For a while now, I've been blogging mainly about promotional things like videos, songs, etc. This is mainly because now with Twitter, the thing I'm interested about I can just post there. Its fast and simple.
Well this post is a bit more than 140 characters, and I just felt like blogging about it rather than posting several updates on twitter.
Anyone who has talked to me in the 2 months knows I'm eagerly awaiting the release of the MPC Renaissance. In fact, most of you who I have discussed this with probably want it to come out just so I stop bothering you about when it'll finally come out. This is pretty much the beat machine I've had in my head for years, minus the ability to be a standalone device. I'll admit, when I first saw the promo video for it (I didn't like the promo video for it), and I read it was not standalone and needed a computer, I was turned off from it and pretty much ignored the hype of it for a couple of months. There's a quote I often recite that changed my mind, "The future if owned by not the smartest or the strongest, but by those most willing and able to adapt..." I believe this quote, and it's truth is proven throughout history. I thought to myself, "damn son, you really don't want all the power and efficiency this device would bring because you have to plug it into your laptop? When's the last time u made a beat and wasn't sitting right beside your laptop?" I mentally slapped some sense into myself, and began doing more research on the Renaissance to make sure this was the right step. I've been glued to my MPC 2000xl for the past 6-7 years, and before that, my ASR-10. The majority of my MPC 2000xl years, I was using a ZIP Drive to load sounds, and didn't get a card reader until sometime last year.
I think one of the main things that grabbed my attention about this new MPC was that it still used the I/O of the MPC, but used the power of the software capabilities on a computer. And if you choose, you can also do everything without even looking at the computer. All of the abilities of the software can be manipulated via on the screen on the MPC, as if its not hooked up to a computer at all. It having the MPC Audio hardware (and then its the mpc3000's hardware, which is greeatt) really got my attention. Then of course, similar to Native Instruments Maschine, incorporating the power first exhibited in RECYCLE into an MPC style work flow, I don't think anyone can deny being able to appreciate that.
In my journeys throughout the internet searching for information on the Ren, I keep finding this never ending battle of Maschine vs. Renaissance, which leads to some pretty amusing back and forth's between passionate Native Instrument supporters and MPC heads. I saw the homey
Paten Locke make a beat on Maschine, and that alone had me giving props to Maschine. No matter which you prefer, the competition between the two will only mean better support, updates, etc for consumers....and to keep it real, if you really wanna do a Biggie/2pac'esque comparison war, the Maschine should be compared to the new MPC Studio coming out soon alongside the Ren.
No one should expect this or any machine to make you a better producer, but with the speed of its workflow and new tricks (coming from a 2000xl), I should be able to make MAD more Madbeats, and with a faster/easier workflow, knowing myself I'd probably think in a different way, which would lead to new creative ways of doing things. I've already purchased one, and honestly don't mind being one of the first in a fleet of users that will probably report bugs and such, similar to 100% of software that comes out in this generation.
Anyway, check out this video, and let me know what you think on Twitter: @IMAKEMADBEATS or Facebook.com/IMAKEMADBEATS.
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