NEW BEATKANGZ

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Re: NEW MPC KILLER BY BEATKANGZ NO JOKE IT 4 REAL WAKE UP AKAI

By Paul_Caruso Sat Jan 10, 2009 9:55 pm
I absolutely promise, the first time I set eyes on it I said to myself "that looks like it's made by Zoom." Lo and behold on their myspace page it says they teamed up with Zoom Corp.

It's an entry level product aimed at the 'next generation' of beat makers. All the buzz words and hype target the kid on the street who wants to make beats but doesn't know how. I'm sure it's workable by anyone on here in terms of making a hot beat. It might not be the best way or everyone's preferred way but if you can sequence samples with it it can be done.

There will no doubt be a lot of kids churning out exactly the same beats using all the presets but if a few cats really squeeze everything out of it we could get the next Boondock or Damu out of this thing...
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Re: NEW MPC KILLER BY BEATKANGZ NO JOKE IT 4 REAL WAKE UP AKAI

By Upright Sat Jan 10, 2009 10:20 pm
Paul_Caruso wrote:I absolutely promise, the first time I set eyes on it I said to myself "that looks like it's made by Zoom." Lo and behold on their myspace page it says they teamed up with Zoom Corp.

It's an entry level product aimed at the 'next generation' of beat makers. All the buzz words and hype target the kid on the street who wants to make beats but doesn't know how. I'm sure it's workable by anyone on here in terms of making a hot beat. It might not be the best way or everyone's preferred way but if you can sequence samples with it it can be done.

There will no doubt be a lot of kids churning out exactly the same beats using all the presets but if a few cats really squeeze everything out of it we could get the next Boondock or Damu out of this thing...




I have to be honest, that was well put. I was thinking the same thing about it being a Zoom product,...I was certain I would see a Zoom logo on their main page somewhere being the Zoom SB-246 was all Beat Kangs sounds. So, I guess it's fair to say that this would be the evolution of the Zoom SB-246. With all the flashing lights it definitely not marketed toward the seasoned producer that's for sure.....but I'm sure in the end it'll probably be a very capable machine. :D
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Re: NEW MPC KILLER BY BEATKANGZ NO JOKE IT 4 REAL WAKE UP AKAI

By taxman806 Sat Jan 10, 2009 11:05 pm
Well, this looks like (and a few people here have already said it) an entry level machine to help young kids get into the beat making game. I know that if it is not way over priced and actually works as adverised, I may end up copping this for my soon to be 14 yr old son. I wish something like this would have been available when I was a kid too. My son wants to make beats so it would be a tie between this and the XR20. It's not for some of us cats who already have our minds made up about what a hip-hop production tool should be.
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Re: NEW MPC KILLER BY BEATKANGZ NO JOKE IT 4 REAL WAKE UP AKAI

By Upright Sat Jan 10, 2009 11:20 pm
taxman806 wrote:Well, this looks like (and a few people here have already said it) an entry level machine to help young kids get into the beat making game. I know that if it is not way over priced and actually works as adverised, I may end up copping this for my soon to be 14 yr old son. I wish something like this would have been available when I was a kid too. My son wants to make beats so it would be a tie between this and the XR20. It's not for some of us cats who already have our minds made up about what a hip-hop production tool should be.




Word. I could see myself copping this for my boy also. I'd probably sit down with him and the machine as we walk through the basics of the manual and then hope that would spark enough interest that he would read the rest of the manual himself.I'm still a few years off though before my son gets any hardware, he's only 10.....right now I have him on Music Generator for the Sony Playstation. :D

Re: NEW MPC KILLER BY BEATKANGZ NO JOKE IT 4 REAL WAKE UP AKAI

By Tohtruck Sat Jan 10, 2009 11:54 pm
On paper (if you can get by the cheezy lingo) the machine actually doesn't look that bad, especially since there is very little competition in the portable battery powered sampler market.

I would even want one for the sake of having something that I can play around with if I'm travelling.

I think what mostly gets to me is their marketing campaign and their advertising tactics.

