MPC Electronics MPC-1 Analogue Drum Machine Demo

This is a brief overview of the features and sounds of the MPC Electronics Music Percussion Computer. This is a fully Analogue Drum Machine made in Cambrige in England in 1982 by MPC Electronics featuring a four pattern internal sequencer and plenty of interfacing methods for a machine of this age. For whatever reason this machine seemed to fade almost entirely into obscurity, however if you managed to find one in fully working order it would make a fine addition to any electronic studio.

It should be noted that this machine is not 100% working, the internal battery has leaked and damaged the external sync circuits meaning that it will only work as master clock and a few of the pots are broken. Most notably the snare tune and decay pots are gone resulting in the snare being a very short burst click sound where as on a full working unit it would probably sound closer to a 909 snare.

For the cheesy little demo track at the end of this video the instruments used are as follows.

Drums - MPC-1
Latin Percussion - Roland TR-727
Electronic Piano - Roland JX-3P
Bass - Oberheim DPX-1 (with Juno-60 bass patch sample)
Harpsichord - Akai S900 (with Juno-60 patch sample)
Organ - Roland Juno-60
Sequencer - Akai ASQ10

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Drum
• Machine
• Sequencer
• Analog
• Analogue
• Computer
• Percussion
• Cambridge
• Alantex
• Electronics

[danceofthedruids]

Cool video ... I have one that I bought a few years ago including the Sinclair ZX-81 and all the cables. Are your pads coming loose?

[snolan1990]

@danceofthedruids I'd like to see a demo of it working with the ZX-81 interface, mine didn't even come with it's flight case (as you can see).

My pads seem to be fine but from performing repairs on my MPC I know the pads are held in place with thick rubber washers that act as a shock reducer, I can imagine these might perish in extreme temperatures and that could be the source of your loose pads. This should be an easy mechanical fix if you can gently take the unit to pieces and replace them.

[danceofthedruids]

@snolan1990 I would love to do a demo with the ZX-81 interface but for now I think I will need to catch up on your video and get calibrated on the basics. Mine did come with the flight case as well. Seller sent me a Simmons module as well that I managed to mess up the headphone output. We're going through some political chaos here at the moment. Very cool demo!

[snolan1990]

@danceofthedruids I am subscribed to you so I will get notified if/when you put up a Demo to put this demo to shame :P. It sounds like your Music Percussion Computer might have spent some time in America if it came with a Timex Sinclair. Should be a cool setup if you get it all working.

[snolan1990]

@yulvich Sorry for the late reply.

I got this unit in rough shape with no flight case for about £90 on eBay UK in 2010. I have probably seen about 3 or 4 other units come up on eBay since then and they sold for £100 - £250. They seem to be quite a rare unit but more important to remember is that there seem to be very few fully functional models left. If you were to get one you would probably want to bypass the internal sequencer, I built a trigger box for mine.

[tngregory]

this reminds me of the movement drum computer. great sound and buzz to the tones!

[danceofthedruids]

@snolan1990 Ditto and thanks! Hopefully will find this beast ... it may be buried in with my 300 + guitars. House is in a bit of a turmoil and a possible move.

[danceofthedruids]

@snolan1990 I stand corrected ... I have the Timex Sinclair 1000. The whole unit is somewhere in the studio warehouse ... somewhere.

[yulvich]

how much are these!!!!!?!!?!?!

[retali8one]

Wow this sounds hotttt