Today's Argument Was Between Me and Me
I’ve got a very unuseful internal dialogue with Akai MPC versus Ableton Live.
I would say I probably use both systems equally. I really enjoy creating in both, and currently I’m creating way more in the MPC. There is a feeling that I get that creating in Ableton is somehow realer, more of a finished product. It is ridiculous and not connected to reality, but it’s there.
These days I’m having more fun with the Akai because it is absolutely immediate. I have the Key 37, and I can make a track in under 30 minutes. Typically this is a “prepared for production” track, but I could make a full track in an hour with an A, B, and C part, and have several times.
I’m actually thinking about covering an entire album, and I could do this all in the MPC.
Now there’s a very common feeling out there on the internet, mainly on YouTube, that you really can’t finish songs on the MPC. But this is the same place that’s telling you that you need a pedal to get the true Tascam direct guitar sound. So it’s all a bunch of shit, and I’m really trying to shed these kind of stories I’m telling myself.
More accurately, I’m trying to stop telling myself stories and trying to shed the lingering damage that they do.
I am able most mornings to start creating with a very clear mind. One of the things I’m trying to do is have a bit of a goal in the style of music that I’m about to make, especially so I can submit some of these tracks for sync placements with groups like Taxi.com.
I think it’s good for growth in general, instead of always just doing my thing every morning, which is fine. But I’ve almost got two sync records done, and now I need to get down to the business of getting placements. This kind of pre-work procrastination that I’ve given myself is over.
This is all to say that it’s very easy for me to do within the MPC world.
And I have enough experience to know that Ableton will be easy if I want it to be.
If I want to do dub techno and have a six-hour set, I won’t even get close to my MPC. That’s all Ableton, because it’s good at stuff like that. Very long, repetitive, slowly changing things. Acid, all that kind of stuff. It’s brilliant.
MPC is not.
I do wish that you didn’t need a computer w/ MPC. You do, for registration and stuff like that.
I also wish that it did not have Wi-Fi.
The magic of my old MPC One, before I crossgraded to the Key 37, was that I had to plug it into Ethernet to update it and send Zuckerberg my usage data. I’m sure I’ve opted out at some point, but I for sure am not sure. No one likes him knowing what’s going on day to day musically.
And that’s why I will not stop with the EP series or the SP-404MKII.
You have to have a computer to back up the EP-133. You do not have to have one to back up the SP-404MKII. It is not Wi-Fi. You have to connect it to your computer if you want to exchange samples and use the app. Otherwise, it is absolutely not essential. It can exist on its own.
Any one of these systems is a legit system from which you can release music. Maybe you have to send it off for a mix and master with the EP, but all of it’s possible.
The good news is that lately I’ve been very aware of these stories I am telling myself and can identify them instantly.
And then call bullshit on myself.
Which is probably my core competency.