name West Coast producers equipment

[WestCoasta]

I'm kinda curious to know what certain equipment some big producers use - like the MPC, etc...

list which equipment like that that producers you know use to make their beats

for example, I know in an interview Jelly Roll said he uses a MPC2000XL

[On The Edge of Insanity]

Well I know a lot more about east coast producers setups, but heres Madlib's gear list,

A. Samplers/Sequencers
-Roland SP-606
-Boss SP-303
-MPC 4000
-SP1200

B. Keyboards
-Hohner Clavinet
-Fender Rhodes Suitcase Piano
-Arp String Ensemble
-Jen SX1000
-Korg Microkorg

C. Recording
-Roland VS-1680

D. Other
-Upright One-String Bass
-Cheap Drum Kit
-Various Percussion.

And I know Rick Rock uses a 2000XL and then just has a bunch of sound modules, I guess including a Roland JV2080 which is like the sound module most used in the more recent west coast sound.

[BIGMOZ]

There is a misconception out there about the MPC.  Everyone talks about it, like its essential to every studio, or it has certain "dope" sounds that you cant get from anywhere else.  All the MPC is, is a sampler.  And very limitted at that.  You have to supply your own samples, from gathering them from everywhere, so right out the box, the machine is worthless, unless you allready have a ton of samples to provide it, and when you are feeding in the samples, the memory for the MPC is very limitted...even for the 4000.  You can use any virtual sampler (software sampler) like Kontakt, Linplug, anything to do the same exact thing as the MPC.  Only thing MPC has thats beneficial, are those big pads that you can bang on to make out a drum line, and you can do that on any keyboard as well. 


And imagine trying to sequence, and write songs on an MPC...it has a 4 inch screen, and your eyes will bleed after a few hours...or you can just go with a cpu setup, and have a 21 inch screen where you can do ALL your work comfortably without squinting to see every transition you made

[Mr. O]

There is a misconception out there about the MPC.  Everyone talks about it, like its essential to every studio, or it has certain "dope" sounds that you cant get from anywhere else.  All the MPC is, is a sampler.  And very limitted at that.  You have to supply your own samples, from gathering them from everywhere, so right out the box, the machine is worthless, unless you allready have a ton of samples to provide it, and when you are feeding in the samples, the memory for the MPC is very limitted...even for the 4000.  You can use any virtual sampler (software sampler) like Kontakt, Linplug, anything to do the same exact thing as the MPC.  Only thing MPC has thats beneficial, are those big pads that you can bang on to make out a drum line, and you can do that on any keyboard as well. 


And imagine trying to sequence, and write songs on an MPC...it has a 4 inch screen, and your eyes will bleed after a few hours...or you can just go with a cpu setup, and have a 21 inch screen where you can do ALL your work comfortably without squinting to see every transition you made

I don't really use samplers...I use drum beats stuff from logic (track editor)...you just adjust it.
I guess MPC is just a hype.  Just because a lot of producer use it don't mean it will help certain individuals out..it just depends.

[Diggfinger]

There is a misconception out there about the MPC.  Everyone talks about it, like its essential to every studio, or it has certain "dope" sounds that you cant get from anywhere else.  All the MPC is, is a sampler.  And very limitted at that.  You have to supply your own samples, from gathering them from everywhere, so right out the box, the machine is worthless, unless you allready have a ton of samples to provide it, and when you are feeding in the samples, the memory for the MPC is very limitted...even for the 4000.  You can use any virtual sampler (software sampler) like Kontakt, Linplug, anything to do the same exact thing as the MPC.  Only thing MPC has thats beneficial, are those big pads that you can bang on to make out a drum line, and you can do that on any keyboard as well. 


