A free, illustrated beginner's handbook for the Akai MPC Sample.
Not an equipment manual. Not a music-theory course. Just eight approachable lessons with your MPC Sample, headphones or monitors and no computer, building one piece of slow, atmospheric electronic music from a single drum loop to a finished track.
No prior musical knowledge required.
| Edition | Best for | Size | Download |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPad mini (160 × 244 mm) | Portrait reading on the iPad mini, or any tablet or computer | 78 pages | Download the PDF |
| Editable source | Revising the guide or adapting it, within the licence | ZIP archive | Download the source |
There is one edition, sized for comfortable reading on an iPad mini without zooming. The same source is also in the source/ folder.
Handbook: v1.0 · Firmware documented: MPC Sample 1.3 · Status: checked against Akai's guide; hardware testing in progress
Future versions will appear on the Releases page.
A note on this edition. Every instruction was checked carefully against Akai's official MPC Sample User Guide and the notes for firmware 1.3, but the lessons have not yet been worked through end to end on a physical MPC Sample. A few device behaviours still need hands-on confirmation (they are listed below). If something on your unit behaves differently from the book, please tell us so the next version can fix it.
A warm, retro look for evening sessions · each lesson lights up only the controls it uses · pictures that explain the sound, not just the buttons.
Lesson 1 is a gentle tour of the instrument. Lessons 2 to 8 build one original track, one small idea at a time:
- Hello, MPC. Play the demo, swap a sound, save your first project.
- Four Beats and a Heartbeat. Tempo, beats and bars, and a drum loop recorded one drum at a time.
- Into the Atmosphere. Lower, soften and layer a sound, and give it a room with reverb.
- The Low End. Notes, semitones and octaves, and a simple bassline.
- Shape the Sound. Waveforms, envelopes, filters and resampling: three new sounds from one.
- Everything Is an Instrument. Record a mug with the built-in microphone, then trim and chop it.
- Give It Somewhere to Go. Turn one loop into an intro, main section, breakdown, lift and outro.
- Your First Track. Balance the mix, arrange it in Song Mode and export it as an audio file.
The finished piece is about 80 seconds long at 84 BPM. Each lesson's guided part takes 15 to 25 minutes (Lesson 7, the biggest, about half an hour) and ends with a saved project. An optional Go Further challenge of 10 to 20 minutes follows every lesson, with a little less help each time; you can carry on from either version. Everything uses only the MPC Sample, its built-in sounds and your headphones or monitors.
The book explains each musical idea the first time you meet it and favours practical exercises over feature lists. When you want more depth, it points you to Akai's own User Guide.
- Complete beginners to samplers, sequencers and music theory.
- New MPC Sample owners who want to make music, not memorise menus.
- Anyone drawn to slow, atmospheric electronic music.
- People who would rather make a track on the sofa than at a computer.
The MPC Sample is a compact, battery-powered sampler and sequencer from Akai Professional, with 16 pads, a built-in microphone and speaker, and a headphone output. It works entirely on its own, with no computer required.
- MPC Sample product page
- Official MPC Sample User Guide
- Firmware updates (official instructions)
- Akai Professional support
Please update your MPC Sample using Akai's official instructions, not this handbook.
MPC, Gently is an independent educational publication. It is not made, endorsed or supported by Akai Professional or inMusic.
The handbook has its own version number, separate from the firmware it describes. "v1.0" is the version of this book; "MPC Sample 1.3" is the firmware it was written for.
| Status | |
|---|---|
| Handbook | v1.0 |
| Documented firmware | MPC Sample 1.3 |
| Reference documentation | Akai MPC Sample User Guide v1.3.0 (RevA) |
| Hardware testing | Pending |
| Newer firmware | Consult Akai's User Guide and firmware page |
Akai's guide doesn't settle every detail, so these behaviours still need confirming on a real MPC Sample:
- Where an exported audio file is saved, and how to copy it to a computer.
- How far apart in pitch the 16 Levels (Tune) pads are, and how to switch 16 Levels off.
- Whether a Knob FX keeps sounding while the KNOB FX button is dark.
- Whether RESAMPLE captures Knob FX.
- Whether Sequence Mode shares the pad-bank letter with Sample Mode.
- The names of the factory sample folders (only "Snares" is named in the guide).
The lessons are written so that none of these can stop you finishing your track.
Spotted a wrong button combination, a menu that looks different, a sample that behaves unexpectedly, a diagram mistake or a step that didn't make sense? Please open an issue. There are two short forms:
- Technical correction: something in the book does not match what the MPC Sample actually does.
- Documentation or design improvement: something could be clearer, kinder or easier to read.
No question is too small, and beginners' reports are especially welcome: you are exactly who the book is for.
- Akai Professional and inMusic, makers of the MPC Sample. The handbook was checked against the official MPC Sample User Guide. The Akai Professional and MPC Sample logos, and the labelled top-panel diagram reproduced from the User Guide, remain Akai's property.
- Typeset in Michroma, Archivo, Source Serif 4 and IBM Plex Mono (SIL Open Font License 1.1).
- The handbook was developed with AI-assisted research, writing, coding, layout and review, and went through repeated rounds of review against the official documentation.
Full details, including what you may reuse and how: CREDITS.md and LICENSE.md.
"Akai Professional", "MPC" and "MPC Sample" are trademarks of inMusic Brands, Inc. They are used here only to describe the hardware.