Akai MPC 60 User manual

3
Software version 2.0
Operator's Manual
By Roger Linn
Copyright 1987, 1988, 1989 Akai Electric Co., LTD.
Document revision date: April 20, 1989

4
READ THIS BEFORE YOU START!
Power requirements
Power requirements for electrical equipment differ from area to area. The
operating voltage of this machine is preset at the factory according to its
intended destination. However, some models are equipped with a voltage
selector. If your machine is so equipped, before connecting, check to see
that the VOLTAGE SELECTOR on the rear panel is set to the voltage
for your area. If not, please set it correctly before plugging in the
power cord:
220V, 50 Hz for Europe except UK.
240V, 50 Hz for UK and Australia.
120V, 60 Hz for U.S.A. and Canada.
If the VOLTAGE SELECTOR on your machine looks like this: If the
VOLTAGE SELECTOR on your MPC60 looks like the diagram on
the right, please disconnect the power cord, then set the switch to the
correct voltage for your area, using a flat screwdriver.
What you should know to protect yourself and the Akai
MPC60:
Watch out! You might get an electric shock.
• Never touch the power plug with wet hands.
• Always pull out the power plug by the plug and never the cord.
• Only let a qualified professional repair or reassemble the Akai MPC60. An
unauthorized person might touch the internal parts and receive a serious
electric shock.
• Never allow a child to put anything, especially metal, into the Akai
MPC60.
Let's protect the Akai MPC60 too.
• Use only a household AC power source. Never use a DC power
source.
• If water is spilled on the Akai MPC60, disconnect the power and call
your dealer.
• Make sure that the Akai MPC60 is well ventilated and away from direct
sunlight.
• To avoid damage to the internal circuits and the external surface, keep
away from heat (stoves, etc.)

5
• Avoid using spray type insecticide near the Akai MPC60. It can damage
the finish and might ignite suddenly.
• To avoid damaging the finish, never use denaturated alcohol, paint
thinner or other similar chemicals to clean the Akai MPC60.
• Place the Akai MPC60 on a flat and solid surface.
WARNING!
Warning - This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency
energy and if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions
manual, may cause interference to radio communications. It has been tested
and found to comply with the limits for a Class A computing device pursuant
to Subpart J or Part 15 of FCC Rules, which are designed to provide
reasonable protection against such interference when operated in a
commercial environment. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is
likely to cause interference in which case the user at his own expense will be
required to take whatever measures may be required to correct the
interference.
"This digital apparatus does not exceed the Class A limits for radio noise
emissions from digital apparatus set out in the Radio Interference
Regulations of the Canadian Department of Communications"
For customers in the UK
IMPORTANT FOR YOUR SAFETY - TWO CORE FLEX
The wires in the mains lead of your
machine are coloured in accordance
with the following code: Blue: Neutral
Brown: Live As the colours of the wires
in the mains lead of this apparatus may
not correspond with the coloured
markings indentifying the terminals in
your plug, proceed as follows: The wire
which is coloured blue must be
connected to the terminal which is
marked with the letter N or coloured
black.
The wire which is coloured brown must be connected to the terminal which
is marked with the letter L or coloured red.
• When wiring a plug, do not connect any wire to the larger pin marked
either by "E" or by this symbol:
Ensure that all terminals are securely tightened and that no loose strands
of wire exist.

Table of contents
SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Welcome!
1.2 How to use this manual
SECTION 2: THE BASICS
2.1 Overview
2.2 Hooking up your system and turning the MPC60 on
2.3 The CURSOR keys
2.4 The NUMERIC KEYPAD, DATA CONTROL and +/- keys
2.5 The SOFT KEYS (1-4)
2.6 The HELP key
2.7 The Dynamic drum pads
2.7.1 The FULL LEVEL and 16 LEVELS keys
2.7.2 The BANK 2 key
2.7.3 The HIHAT DECAY slider and the AFTER key
2.8 The DRUM MIX key - adjusting the stereo drum mixer
2.9 Playing the preset sequences
2.9.1 Changing sequences while playing
2.10 Adjusting the playing tempo
2.11 The MAIN SCREEN key - how to exit any function
2.12 The RESET TO DEFAULTS function
SECTION 3: RECORDING SEQUENCES
3.1 Overview
3.2 How sequences, tracks and channels are organized
3.3 The PLAY/RECORD screen - the main operating mode of the MPC60
3.4 How to assign "drums" and "non-drums" tracks
3.5 The PLAY/RECORD keys
3.6 An example of recording a drum sequence
3.7 An example of recording a sequence with both drums and keyboard parts
3.8 The TIMING CORRECT key
3.8.1 Correcting timing errors
3.8.2 The SHUFFLE feature
3.8.3 The SHIFT TIMING feature
3.8.4 The NOTE REPEAT feature
3.9 Tempo
3.9.1 The tempo screen
3.9.2 Mid-sequence tempo changes
3.9.3 The TAP TEMPO key
3.9.4 Speed limitations at fast tempos
3.10 The WAIT FOR KEY key
3.11 The AUTO PUNCH key
3.12 The 2ND SEQUENCE key
3.13 The COUNT IN key
6

