By
bedouin
Fri Sep 19, 2008 4:03 am
Here's my thoughts on it, and I've browsed through a friend's 500 tutorial once.
If you have a background in samplers and/or music production already and you have a thorough knowledge of the production techniques and styles of your favorite genre(s), this book is not really useful. If you know what chopping is, if you know how to loop, if you know what a low pass filter, compressor, or reverb does -- you don't need this. For those folks they just need to sit down with the manual and learn where the functions they need are in the MPC's interface.
If you're just getting your feet wet with production in general, then I can see it as a good thing. It's just a supplemental kick in the ass to get you started. I know I was too lazy to learn the ropes of Final Cut through the manuals, so I bought a "For Dummies" book and was good to go -- eventually figuring more complicated stuff out on my own.
I think being techno-literate has a lot to do with it too. If you've been around computers all your life and have musical knowledge you'll be in good shape with any sampler.