MPC History
The original MPC60 was designed by Roger Linn, who was hired as a design consultant by Akai. He developed the functional design, including the panel layout and software/hardware specifications. He then created the software with a team of engineers. The hardware electronics were designed by English engineer David Cockerell and his team.[1] Cockerell was a founder member of the synthesizer firm EMS (co-creater of their famous VCS3 along with Peter Zinovieff,[2]), and had then worked for effects manufacturers Electro-Harmonix.
Shortly after the MPC60's release, the MPC60-II was designed. Released in 1991, the MPC60-II offered most of the same features as the MPC60, with an added headphone output and a plastic housing replacing the original metal one.[3] In 1994, Akai released the MPC3000, which boasted 16-bit, 44 kHz sampling, 32-voice polyphony, and SCSI data transfer.[4] Akai developed and released the MPC2000 without Linn in 1997.[1] It came with 2 MB of RAM, an optional effects board, and a 100,000 note 64-track sequencer.[5] The MPC2000 was replaced by the MPC2000XL in 2000. The MPC2000XL added an improved 300,000 note sequencer, a 64-track mixer and time-stretch and resample features. Four limited edition models of the MPC2000XL were released.[5]
In 2002 Akai unveiled the MPC4000, the most powerful MPC to date. The MPC4000 features 8 assignable outputs, a hard drive and CD-ROM drive. The MPC4000's memory can be expanded to up to 512 MB of RAM, the largest amount on an MPC to date.[6] Only two years after the release of the MPC4000, Akai released the MPC1000, which was the smallest in the MPC product line at the time of its release. It is also the first MPC to utilize CompactFlash memory.[7]. Both the MPC2500 and the MPC500 were added to the Akai MPC series in 2006. The MPC2500 is a mid-range MPC with 8 assignable outputs and CompactFlash storage.[8] Designed for portability, the MPC500 features 1 MIDI In/Out and CompactFlash storage, and can be powered by 6 AA batteries.[9]
JJ Operating System
In the summer of 2006, an anonymous programmer believed to be an ex-Akai employee released a 3rd party OS for the MPC 1000 and later for the MPC 2500. This programmer was nicknamed "JJ" or "Japanese Jenius" by an enthusiastic fan/beta tester.
This new software boasts superior features to those of the original OS and also fixes a number of bugs in the Akai software.[21]. Collective additions include "midi grid edit" (piano roll), extensive qlink support, audio tracks, aftertouch, portamento, and innumerable performance and system tweaks. The demo version lacks a save capability, which is unlocked with the purchase of a password for $30.
As a programmer, JJ is characterized by his frequent updates and attentiveness to customer feedback. Despite a significant language barrier (Japanese-English) JJ OS users maintain a steady stream of dialog with the programmer. This steady flow of dialog between the user and the programmer is further maintained through the ability to report a bug in the system directly to JJ through the "Report a Bug" link on the JJ OS website.
In late December, 2007, JJ released a beta version of OS 2, which has since gone gold. This version gives the 1000 and 2500 features[22] found on the more expensive MPC 4000, such as ADSR for pitch, amp and filter, keymaps etc. On March 11th, 2008, The 1.0 version of OS2 was released, adding more sound editing possibilities, including: fade in and out, and combine of two sounds. It also added audio track improvements, which mainly focused around the ability to apply pads to markers with in an audio track. These are just an example of improvements made in the 1.0 version. [23]
There is an extended community of users of all of the versions of the JJ operating system on mpc-forums.com. This can be located at http://mpc-forums.com/viewforum.php?f=25&sid=23211ef993c46b96a7e2f55157e7a206.
There are three different versions of the JJ OS available for download.
JJ OS 3.08 (free)
This version is the most similar to the Akai OS, and does not include many new features, however it has fixed a series of bugs.
JJ OS1
A version of "OS1" which is the most stable version of the all of the JJ OS's. Has the ability to trigger with just a touch of the note repeat, the user must purchase a password for $30.00 US dollars. OS1 is currently in version 4.99B. There is a version made for the MPC 2500 which is in version 5.51.
Features
- LED Screen
- Velocity Trigger Qlinks
- Effects Modulation
- Insert Silence
- Increased Sound Editing through TRIM mode
- MIDI Time Clock (MTC) and MIDI Machine Control (MMC)
- MIDI, 6 and 16 pad DRAM, Q-Link, and audio Grid Edit
- Simult Sequence
- Recordable Track Mutes [24]
JJ OS2
The last version of the JJ OS is OS2, which was released in beta form in late December 2007. Many of these features that have been added by OS2 have been compared to features included in the high-end MPC 4000. Like OS1, it can be downloaded and tried free of charge, but users are unable to save. This can be unlocked by purchasing a password for OS2, however, users are unable to install OS2 unless they already have installed an unlocked version of OS1 first. On March 11th 2008 version 1.0 was released[23], and as of 04.08.2008, the JJOS2 is available for both the MPC1000(v1.06) and the MPC2500(v1.04), with both costing $49.
Features
- Filter, Amp, and Pitch ADSR envelopes
- Aftertouch
- Multi-sample instrument programs including portamento
- Sample Layer Crossfade
- Non-destructive Chop
- Track Mixer
- Pad Pattern
- Fade in and out
- Grid Edit Loop Edit
- Improved audio tracks including audio markers and start offset [24]
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