This is a feature request made out of vanity really. I’m not a purist that thinks that music made with limitations would necessary birth better results— not by a long shot.
BUT I have been really wanting recently to give it a go. As an owner and near everyday user of the 2400 who couldn’t dream to buy a 1200 to be able to try this out, I’d love to have a “classic” or “10 second” mode that limited the amount of sampling time you had down to 10 seconds in any individual project file. Again, I really just think this could be fun for us new heads that wanna give our go at the old school limitations- just optional this time.
You do realize people eventually got past that limit by using the s900/950 and eventually moved on to multiple Sp 1200’s or the mpc 60/II.
Pete Rock, Q, etc. all happily moved on to MPCs when they hit a year later.
None of them requested a 10 second mode lol. I just don’t get it.
When the sp was all they had, they happily spoke of the limitations when reflecting but left that sh-t where it belonged. In the past.
I’d rather see an effects board w an emulation mode featuring all the famous beatboxes instead of code being wasted on a 10 second notification or restriction.
It sounds like it’s not going to happen anyway (which is fair and isn’t a big deal to me), but what’s not to get? For some folks this is as close as they’re gonna get to having a 1200 and people who have never used one are rightly curious about the old school work flow and the challenge of making something compelling with only 10 seconds. Pete Rock has also gone back to the 1200 and made new albums and used unreleased 1200 beats on new projects. It’s not like MPC’s hit and nobody wanted to use a 1200 ever again. People wanna try it out for the sport of it. That’s my perspective at least.
Huh, well not everything is for everybody I guess. I don’t know why Pete Rock or Todd Terry do what they do, but that doesn’t stop me from being curious about it and wanting to try it out myself. To each their own I ‘spose!
Word that I’ve gotten is that Pete made a couple of things on the SP-1200 reissue and was promptly back on his 2000xl hahaha. And I’m not surprised. When he hyped the machine up, he got some crucial information wrong about the expanded sampling. Mainly that it was 20 secs per pad. I don’t see him being too enthused by that not being the case and that bit of misinformation also speaks to him definitely not being interested in any kind of time limitations. When I hear of folks like him returning to the 1200, it’s mainly to retrieve drums, which is absolutely understandable. But he hasn’t gone back to make new music on it for release in ages, despite fans begging for it. And that’s his right.
There are so, so many examples of producers who micro-chop to make tracks (from Samiyam to Fitz Ambro$e and beyond) on far more recent equipment/DAWs that adding a 10-sec feature sounds like useless overkill. Folks can just do it themselves and probably come up with much more interesting results.
And lastly, ISLA wrongfully took a lot of heat from the 1200 purists about them trying to make a ‘new 1200’. I hate that they had to deal with that. Requests like this one, in my humble opinion, need to stop. Just like folks insisting on calling it the SP2400. Let’s align this less with the 1200 and really allow it to sit on its own. It’s certainly good enough to, right?
Right on, appreciate yall saying this! I’m green in this, all of this gear is way before my time, so certainly not someone that is in tune with the “community” aspect of it all. I love that it’s there, I just wasn’t born yet lol.
So thanks for clarification— totally understand that the request, albeit just for fun, is counter to the point of Brad’s machine and might offend or give ammo to the purists that aren’t stoked on the 2400. My feature request, as said up top, was just a vanity thing, not a request for anyone to change their ethos on music tech. Same reason I like pumping a 3630 and sampling off vinyl—it forces me to appreciate some of my favorite records even more. But I’ll keep on using my 2400 everyday, you couldn’t keep me away.
Also noted, seems like the prevailing sentiment from Isla is “if you wanted a 1200 you could have bought one”. Glad I didn’t
you are not wrong @tnkz76 while I like having the ability to be limited, it often just results in frustration. I have had 2 original SP-1200s and now the rossum. I wouldnt ever mess with a vintage unit. It is only more expensive/likely to break and most importantly doesnt sound any different. My last Sp-1200 was starting to behave like it needed servicing and I dont need to worry about that any more.
I hit up Brad recently to see if they could put together a firmware that more closely resembled that of the SP-1200 and removed all of the additional features (including limiting to 2.5 seconds per track sample limit). His response what that it would be far to great an endeavour to write an alternative firmware.
Honestly, I’d pay money for an alternative firmware that more closely followed the OG workflow and feature set. Lock it down to only use the classic engine too!
Terrible waste of resources IMO. It was said earlier in the thread, let’s stop aligning the 2400 with the 1200 and let it shine on its own, it’s a more than capable machine in its own right and doesn’t need deliberately crippling. If it’s that important save up for the Rossum. Just my 2c