7
3.14 The recording metronome
3.15 The two FOOT SWITCH inputs
3.16 The "Free sequence memory" display
3.17 Recording Midi system exclusive data
3.18 Transferring sequences to and from other sequencers
3.19 The "Analyzing sequence. Please wait..." message
SECTION 4: EDITING SEQUENCES
4.1 Overview
4.2 The ERASE key
4.2.1 Erasing notes while overdubbing ("Live erase" mode)
4.2.2 The Erase screen
4.3 The EDIT key
4.3.1 Viewing time signature changes
4.3.2 Creating a new sequence
4.3.3 Inserting blank bars into a sequence
4.3.4 Deleting bars from within a sequence
4.3.5 Copying a section, including all tracks, and inserting it elsewhere
4.3.6 Copying a single track to another area or merging it with other data
4.3.7 Copying an entire sequence to another sequence
4.3.8 Converting a song into a single long sequence
4.3.9 Shortening or lengthening a single bar
4.3.10 Changing the velocity or duration of a group of notes after recording
4.4 The STEP EDIT key
4.4.1 The step edit screen
4.4.2 Using step edit
4.4.3 Step recording
4.5 The EDIT LOOP key
4.5.1 Using EDIT LOOP as an "UNDO" function
4.6 The TRANSPOSE key
SECTION 5: SONG MODE
5.1 Overview
5.2 The song mode screen
5.3 An example of creating and playing a song
SECTION 6: SAMPLING AND EDITING DRUM SOUNDS - the SOUNDS key
6.1 Overview
6.2 Sampling a new sound
6.3 Editing an existing sound
6.4 Tuning the drums
6.5 The echo mixer
6.6 Assigning the 8 assignable mix outputs
6.7 Transferring sounds over midi: the Midi Sample Dump
6.8 Triggering a drum from an external signal - the audio trigger
6.9 Mixer modes, hihat decay thresholds, mufti-pitch mode

SECTION 7: SAVING TO AND LOADING FROM DISK
7.1 Overview
7.2 Saving a sequence
7.3 Saving all sequences and songs
7.4 Saving a drum sound
7.5 Saving all drum sounds
7.6 Saving a parameter file
7.7 Loading, erasing or renaming files
7.7.1 Files which automatically load on power-up
7.8 Formatting a disk
7.9 Copying an entire disk
7.10 "Attention" screens encountered during disk operations
7.11 The "Save warning" light above the DISK key
SECTION 8: SYNCING TO TAPE AND OTHER DEVICES
8.1 Overview
8.2 The Sync screen
8.3 Syncing to SMPTE
8.4 Syncing to FSK24
8.5 Syncing to 1/4 note clicks
8.6 Syncing to Midi Clock and Song Position Pointer
8.7 Syncing to Midi Time Code
SECTION 9: MIDI FUNCTIONS
9.1 Overview
9.2 The midi input filter, midi soft through, sustain pedal processing
9.3 External drum triggering, the midi "drums" channel
9.4 The ME-35T Audio/Midi Trigger interface screen
9.5 Midi implementation charts
SECTION 10: APPENDEX
10.1 Features
10.2 Technical specifications
10.3 What to do if your MPC60 isn’t working properly
SECTION 11: INDEX
8

Section 1:
Introduction

P.S. I'd like to know if you use the MPC60 on any famous records. If so, I'd
appreciate it if you would write a brief letter to your local distributor and
the
y
'll tell me. Thanks.
1.1 Welcome!
Thank you for purchasing the Akai MPC60. The Akai engineering team, my
engineering team and myself have all worked very hard to bring to you a
product which we truly believe answers the needs of today's professional
musician. I am sure you will find that the combination of innovative
features, high sound quality, ease of use and attention to detail will be very
useful in the process of composition, recording and performing. It has been
said that technology has always had a profound influence on art. If this is
true, I invite you all to take this piece of technology and use it to change the
direction of music for tomorrow. Now, let's begin...
10