And imagine trying to sequence, and write songs on an MPC...it has a 4 inch screen, and your eyes will bleed after a few hours...or you can just go with a cpu setup, and have a 21 inch screen where you can do ALL your work comfortably without squinting to see every transition you made

good shit, thanks

[WestCoasta]

There is a misconception out there about the MPC. Everyone talks about it, like its essential to every studio, or it has certain "dope" sounds that you cant get from anywhere else. All the MPC is, is a sampler. And very limitted at that. You have to supply your own samples, from gathering them from everywhere, so right out the box, the machine is worthless, unless you allready have a ton of samples to provide it, and when you are feeding in the samples, the memory for the MPC is very limitted...even for the 4000. You can use any virtual sampler (software sampler) like Kontakt, Linplug, anything to do the same exact thing as the MPC. Only thing MPC has thats beneficial, are those big pads that you can bang on to make out a drum line, and you can do that on any keyboard as well.

I get what you're saying but it must be really good to have one considering lots of pro's use MPC's
and also you can buy discs with samples on them to load into it, so you don't necassarily have to search for every sample
and you can hook the keyboard up to it to play the sounds so that's pretty dope too, if I were to get somethin it would be an MPC

thanks for the knowledge though  **

[On The Edge of Insanity]

There is a misconception out there about the MPC.  Everyone talks about it, like its essential to every studio, or it has certain "dope" sounds that you cant get from anywhere else.  All the MPC is, is a sampler.  And very limitted at that.  You have to supply your own samples, from gathering them from everywhere, so right out the box, the machine is worthless, unless you allready have a ton of samples to provide it, and when you are feeding in the samples, the memory for the MPC is very limitted...even for the 4000.  You can use any virtual sampler (software sampler) like Kontakt, Linplug, anything to do the same exact thing as the MPC.  Only thing MPC has thats beneficial, are those big pads that you can bang on to make out a drum line, and you can do that on any keyboard as well. 


And imagine trying to sequence, and write songs on an MPC...it has a 4 inch screen, and your eyes will bleed after a few hours...or you can just go with a cpu setup, and have a 21 inch screen where you can do ALL your work comfortably without squinting to see every transition you made

It all depends how you work. I, for instance can't stand sitting in front of a computer screen all day, moving sliders up and down with a mouse, clicking in where I want hits to go, etc, I prefer the more hands on approach that a sampler/drum machine such as an MPC allows me to have. Also, hiphop was built on sampling, so how you gonna put down any machine which encourages you to go and find your own sounds to feed into it, I'd rather having a sampler and a pile of records than any synth keyboard or sound module. Don't get me wrong, if that the way you work, and you make dope stuff on a computer (which listening to your tracks I know you do), then thats cool, but I wouldn't dismiss the MPC, as its at the centre of many hiphop producers equipment.

I agree with you though that its all about what works for the individual though. Just because your favourite producer uses certain equipment doesn't mean its gonna be right for you, everyone gotta find what works best for them, and the way they like to go about making music.

Oh, and for the record, no way does playing drums on a keyboard even begin the replicate playing them on the pads of an MPC or SP1200.

[SpawntaneusC]

these fake ass new up and comers is usin fruity loops mayne

[WestCoasta]

Fruity Loops is so gay, just because all you is click click click do some bullshit

I hate sitting on the computer doin that shit, it's annoying and confusing to me

[BIGMOZ]

It all depends how you work. I, for instance can't stand sitting in front of a computer screen all day, moving sliders up and down with a mouse, clicking in where I want hits to go, etc, I prefer the more hands on approach that a sampler/drum machine such as an MPC allows me to have. Also, hiphop was built on sampling, so how you gonna put down any machine which encourages you to go and find your own sounds to feed into it, I'd rather having a sampler and a pile of records than any synth keyboard or sound module. Don't get me wrong, if that the way you work, and you make dope stuff on a computer (which listening to your tracks I know you do), then thats cool, but I wouldn't dismiss the MPC, as its at the centre of many hiphop producers equipment.

I agree with you though that its all about what works for the individual though. Just because your favourite producer uses certain equipment doesn't mean its gonna be right for you, everyone gotta find what works best for them, and the way they like to go about making music.

