Akai’s MPD Series Digital Drum Pads

There are countless producers and artists that use Akai’s line of hardware from The Alchemist to The Goo Goo Dolls. Most prefer the MPC series which is a standalone sequencing workstation which features an internal hard drive in more recent version, but there are a lot of producers who prefer the flexibility of software which is where the MPD controllers come in to play.

The MPD 18 pictured above is for the entry-level producer and won’t break your pockets at $99 and definitely will get the job done. It features 3 banks which are loosely Octaves on a keyboard that you can trigger sounds from.

The MPD 32 shown below has all of the bells and whistles that you would ever want including 8 faders, 8 knobs and the tap tempo and note repeat buttons that the full MPC features. With all of these features comes the price tag which hits for $330 but well worth every penny spent.

Whether you make Hip Hop, Electro, Disco, Polka or all things in between – if you do it digitally, do yourself a favor and cop one of these joints from Akai. These drum pads will help you bang out your kicks, snares and percussion with the feel that doesn’t come easy when using a midi keyboard (or qwerty if you make beats on the low at work like me).