Akai CUT Roger Linn?! The Wild MPC60 Story + Prodigy Sampling Breakdown

video upload by Nostalgic Explorer

"The Akai MPC60 by Roger Linn is the machine that reshaped hip-hop, electronic, trip-hop, and rave culture. Today, I'm diving into why this legendary sampler still inspires producers, and then I jump into a hands-on sampling session inspired by The Prodigy — 'Smack My B%tch Up' from The Fat of the Land era.

I’ll explore its story — from design breakthroughs and 12-bit grit, to the Akai drama that cut Roger Linn out of his own creation — and then I’ll show you how to sample, trim, assign pads, sequence, and jam directly on the MPC60.

What you’ll learn:
• Why the MPC60 became a classic
• How early electronic pioneers used it
• Sampling on the MPC60 step-by-step (The Basics)
• Assigning pads, bars & sequencing
• Playing & jamming the samples on the MPC

I’ll show you a simple way to start sampling and building beats on the MPC60 using The Prodigy’s iconic track as inspiration, no plugins, no DAW, just the machine."

00:00 — Intro: Why the Akai MPC60 changed music forever
00:35 — MPC60 history: specs, limitations & the Roger Linn drama
02:33 — Why producers still love the MPC60 (Dilla, Shadow, Prodigy & more)
03:28 — Sampling The Prodigy “Smack My B%tch Up” on the MPC60
05:56 — How to sample a song on the MPC60 (step-by-step)
06:15 — How to assign a sequence on the MPC60
06:41 — How to set the number of bars on the MPC60
07:00 — How to record a new sample on the MPC60
07:20 — How to set sample length (seconds) on the MPC60
07:56 — How to check recording levels (REC METER) on MPC60
08:44 — How to name and save a sample on the MPC60
09:26 — How to edit and trim a sample on the MPC60
10:19 — How to assign a sample to pads on the MPC60
10:47 — Poly vs Mono: stop samples from overlapping on the MPC60
12:28 — Playing and testing samples on the MPC60
13:10 — MPC60 live jam: “Smack My B%tch Up” Prodigy-style
15:03 — Outro & final thoughts of the MPC60