52 Producer’s Edge Magazine Fall Winter 08

VINTAGE SERIES

:

THE EMU SP-1200 REVISITED

BY SEAN MARU

I

t is hard to overstate the impact

that the SP-1200 has had on

hip-hop production. It has inspired

countless classic albums, it was

THE go-to machine for a great

many “Golden Era” legends and

there is a good chance that if you

make hip hop beats you owe at

least a little bit of your style and/or

a few of your tricks to this little Gray

box. This edition of Vintage Series

will explore the SP-1200 and its

contributions to hip-hop production.

We will also examine how this piece

might fit into the modern studio.

Finally we will address the tortuous

rumors of an updated SP-1200

(usually known as the SP-1600 or

SP-2400).

Pre-History

First, let’s set the stage. It’s the

summer 1987 and if you make beats

there are not a lot of options if you

want to build sample based tracks. You

have the uber expensive and hard to

find Farilight CMI series but they are

incredibly bulky and you don’t have

Peter Gabriel money so forget that.

The Casio SK-1 is at the other end

of the spectrum but its specifications

make it feel like a toy. Its sample “engine” offers 1.4 seconds of sample time at

9.38 kHz. It has no midi, no effects, and did I mention that its memory is volatile

(i.e. your lose you work when you turn it off). