I bought this E-Mu MP-7 in 2003.
Prior to that I was really using some low budget means of production. For recording and mixing, I was straight 4-track cassette until I stole a computer in 2001 and got a cracked copy of Cool Edit Pro, thus entering the world of digital recording and editing. For doing beats...well, I had a Boss Dr. Groove drum machine, a lame Yamaha keyboard, one (1) turntable and bass guitar I stole from these dirty punk rock kids who borrowed my PA system and never returned it. Producing beats at the time was a bit of a challenge, because with no real MIDI sequencing you basically had to loop your sample in Cool Edit Pro, program the drums separately, and then try to line everything up with each other. Not the easiest process, but that's how I did all my early demos (and parts of Future Dead Rapper and Jakademix).
Enter the E-Mu MP-7 (with E-Mu's corny product nickname "Mo Phatt"). Finally I had real true MIDI sequencing and better sounds to work with. Later, when I added new pieces to my studio, such as the ASR-X sampler, I was able to sync the two modules via MIDI for some slap-happy sequencing fun.
Sadly, about two years ago, I was pushing a homeless cart full of my belongings toward my Jeep, getting ready to make a drive from Brooklyn to TN, and I was arguing loudly with a certain female. As I turned around to say something along the lines of "You have no idea what the fuck you're talking about..." my homeless cart hit a bump in the curb, and my beloved MP-7 fell from the top of the cart to the ground. As my heart fell from my chest to roughly my ankles.
It was my own damn fault. I should have treated it like an $800 piece of equipment, and truly I should have know better. Well, the damage done by the fall was minimal, and after opening it up it appeared that the digital resistor chip that controls the volume output had broken in half. All functions worked OK, just no volume coming out of the machine. I spent the better part of the year after that trying to find parts for this thing, but it's such a specialty item that no one carried any repair parts or would work on it (not even E-mu).
At Progressive Music (the studio I work at) there is a whiz kid named Louis who is really nice with repairing equipment. He knows his shit (the kid built a headphone amp inside of a fricking Altoids tin...) so I figured he was my only hope. Unfortunately during his attempt to repair the connection, SMOKE BEGAN POURING OUT OF THE MACHINE. Ahhhh, fuck.
Dude did the best he could, but it certainly appears that my once beautiful MP-7 has now been reduced to the scrap pile. God bless you, Mo' Phatt...we had quite a run together. Looks like I'll be leaning more on Reason and Logic for my synth and bass sounds.
Enter the E-Mu MP-7 (with E-Mu's corny product nickname "Mo Phatt"). Finally I had real true MIDI sequencing and better sounds to work with. Later, when I added new pieces to my studio, such as the ASR-X sampler, I was able to sync the two modules via MIDI for some slap-happy sequencing fun.
Sadly, about two years ago, I was pushing a homeless cart full of my belongings toward my Jeep, getting ready to make a drive from Brooklyn to TN, and I was arguing loudly with a certain female. As I turned around to say something along the lines of "You have no idea what the fuck you're talking about..." my homeless cart hit a bump in the curb, and my beloved MP-7 fell from the top of the cart to the ground. As my heart fell from my chest to roughly my ankles.
It was my own damn fault. I should have treated it like an $800 piece of equipment, and truly I should have know better. Well, the damage done by the fall was minimal, and after opening it up it appeared that the digital resistor chip that controls the volume output had broken in half. All functions worked OK, just no volume coming out of the machine. I spent the better part of the year after that trying to find parts for this thing, but it's such a specialty item that no one carried any repair parts or would work on it (not even E-mu).
At Progressive Music (the studio I work at) there is a whiz kid named Louis who is really nice with repairing equipment. He knows his shit (the kid built a headphone amp inside of a fricking Altoids tin...) so I figured he was my only hope. Unfortunately during his attempt to repair the connection, SMOKE BEGAN POURING OUT OF THE MACHINE. Ahhhh, fuck.
Dude did the best he could, but it certainly appears that my once beautiful MP-7 has now been reduced to the scrap pile. God bless you, Mo' Phatt...we had quite a run together. Looks like I'll be leaning more on Reason and Logic for my synth and bass sounds.
