Vintage Drum Machine MPC Electronics

[Kriminal]

found one of these in a seconghand music shop the other day, and went in today to get some details.



Its an old 1983(?) Music Percussion Computer (made in Cambridge by MPC Electronics)

8 big pads, and 3 rack mounts thst come with this (the brain i guess and other stuff)

DSM 1 Rack Module
DSM 200 Rack
DSM 32x4 128 memory drum synth

The main lump with the pads has sync in/out, looks like MIDI dut may by DIN. Also has tape in/out and a serial port labelled 'computer' which i assume goes into the 'brain' rack.

Price..£199 for the main part and about £30 each for the racks, but they are selling it all as one item, but he didnt know the price. (with flight cases)

Anyway, looked kinda interesting, just thought id share this find with you.

Only info i could find about it is here:

http://www.synthmuseum.com/mpc/index.html

Maybe someone else is familiar with it.

[paradiddle]

Ain't never seen anything like that before. The 1st octopad was in 1985 and Roland claimed they were the 1st to come up with that idea.

Did ya try it out?

[daktaris]

i want that!
those a some punisher-looking pads heh

[Kriminal]

Did ya try it out?

no, there was only some spotty teenager in the shop who knew f**k all about it, but i mat go back later and have a go.

[ouroboros]

Looks like it might be in a different case. I can't say I know much, but here is a link that plays the samples when you click on the flash stuff:

http://www.keyboardmuseum.org/d_machines/thekit.html

or perhaps just something similar?

[Kriminal]

Yeah, i saw that, its a diff model.

[ouroboros]

just noticed that the synthmuseum lists its source as the same guy who did the flash page, so it might be legit, but it(the flash page) is short a couple of the modules.

[ouroboros]

oooh, here's another, but it is in German. You've piqued my curiosity.:
http://www1.keyboards.de/magazine/m0104/401128wp.html

they have samples available.

[xoxos]

i think depeche mode used one of those ~ speak & spell or ?? remember seeing one on ebay years ago and someone mentioning that..

[LBN]

That's a pretty cool find of vintage gear. Before the internet exploded it used to be easier to find vintage stuff at cheap prices. I remember driving up and down the main drag in Houston one Saturday afternoon around '90, hitting all the pawn shops. There were tons of analog synths sitting in the shops for (now) ridiculously low prices. There was a mint Korg VC10 vocoder in one for $60 - with the microphone intact and everything. I wanted it very badly but I only had $40 in my pocket and the shop wouldn't budge on the price. I saw a Pro One in another for $100.

I need to begin work on my time machine.

[vout]

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Hi, I have one of these, they are pretty rare. Soundwise, the sounds are pure analogue, high quality and quite similar to the TR-808. They come fitted in a flightcase and were usually supplied with an interface to connect to an 8-bit computer (mine has a sinclair interface) The built in sequencer is a bit weak, but its more fun to bash the pads anyway (the pads are hard plastic and very noisy btw). There is a d-connector on the back for connecting external pads, though I've never tried this.

You can download the original manual in pdf format here: http://www.colinfraser.com/ (http://www.colinfraser.com/)

'The KIT' was a different, smaller machine made by MPC, this is the one on the flash demo.

MPC made a range of rackmount analogue percussion synths, these are just as rare, so it's quite a find.

Hope this helps,
Cheers, vout

[Stupid American Pig]

That's a pretty cool find of vintage gear. Before the internet exploded it used to be easier to find vintage stuff at cheap prices. I remember driving up and down the main drag in Houston one Saturday afternoon around '90, hitting all the pawn shops. There were tons of analog synths sitting in the shops for (now) ridiculously low prices. There was a mint Korg VC10 vocoder in one for $60 - with the microphone intact and everything. I wanted it very badly but I only had $40 in my pocket and the shop wouldn't budge on the price. I saw a Pro One in another for $100.

I need to begin work on my time machine.

Ahh yes, the westheimer drag. I myself used to do this. There is one shop left that keeps abunch of analogs(and Fms) around called westheimer pawn shop, but they will not budge on their prices, even though they have had the same keyboards for 5 years now. They have an Ensoniq ESQ-1 that they want 300 bucks for, even though the keys stick and it looks filthy. I once offered 175 for it, but they laughed me out of there. With the Vsts I have, now I would not even offer 50...

[Sicklecell666]

Better grab it quick!

[LBN]

Ahh yes, the westheimer drag. I myself used to do this. There is one shop left that keeps abunch of analogs(and Fms) around called westheimer pawn shop, but they will not budge on their prices, even though they have had the same keyboards for 5 years now. They have an Ensoniq ESQ-1 that they want 300 bucks for, even though the keys stick and it looks filthy. I once offered 175 for it, but they laughed me out of there. With the Vsts I have, now I would not even offer 50...

Heh...I'll have to check that pawn shop out the next time I'm down there just for shits and grins. I know what you mean about having all the power in the VSTs but it's still hard to overcome that reflex when you see something in a pawn shop. I guess it comes from when I was a kid and would see interviews with synth stars in magazines and they had rooms full of keyboards and racks and racks of gear. I always wanted a giant playroom like that. About two years ago I came across a Synergy like the one Wendy Carlos used in an Austin pawn shop for something like $300. Of course I immediately started going through calculations in my mind of how long I could delay my rent check. I didn't buy it because I couldn't afford it but the main point is I had no practical use for it.

With all the power I have now from VSTs the gear lust has diminished drastically. My VST folder would put most of those synth stars' studios from 20 years ago to shame. And with quality emulations from companies like Arturia and Gmedia I can easily rationalize that it's not worth the maintenance hassles that come along with trying to find replacement parts for a 20-30 year old machine.

Although the really tempting things are when you find rare pieces like the above drum synth. I wouldn't look twice at a Minimoog in a pawn shop but something like the above would have me at an ATM checking my account balance.

[seamoss]

ahh....the westheimer pawn shop. that's the one across from guitar center, yeah?

that owner guy is such a dick. i remember him from years ago when i was mainly into vintage guitar equipment.....he would never go down even if that crap sat there for years. i remember he would have stuff that was used and charging more than guitar center had it for new.....and guitar center was right across the street!!!

dumbass