Where It All Began
Roger Linn had already changed music once. His LM-1 Drum Computer (1980) and LinnDrum (1982) were the first drum machines to use digital samples. Then came the Linn 9000 (1984) — the first integrated drum machine and MIDI sequencer with velocity-sensitive pads. It was brilliant in concept but plagued by bugs that sank his company.
In 1986, Japanese electronics giant Akai approached Linn about a partnership. They needed a creative designer; he needed manufacturing muscle. It was a perfect fit. Linn set about doing what he described as a “proper re-engineering” of the Linn 9000, designing every button, every screen, every interaction from the outside in.
He also perfected something he’d invented on the LM-1: swing quantization. By delaying the second sixteenth note within each eighth note by a variable amount, rigid sequences could be given a human groove. The “MPC swing” would become legendary.
“Between 50% and around 70% are lots of wonderful little settings that, for a particular beat and tempo, can change a rigid beat into something that makes people move.”
— Roger LinnOn December 8, 1988, the result hit the market: the Akai MPC60 — MIDI Production Center. It would change everything.
MPC60
The one that started it all. The MPC60 combined a 12-bit sampler with a 16-track MIDI sequencer and 16 velocity-sensitive rubber pads in a single, rock-solid unit. At $5,000, it wasn’t cheap — but it was transformative.
Linn expected users to sample short drum hits. Instead, producers began sampling entire passages of music, pushing the machine’s 13-second sample limit to its absolute edge. Havoc famously built “Shook Ones Part II” within the MPC60’s 8-second window. The constraint became the creative catalyst.
MPC60 II
Released in 1991, the MPC60 II was a refined update rather than a redesign. It doubled the sample memory to 1.5 MB standard (expandable to 3 MB), added a larger backlit LCD, and cleaned up the audio path for lower noise. The sequencer and pad feel remained identical — if anything, Akai simply polished what Linn had built.
The MK2 was the last MPC to bear Roger Linn’s original circuit design. Many producers — including DJ Premier — continued using the 60 II well into the 2000s, preferring its gritty 12-bit character over the cleaner sound of later models.