NAMM: Akai MPC5000 OS 2.0

"Meet the new OS. Not the same as the old OS.

The MPC5000 is the most talked-about MPC in the music industry today. It’s the latest evolution of the unquestioned standard in sample-based music production. The MPC5000 builds on the MPC foundation, combining powerful sequencing, sampling and processing with the feel of the exclusive MPC pads and Q-Link assignable controls. It adds never-before-seen MPC advancements such as a virtual-analog synthesizer, a streaming hard disc recorder, incomparably high-resolution sequencing, and over 100 other new capabilities.

MPC5000 OS 2.0 is a free, new operating system upgrade that includes more than 25 additional improvements, many of which are developed to accommodate the specific requests of the people who use the MPC5000 every day. MPC5000 OS 2.0 will be available Spring 2009 as a download at akaipro.com/MPC5000.

Home on the range.
The most requested, exciting, and powerful new feature we’ve added to OS 2.0 is the ability to create and load Keygroup Programs. And with it, in MPC fashion, comes a massive array of cool Keygroup helper tools.

Now with the MPC5000, just like with our legendary S-series samplers and legacy MPCs, you can create chromatic key-mapped sample programs that take a sample and spread it across a range of notes of your choosing, automatically adjusting the pitch of the sample chromatically. You can then play these notes with the pads or an external MIDI keyboard or controller.

What does this really mean for you and your production? For starters, no more time-consuming program creation or relying on an external keyboard for your sounds. SHIFT+PAD will select a Keygroup, you can set range via MIDI if on range parameter, plus you can select a Keygroup via MIDI to select the next Keygroup with the note played. Another new feature is the ability to assign the root note of a sample assigned to each individual layer on a single pad. You can also pan each layer individually in Keygroup and drum programs. Imagine the sonic possibilities!

More good news for all old school producers - you can now import S1000, S3000, S5000/S6000, Z4/Z8, and MPC4000 format sample libraries, including Keygroups, from Akai Pro and third parties. Now you can migrate fully to the MPC5000 platform.

Hustle and flow.

Music production is all about creativity, workflow, the tools at your disposal and making it all come together as seamlessly as possible. So designing a music production device is rooted in finding the best possible collaboration of its elements. OS 2.0 makes production with the MPC5000 friendlier with such time-saving improvements as the new MultiEdit function which enables you to edit and apply parameters such as tuning, filters, pitch, pan—every parameter of the filter screen—to a group of pads, all at once. This streamlines the production process by empowering you to perform group editing.

Get around.

We just upped GRID EDIT’s abilities. You can now see and edit controller automation and event data in the new Controller Grid Edit Window. We also gave the sample editor some love as well.

We’ve added a ZOOM function to each individual slice in Chopshop mode for even finer editing of your samples and beats. This takes the guesswork out of cutting a beat and ensures you get what you want every time.

We’ve added a slew of navigation shortcuts you’ll appreciate. For instance, you can now assign the sample you are working on in TRIM mode to a pad by holding SHIFT and striking the pad of choice.

We’ve improved the Effects, Synth and Mixer pages by adding a new Take Over Mode to the knobs and sliders. This is a great help when going between many different pages where you are using the Q-Links to change parameter values. Parameter values will not jump to the position of the knob or fader until the original values zero crossing is passed. This allows for seamless mix and edit moves in realtime.

It pays to play.

Improving upon the all ready impressive mixing capabilities of the MPC5000, you can now toggle between the hard disk Audio Track Mixer and the Sequencer Track Mixer with one button without having to interrupt playback of the song. This speeds up track creation in a big way.

You can now quantize Track and Pad Mutes in real time to the internal clock or that of an external device. This means that if you use an MPC5000 to trigger clips and tracks live, your mute punches will be perfectly in time.

Marrying performance and production, the MPC5000 now supports full automation of the mixer and effects.

If you have an MPC5000, you know it comes loaded right out of the box. Now that even more capability is coming to should check out the new OS for your MPC5000. Or upgrade to the flagship MPC and get all of these new features along with it.

MPC5000 OS 2.0 will be a free download in Spring 2009 from the Documents and Downloads tab on the MPC5000 page."

http://www.akaipro.com/spotmpcos2