My pad or yours?

My pad or yours?

9 January, 2012 | 3.45AM

• Written by: Sean Lewis
• Filed under: Music News: drum machines, drums, midi controllers, mpc, tech, technology

Let us celebrate the humble, all-powerful pad controller. Early versions of samplers inspired by the pad action of now vintage drum machines squawked out 8-bit samples of delicate digital waveforms with each finger fall and created a new era in music. Since those days, we’ve seen huge leaps in technology, but no one has managed to replace the tapping finger as the most thrilling, dexterous all-analog trigger mechanism.

Across instruments such as Akai’s champion MPC, Native Instruments’ Maschine, a mountain of MIDI controllers from various manufactuers and even pad-style matrix controllers for DAWs like Ableton Live, the method is proven.

But this isn’t a time for reflection; this is about the future of music. The pad era has led to new kinds of virtuosity, as performers master skills that didn’t even exist three decades ago. Even Roger Linn could never have conceived of the limits they’d be pushed past by today’s talents.

In tribute to the button-pushers that push our buttons, we’ve put together a selection of videos capturing some of the most talented cats around—Araabumzik, Justin Aswell, Fresh Kils, Edison, and more—laying down the illest beats in real time.

Taken together, these bursts of genius positively bury the old adage, “Drum machines have no soul.”

But on to the action! This isn’t a time of reflection and history, this is about the future of music. The age of these style of controllers has lead to phenomenal mastery of their boundaries. Even Roger Linn, the man credited for the creation of most of these machines could have never conceived of the limits they’d be pushed past by today’s talents. We here at Beatport have been put together a list of video entertainment, by some of the freshest and most talented cats, laying down the illest beats in real time. Absolute poetry and genius that murders, dismembers and buries the old adage “Drum Machines Have No Soul.”

If you know of any we’ve forgot… please leave them in the comments below.

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