Section l: Introduction 11
1.2 How to use this manual
The MPC60 and this manual were designed for people who don't like
reading manuals and want to start working immediately.
The manual teaches the MPC60's operation in a logical, step-by-step
manner. The sections are presented in the order that most people want to
learn them. To start using your MPC60 as soon as possible, we recommend
that you first read (or skim) through sections 2 and 3, "The Basics" and
"Recording sequences", to get a general understanding of the MPC60. After
that, you will find that most other functions are very easy to figure out by
experimentation:
1. Press the key which you think would most likely contain the
function you are looking for. For example, to sample a new
sound, press the SOUNDS key.
2. Follow the instructions presented on screen. If you're
confused, press and hold the HELP key for further
explanation.
3. If you still can't figure it out, find the section in the manual
which explains that function, either by looking in the table of
contents or the index.

Section 2:
The Basics

2.1 Overview
This section is a simple introduction to operating the MPC60. In this section you will
learn to:
• Hook up the MPC60 to your system.
• Enter and change data and parameters using the CURSOR keys, the
NUMERIC KEYPAD, the DATA CONTROL, and the +/- keys
• Use the SOFT KEYS and the HELP key
• Play the drums and use the associated keys
• Adjust the stereo drum mixer
• Play the preset sequences
• Adjust the playing tempo and a
few other basic functions
14

Section 2: The Basics 15
2.2 Hooking up your system and turning it on:
To get started using the drum machine section:
1. Connect the power cord to an AC outlet. 2. Connect the STEREO
OUT LEFT and STEREO OUT RIGHT jacks to the inputs of an
amplifier or mixer.
Note: If you are only using the MPC60 as a drum machine right now, you
don't need any other connections. Skip down to the section "Turning the
MPC60 on".
To also use the sequencer section with a single integrated keyboard
synthesizer:
1. Connect the synthesizer's MIDI OUT to the MPC60's MIDI IN 1.
You may alternatively use MIDI IN 2. Both inputs merge together. 2.
Connect the MPC60's MIDI OUT 1 to the MIDI IN of the
synthesizer.
To use the sequencer section with a midi master keyboard and
separate multiple midi sound modules:
1. Connect the MIDI OUT of the midi keyboard to the MIDI IN 1 of the
MPC60. You may alternatively use MIDI IN 2. Both inputs merge
together. 2. Connect the MIDI OUT 1 of the MPC60 to the MIDI
INPUT of the first midi sound module. 3. Connect the MIDI THRU of
the first sound module to the MIDI INPUT of the second sound
module. 4. Connect the MIDI THRU of the 2nd sound module to the
MIDI INPUT of the third sound module, and continue this until all
sound modules are connected.
The above hookup only uses one of the four midi output jacks of the
MPC60. Later in the manual, you'll learn how to use all 4 of the midi output
jacks.
To use the sampling input, foot switches, sync input/output, echo
inputs/outputs, individual mix output 1 - 8, or the metronome output,
please read the corresponding sections of the manual.
Note: the RS-232C computer port currently has no function.

16
Turning the MPC60 on
1. Of the disks which are included with the MPC60, find the disk
"STUDIO SET and SYSTEM ALL" and place it into the disk drive. This
disk contains a general purpose set of drum sounds and a collection of
demonstration sequences.
Note: Every time you turn the MPC60's power on, you must re-load the
drum sounds (and sequences if desired) from disk. This is because ALL
SOUND AND SEQUENCE MEMORY IS LOST WHEN YOU TURN
THE POWER OFF. While it is true that most drum machines hold their
memory when power is removed, these are devices with very low memory
capacity. There are no samplers and no high capacity sequencers which
retain memory when power is removed for one reason: the cost of
low-power memory, which can be kept active by a battery, is much more
expensive than the type of memory commonly used. We at Akai believe the
customer would prefer to pay a substantially lower price for the minor
inconvenience of saving his work to disk before powering down. For this
reason, whenever you do any sampling or editing of sounds, or recording or
editing of sequences, you must always save the changes to disk, or the
changes will be lost!
2. Turn the power ON and wait for about 1 1/2 minutes for the MPC60 to
load the sounds and sequences into memory. While loading, the screen will
display the following message:
Note: If the version number is a lower number than 2.00, your MPC60 is
running an older software version. If so, you should update your MPC60
to version 2.00. To update your MPC60, contact your dealer or service
center and say "I want to have the latest software update installed in my
MPC60".
When finished loading (after about one minute), the following screen
should a
pp
ear:

