The MPC2500 continued Akai’s pad-based sampling and sequencing method in the 2000s. Its June 2005 operator’s manual describes a machine with CompactFlash storage, USB and connections for a wider MIDI studio.
The machine in the record
AraabMuzik / the MPC2500 as instrument.
AraabMuzik describes the MPC2500 as an instrument to be played, not simply a box for arranging samples. That direct account gives the machine its proper human role: pads, timing and performance fused into a live technique that could travel from his own work into pop sessions.
Read AraabMuzik and the MPC2500 ↗More records in the archive
The machine keeps turning up.
AraabMuzik / Chasing Pirates
Reverb’s AraabMuzik feature identifies the MPC2500 in the production context of Dream World and describes Chasing Pirates as its lead single.
Read AraabMuzik on Dream World and the MPC ↗On record
- AraabMuzik — Chasing Pirates. Reverb’s AraabMuzik feature identifies the MPC2500 in the production context of Dream World and describes Chasing Pirates as its lead single. Source ↗
- AraabMuzik — the MPC2500 as instrument. AraabMuzik calls the MPC2500 his weapon of choice and says he has toured with it since its release. Source ↗
A phrase beneath the fingers
Play a sample on one of sixteen pads, record the phrase and build the arrangement around it. The MPC2500 keeps that familiar MPC gesture at the centre of the panel. CompactFlash and USB help move the material in and out; filters, effects and separate outputs let the producer shape and route it after the performance.
From performance to production
Mike Senior’s January 2007 review describes the MPC2500’s sampling, sequencing, storage and processing in detail. Those functions surround the pads with the work needed to finish a part: edit the sound, save it, send MIDI to another instrument or take an individual output to the mixer. The panel offers a place to carry a pad performance through production.
AraabMuzik at the pads
Reverb’s 2016 interview identifies the MPC2500 as AraabMuzik’s model of choice in the studio, alongside his account of making Dream World. He distinguishes the drummer’s approach of his live sets from the wider production work of the album, which brought in other musicians. The lead single ‘Chasing Pirates’ belongs to that album story; the feature does not give a complete equipment list for the track.
Sources
The visual archive
Further visual evidence.
Sources for images shown earlier (1)
Additional visual sources (1)
Original publications and related image sources.
- Sound On Sound — Akai MPC2500 ↗
2007 · Mike Senior / Sound On Sound · MPC2500 review page and product imagery