Oh, and for the record, no way does playing drums on a keyboard even begin the replicate playing them on the pads of an MPC or SP1200.

I wasn't dismissing sampling at all.  The MPC is a sampler, just like you said.  Kontakt, Gigasampler, Mach 5, are all software samplers.  They do the EXACT same thing as the MPC (as far as sampling is concerned), and rely on the RAM in your hard drive (which can be up to 4 gigs in cpu's, and MPC2000 only allows 32-64 at the most!).  Alot of the guys (Jelly Roll, BC) who use the MPC now, use it because they grew up on it.  Software samplers, and computers weren't available at the time, so they grew up, and used the MPC, and really learned it to its maximum ability...so of course they are going to promote it.  Its like the age old adage, of old time record producers hating Pro Tools, and digital consoles because it takes away the "warmth" of a record, and its all "computer bits" and not "authentic" equipment.  Why do they diss pro tools?  Because they grew up with analog equipment, its what they know, so they aren't going to be able to switch over to all digital equipment, and workstation like an SLK, or digidesign icon console, and completely push the product.  They would rather sit and work with the faders, and "listen to the music" instead of looking at some computer screen with a bunch of different colors and pretty graphics.  It has more to do with ability to adapt, after decades of using one style of equipment.


But of course, I agree with you on the feel of the drums thing....because the pads definitely make a difference, but considering the ability to quantize, and shift, and swing all of your music with a sequencer (just like an mpc), you can get the same feel on any machine...  Only reason why I say this is I have 2 MPC2000XL, an Akai Z4, and Esi2000 sampler, all which have completely been replaced by my software sampler (not synths....Im not talking synth vs sampling or anything)...

[Soul Sanatorium]

Yamaha Motif ES 6 man! I'll promote this anyday cause that's what I started off with. More memory on cpu setup's are not a big deal for someone like me. Doing more with less is the way to go, especially as a beginner.
DJ Quik is famous for bashing digital recording equipment and computer based productions (Pro Tools, Logic, etc.) Something about his ears rejects the sound of digital and that's common for the older music generation. Some of them integrate analog and digital; some of them go all the way digital, but overall they can all agree on that analog sound that is missed when going digital.

[Mr. O]

Yamaha Motif ES 6 man! I'll promote this anyday cause that's what I started off with. More memory on cpu setup's are not a big deal for someone like me. Doing more with less is the way to go, especially as a beginner.
DJ Quik is famous for bashing digital recording equipment and computer based productions (Pro Tools, Logic, etc.) Something about his ears rejects the sound of digital and that's common for the older music generation. Some of them integrate analog and digital; some of them go all the way digital, but overall they can all agree on that analog sound that is missed when going digital.

I think what's most important is what we started off with.  You may like the old school way and I do too.  It's just that I like digital sound..but that's just me.  SO, I guess we can't really say what's bad or what's good...it's up to us as in preference.

[R-Tistic]

I've been doin beats for 10 years now, and I started on Cubase so all that analog vs digital shit doesn't mean anything at all to me personally. I have never really used the MPC much, but I feel it may be overrated and overpriced for the fact that you can do similar and exact things on cheaper machines and even computer programs. I have heard producers say that it gives the sharpest possible sound for samples, so maybe that's why a lot of people use it.

As far as fruity loops, yeah it sucks if you donno how to flip it and use it to your needs. I used it for a few weeks, and I just couldn't do it because I had been usin Cubase and a Roland synth so it felt like I was going backwards and it just didn't do what I needed it to. But a little known secret is.....the song that I produced for G. Malone, Game, and Kam, "Therapy sessions", was done on Fruity during that period that I was in Florida and had no equipment to use and I downloaded it. If you heard it and never really used Fruity, you'd probably be like "how the fuck did you do that beat on there?" but it was just usin samples, and it's easy as hell to use .wav drum samples on Fruity, especially when it comes to programming drums. I use the Roland JX-305 synth for most of my songs, even though I am finally upgrading this month, possibly to a Motif 6 or Triton LE.

