Will the iPad ever replace the MPC?

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QuarterRoy

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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
 
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-f...blog/2012/01/21/akai-mpc-fly-ipad-controller/
 
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!!
 
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.
 
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.
 
Eventually as the world progresses Yupp
 
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.
 
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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.
 
If all these DAWS out there haven't "replaced" the MPC yet, I highly doubt the Ipad has even got a shot
 
that went way over your head, so what ur sayin is since FL and reason have emerged, akai has stop selling MPCs right??? Riiiiiiiigggggghhht
 
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I think it's possible for it to become a hip hop icon. But the software needs a lot of work and it needs to make the process of producing music faster or provide a different type of sound in order for that to happen.

It may not replace the MPC as an icon in our minds but it may become the icon for future generations. I know dudes that make beats and have never even seen an MPC in person until I showed them mine.

Times are changing.
 
don't think it will 100% replace it but they will create new mpc's model/ version with ipad tech like the touch screen.
Saw some weeks ago that akai is making a pad controller / mpc software version for the ipad called MPC fly.
 
will planned obsolescence replace the MPC is how i read this.

mpc is a dedicated device for doing one thing. where the ipad has apps for many different thing. as long as there are the parts to repair mpc's they will be around and be used. look at the tb303 its thirty years old and just recently had an new CPU designed for it Quicksilver 303 TB-303 CPU Upgrade by Social Entropy Electronic Music Instruments i just don't see something designed around the idea of planned obsolescence like the ipad replacing something that has been around that long.

that being said the new mpc doesn't really fit into my argument at all
 
An MPC is not a musical instrument. It is a production tool.
To save us all from the long argument.
Electric Piano ---> Acoustic Piano
Electric Guitar ---> Acoustic Guitar
MPC --- um...nothing......
Electronic Drum set --> Acoustic Drum set

The player is 100% able to switch from one version of the SAME instrument to the other. Player skills translate at least 80%. Usually the Electronic Version is easier to play, carry and maintain, thus the reason many use an electronic substitute (along with the nice sonic character side-effects that we love)

Why isn't the Computer a hip hop icon?
I mean almost EVERY record ever got touched by some kinda computer thingie?

As stated the iPad is a tool, not a musical instrument.
You can use the back end of a screw-driver to bang in a nail. That doesn't make the screw driver a hammer. It is still the same screw driver it always was, but it is being used as a hammer.
 
Griffin Avid said:
You can use the back end of a screw-driver to bang in a nail. That doesn't make the screw driver a hammer. It is still the same screw driver it always was, but it is being used as a hammer.
Click to expand...

But the Screwdriver is still called a TOOL!!!!! Bad analogy. The MPC is still a musical instrument, anything used to make music is a musical instrument, what planet are you on??? Piano's and guitars didnt just fall out the sky from God, they were created to make music and then given names to what we call them today, because the MPC wasnt invented 300 years ago it's not an instrument??? It just as difficult for a beginner to sit down and make music as any so called "instrument".

---------- Post added at 04:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:53 PM ----------

and this thread is downright blasphemous if you ask me, how can the ipad replace the MPC??? the ipad wasnt even created for the purpose of music production, nor is music production it's sole purpose, they just got programmers involved to create musical apps and programs to suck "musicians" who dont have one into purchasing it. THATS IT. You cannot beat on an ipad the way you beat on the pads of the MPC, thats what they were designed for. I'm Done
 
instrument is a pretty broad term.

imo it depends on how its used. so i have a filter called a plague bearer made by Flight of Harmony. if i'm using it as a filter would i call it an instrument? i don't think i would. but then if i take three of them set up a giant feedback loop by feeding the outputs into the inputs and using the audio each is outputing to modulate the others all of a sudden i have a (somewhat) playable instrument.

and the problem with the instrument vs. tool thing is the singing saw.
its a saw its a instrument its a testament that back in the day people had to much free time



Major Scale said:
But the Screwdriver is still called a TOOL!!!!! Bad analogy. The MPC is still a musical instrument, anything used to make music is a musical instrument, what planet are you on??? Piano's and guitars didnt just fall out the sky from God, they were created to make music and then given names to what we call them today, because the MPC wasnt invented 300 years ago it's not an instrument??? It just as difficult for a beginner to sit down and make music as any so called "instrument".
Click to expand...
 
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