the piano is used in almost every genre of music and will never be fully replaced. It will be redesigned and improved.

[thunderkyss]

Point is, the piano is an instrument, just like the MPC.

They've got some awesome libraries out there, with piano that I can't afford to sit in the same room with... but the piano isn't going anywhere.

Like it or not, the MPC is an instrument.... not exactly like the piano, but it is what it is & if that's what you want, that's what you want. Some guys are still making wonderful music on an MPC-60..... as long as they have support (not necessarily from Akai), the MPC will be around for a long, long time.

Now, if the question is, "will the iPad replace the Akai MPC as a hip-hop icon?"

Again, I doubt it. Too much competition from every where.