Who are the brains behind the MPC renaissance?

emptysea wrote:"I think Maschine is a really great tool for producers who want to throw their MPCs in the garbage." - Flying Lotus

thats good for flylo. I love his music, seen him more times i could count but he praises by ableton, maschine and i feel its different way/approach of making music. its the hands on approach that i cant get away from. im still wrapping my head about ableton, but never really liked the maschine or most of NI products for that matter. maybe because i have a Mac or maybe just my opinion haha. I KNOW in my gut i must branch out to more software based programs, which is why im learning day by day with ableton live. even taking lessons. that shit is boggling. but still i could never get the feel/swagger a soft synth or software based drum machines get. i use logic often and make beats with the ultrabeat sequencer. its OK, nothing phenom. the swing is too much of a jazz swing so i imported mpc quantize templates and even with those i still cant capture the feel i want that i get from the source. thanks for the info!

mumkai wrote:thats good for flylo. I love his music, seen him more times i could count but he praises by ableton, maschine and i feel its different way/approach of making music. its the hands on approach that i cant get away from. im still wrapping my head about ableton, but never really liked the maschine or most of NI products for that matter. maybe because i have a Mac or maybe just my opinion haha.

That makes me wonder if you've really looked closer at Maschine because the whole point of it is the hands on approach. Sounds like you may just be basing your opinion off of experience with other software without actually checking out what Maschine is about. I don't like the mouse-centric nature of most computer software including Ableton Live and most other NI software I've used in the past but Maschine is an entirely different beast. There's a reason why Akai has abandoned all hardware MPCs and are now desperately trying to copy Maschine.

emptysea wrote:

mumkai wrote:thats good for flylo. I love his music, seen him more times i could count but he praises by ableton, maschine and i feel its different way/approach of making music. its the hands on approach that i cant get away from. im still wrapping my head about ableton, but never really liked the maschine or most of NI products for that matter. maybe because i have a Mac or maybe just my opinion haha.

That makes me wonder if you've really looked closer at Maschine because the whole point of it is the hands on approach. Sounds like you may just be basing your opinion off of experience with other software without actually checking out what Maschine is about. I don't like the mouse-centric nature of most computer software including Ableton Live and most other NI software I've used in the past but Maschine is an entirely different beast. There's a reason why Akai has abandoned all hardware MPCs and are now desperately trying to copy Maschine.

wonder away. lets just agreeing to disagree. ive checked what the maschine is about. not everything because then id prob buy one. just scratched the surface. i do really like it and used it for some beats. i have two friends who produce with thm and found to be a great beat builder and the software easy to use. i find it even cooler that my friends could control a whole set without looking at their computer screen only the controller and through playing with them live i tried to incorporate it with what im doing and i just didnt like the approach. maybe i did something wrong, but i dont think so it just wasnt my vibe. the swing feature is so dope and layer couldnt be easier! but it still had such a tinny, robot feel. its hard to put into words. some peope think the same for mpcs so it is what it is yo. gots any music emptysea? would love to check out your stuff.

emptysea wrote:Actually it's been well established here and elsewhere that the new "MPC"s will not have any standalone hardware functionality at all despite Akai's repeated misleading use of the word "standalone" (referring to the software application) in its marketing blitz. It's just software with a controller and a built-in soundcard.

Last time I checked..new hardware MPCs are still being sold. But it really doesn't matter. The MPC Ren is the "it" MPC and it doesn't really matter if anyone feels they are copying Maschine. The hardware controller on the Ren far exceeds what Maschine has to offer and is the #1 reason why I am excited about it. NI can add as many new features as they like. But until they upgrade the hardware...the Ren is the first thing I would reach for...Mashine coming in right behind it.

As far as misleading marketing.....I can't see how anyone can seriously look at Akai's website, the commerical, and all the videos/tutorials..and walk away thinking this is a traditional stand alone MPC. If they just skimmed over the information and kept their eyes on the controller....than I can understand how they can "feel mislead" as the MPC Ren controller is solid. You won't mistake it for anything but an MPC....hide your lap top and the average person probably would think it is a traditional hardware MPC.

Empysea...you may as well join the rest of us and get one. Having both the MPC Ren and Maschine...you should be able to give us a no-holds barred review....thats what I plan to do.