They say that they are trying to make the "culture" a priority in a market where the culture is never made to be the premium. But I almost find what they are doing to be downright offensive in a number of ways.

I apologize if my observations seem a bit miscalculated. I'm not black and I'm not from the South. But I find their advertising techniques and gimmicks to be covertly racist. "Mo' bang" "paintz and grillz" "Beat Thang" ?!?!? Even the fact that it has a "grill" that you can customize. Seriously you would think it was the Sambo Sampler brought to you by BET. What the hell!

Maybe I'm reading a little too deeply into it and I'm probably being overly sensitive. But I find it hard to believe anyone else wouldn't be able to see through the transparency of this marketing gimmick and be at least a little offended. It all just seems very low brow as they are trying a little too hard (almost literally) to appeal to modern day stereotypes.

I also kind of think their advertisements are making a joke out of the beatmaking and hip-hop production culture. It makes the modern day beatmaker look almost like a ridiculous caricature instead of a consumate professional or a serious creative artist.

Clearly there are issues with their marketing strategies as most of the initial posts on this topic implied that this must be some kind of joke or hoax advertisement. If they hadn't mentioned the Zoom Streetboxx then I probably would have also thought this was some big internet joke, as I find it hard to take it seriously.

Just my 2 cents. Hope I didn't offend anyone.

Hopefully it's cheap. I definitely wouldn't mind having a portable sampler with a rechargable lith ion battery.
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Re: NEW MPC KILLER BY BEATKANGZ NO JOKE IT 4 REAL WAKE UP AKAI

By kneebone77 Sun Jan 11, 2009 1:26 am
The only thing I'm hating on at this point is it's looks and the marketing campaign. The advertisements seem foolish, almost like they aren't trying to sell this to tech savvy people.
But all that aside, I have a feeling that the actual machine will be dope and probably pretty affordable. 1.) It's designed by actual "beatmakers" so that should be helpful. 2.) Some of the functions they mentioned show me we think similarly, (like wave edit of on-board sounds, re-sampling, etc.) 3.) They make it a point to say that they will be diligent about feature request and updates, they seem to know, (as beatmakers) that product support is always an issue for us...

The Beat Kangz wrote:It's Your THANG.
At Beat Kangz we plan to listen to your feedback and actually implement your suggestions. Our Software is fully updateable via download and we want your input It’s YOUR THANG! ..... We are not a huge greedy corporation that's trying to make a quick buck by exploiting a culture. We actually use the products we make and know what it's like to struggle to make it.


The Zoom SB-246 Streetboxx was the company’s biggest selling rhythm machine to date so these guys must be doing something right.
When it drops I'll be checkin for it...
:)

Re: NEW MPC KILLER BY BEATKANGZ NO JOKE IT 4 REAL WAKE UP AKAI

By Tohtruck Sun Jan 11, 2009 2:02 am
^^^ That's exactly the kind of thing they should be touting, not the gimmicky crap and the ridiculous advertisements with the Beat Klangz acting like superheroes.

If they are indeed listening and taking in suggestions then I would tell them to cut out all the bullcrap, "superfly dope" lingo, and CGI special fx commercials. All that stuff is just distraction from what might actually be a good product. The YouTube ad barely told me anything about the actual product when the majority of it was a bunch of guys punching buildings.

Consumer input and consistent software updates with new features and stuff is what I want to hear as a consumer. I'm just not dumb enough to think that getting a "Beat Thang" will give me the ability to knock down building with my bare hands.

And for god sakes change the name of the damn machine. If I bought one I wouldn't want to have to tell people that I make music with a "Beat Thang!"
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Re: NEW MPC KILLER BY BEATKANGZ NO JOKE IT 4 REAL WAKE UP AKAI

By kneebone77 Sun Jan 11, 2009 2:17 am
Tohtruck wrote:tell them to cut out all the bullcrap, "superfly dope" lingo, and CGI special fx commercials. All that stuff is just distraction from what might actually be a good product. The YouTube ad barely told me anything about the actual product when the majority of it was a bunch of guys punching buildings.


Dats what I'm sayin!!!
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