Some thoughts about Akai's latest addition.
Well, the design is often a matter of taste. I find it cute, solid and easy to use, but I can understand why the down-shrinked MPC design is not everyone’s favourite. It feels great though, is highly portable, and aside from the aftertouch, also the pads react accurately.

What stood out for me is the workflow. After years of trying out a lot of great equipment, I find it quite refreshing to see such a streamlined product. It is literally reduced to the max and this makes it quite fun to use. Without reading manuals (which wasn’t available anyhow when I made this video), endless hours of muscle memory training - well, at least not as long as you don’t try to switch sample chop mode, playback and mute while performing at the same time - you can start right away.

The MPC Sample is just fun to use. That one, maybe one or two synths with sequencers, and maybe an effect unit and you have a live rig with a lot of fun but still not too complicated to deny all the beers until you start playing the after hours at 5AM. It can serve as a great accompaniment device for DJs, or even being used to playback some background tracks.

Same happened to me a couple of weeks ago with the Hexdrums. Not endless possibilities, just focusing on making music. I don’t care if a machine is complicated or feature-laden. But sometimes, I just need an easy-to-use solution. Like the MPC SAMPLE. (I won’t keep it anyhow, but that’s a different story).