Samples are the lifeblood of the Akai MPC 1000. The MPC 1000 includes a built-in Compact Flash card reader for loading samples into the MPC. A card is included with your production station, and is preloaded with popular Akai samples to get you started. However, you probably want to add a lot more samples of your own. Using a USB cable, connect the MPC 1000 to your Mac or PC. The Compact Flash card appears on your computer just like an external hard drive would, and you can drag and drop samples to the card.
You can use any sounds you create or record on your computer as samples. In addition, you can chop up existing pieces of music contained on your computer in programs such as Peak or Sound Studio and use those as samples too. Be sure to make yourself aware of copyright laws if you plan to use this method and sell the music you create with your MPC. Once you load the samples onto your MPC 1000, you can assign the samples to any of the 16 MPC pads on the unit, and use them to create sequences and beats.
The Akai MPC 1000 features MIDI In and MIDI Out ports to connect with your keyboard and digital audio workstation. Connect the MIDI Out of the keyboard to the MIDI In 1 of the MPC 1000, and the MIDI Out of the MPC to the MIDI In of your keyboard. Set the keyboard to LOCAL OFF. This allows the keyboard to "talk" to the MPC. On the MPC 100, set the mode to MIDI/SYNC, and set Active Track Receive Channel to ALL and Soft Thru to AS TRACK. Your keyboard will now play the same sounds as the pads on your MPC. If you want to hear audio as well as MIDI data, connect the audio outputs of both units to a mixing board.
For additional information and tips regarding the MPC 1000, plenty of downloadable PDF tutorials are available for purchase, as well as YouTube videos to view for free. Either of these options can expand greatly on the manual included with the MPC.