Section 2: The Basics 17
This is the PLAY/RECORD screen. It is the main operating mode of the
MPC60 and all playing and recording of sequences is done while this screen
is displayed. This screen will be discussed further in the section entitled
"Recording sequences'". If at any time while operating the MPC60 you are
confused and want to return to this mode, press the MAIN SCREEN key.
Note: There are three other disks included with the MPC60:
ROCK SET and SYSTEM ALL,
DRY SET and SYSTEM ALL, and
SYNTH SET and SYSTEM ALL.
These disks contain 3 additional sets of drum sounds, but contain the same
demonstration sequences. To hear the sounds on these disks, follow the
above instructions again, but use one of these disks instead. It is also
possible to load the files on these disks by using the DISK key, discussed
later in the section "Saving to and loading from disk".

18
2.3 The CURSOR keys
While the PLAY/R,ECORD screen is showing, notice that a small
rectangular block is blinking near the upper left corner. This is called the
CURSOR. It is possible to move the cursor around the screen using the
four grey direction keys in the CURSOR section of the panel. Try doing
this, then return the cursor to the upper left corner where it was.
Notice that the cursor does not move from letter to letter, but rather
jumps across many letters at a time, landing only in certain locations,
usually to the right of a colon (":"). These areas are called DATA FIELDS
and each one controls a specific parameter. For example, the upper
leftmost data field is called SQNC, an abbreviation for "sequence". To the
right of this field is another field containing the name for the selected
sequence number, followed by the TMPO field, an abbreviation for
"tempo".
The PLAY/R,ECORD screen is one of many screens available on the
MPC60. Each of the panel keys presents at least one unique screen, and each
screen has its own unique data fields. Try pressing a few of the different keys
in the COMMANDS section of the panel such as DISK or TEMPO/SYNC.
When you're finished, press MAIN SCREEN to return to the
PLAY/RECORD screen.

Section 2: The Basics 19
2.4 The NUMERIC KEYPAD, DATA CONTROL and
+/- keys
The NUMERIC KEYPAD
To change the data in a field, move the cursor to it and type in the new
number using the numeric keypad, followed by ENTER. For example, to
change to sequence number 2:
1. Move the cursor to the SQNC field;
2. Type 2, followed by ENTER.
Notice that the sequence name (located immediately to the right of the
sequence number) now automatically changes, because it must now display
the name of sequence 2. Try changing the playing tempo in the same way
(move the cursor to the TMPO field).
Another use of the numeric keypad is to select from a list of options
presented on-screen. For example, pressing the DISK key causes the
followin
g
screen to be dis
p
la
y
ed:
If a screen like this is displayed, you are expected to select one of the
options by pressing a single number - it is not necessary to press ENTER
afterwards.
The DATA CONTROL
Another way of changing on-screen data is to use the DATA CONTROL.
While the cursor is in a data field, if the DATA CONTROL is rotated one
"step" to the right (as you turn the knob, you can "feel" the steps), the
on-screen number will increment by 1. If the DATA CONTROL is rotated
one step to the left, the on-screen number will decrement by 1.
Continuously turning the DATA CONTROL will repeatedly increment or
decrement the on-screen value. It is not necessary to press ENTER after
turning the data control.
There are certain data fields called "choice" fields. These fields do not
contain numeric data, but rather a specific number of preset

selections, but only one may be active at a time. In this case, the DATA
CONTROL is used to select from the available options. For example,
press the OTHER key and move the cursor to the RATE field, which is a
"choice" field. Now turn the DATA CONTROL and notice that with each
step of the control, a different preset option appears.
The + and - keys
Pressing the "+" key has the same effect as turning the DATA CONTROL
one step to the right. It either increments a number in a numeric field or
chooses a new option in a "choice" field.
Pressing the "-" key has the same effect as turning the DATA CONTROL
one step to the left. It either decrements a number in a numeric field or
chooses a new option in a "choice" field.
20