I know that Nu Jerzey Devil uses a Roland Fantom (I forget which model) that him and Phat Rat let me borrow for a few days, but the settings on there were completely misconfigured for what I was trying to do that I couldn't even get the basic things to work on it, and NJD was outta town and his phone was off so I couldn't talk to him.

[tonyscarbones]

Real G'z use MPC's

[On The Edge of Insanity]

It all depends how you work. I, for instance can't stand sitting in front of a computer screen all day, moving sliders up and down with a mouse, clicking in where I want hits to go, etc, I prefer the more hands on approach that a sampler/drum machine such as an MPC allows me to have. Also, hiphop was built on sampling, so how you gonna put down any machine which encourages you to go and find your own sounds to feed into it, I'd rather having a sampler and a pile of records than any synth keyboard or sound module. Don't get me wrong, if that the way you work, and you make dope stuff on a computer (which listening to your tracks I know you do), then thats cool, but I wouldn't dismiss the MPC, as its at the centre of many hiphop producers equipment.

I agree with you though that its all about what works for the individual though. Just because your favourite producer uses certain equipment doesn't mean its gonna be right for you, everyone gotta find what works best for them, and the way they like to go about making music.

Oh, and for the record, no way does playing drums on a keyboard even begin the replicate playing them on the pads of an MPC or SP1200.

I wasn't dismissing sampling at all.  The MPC is a sampler, just like you said.  Kontakt, Gigasampler, Mach 5, are all software samplers.  They do the EXACT same thing as the MPC (as far as sampling is concerned), and rely on the RAM in your hard drive (which can be up to 4 gigs in cpu's, and MPC2000 only allows 32-64 at the most!).  Alot of the guys (Jelly Roll, BC) who use the MPC now, use it because they grew up on it.  Software samplers, and computers weren't available at the time, so they grew up, and used the MPC, and really learned it to its maximum ability...so of course they are going to promote it.  Its like the age old adage, of old time record producers hating Pro Tools, and digital consoles because it takes away the "warmth" of a record, and its all "computer bits" and not "authentic" equipment.  Why do they diss pro tools?  Because they grew up with analog equipment, its what they know, so they aren't going to be able to switch over to all digital equipment, and workstation like an SLK, or digidesign icon console, and completely push the product.  They would rather sit and work with the faders, and "listen to the music" instead of looking at some computer screen with a bunch of different colors and pretty graphics.  It has more to do with ability to adapt, after decades of using one style of equipment.


But of course, I agree with you on the feel of the drums thing....because the pads definitely make a difference, but considering the ability to quantize, and shift, and swing all of your music with a sequencer (just like an mpc), you can get the same feel on any machine...  Only reason why I say this is I have 2 MPC2000XL, an Akai Z4, and Esi2000 sampler, all which have completely been replaced by my software sampler (not synths....Im not talking synth vs sampling or anything)...

But can any computer sampler get the same sound as any of the 12bit samplers such as the SP1200, MPC60, S950, etc. Thats the sound that I enjoy most, and although software samplers may have ways of making stuff sound like its 12bit, they're never going to sound the same as they do on the original hardware 12 bit samplers. For instance, nobody is ever going to be able to replicate the analogue filters on the SP1200 which is what makes drums and bass sound so dope on it, so in order to get that sound you'll have to have an SP1200, or the filters on the S950 for that matter, are never going to be replicated.

As far as value for money, by the time you've setup a computer with a dope soundcard, enough RAM, a big harddrive, and bought all the software, and then prehaps a midi keyboard to trigger stuff, you're probably looking at anywhere between $1500-$2000, for which you could easily pick up a MPC60, an S950 and a DPS12 or something to record your beats to. Obviously in the end its down to personal preference, and I don't think you can ever dismiss one way of doing things, but for me I started off with software, which didn't inspire me, and now i'm rocking hardware I enjoy making beats a hell of a lot more than I did using software, and I'm making doper tracks, so for me hardware was definitely the way to go.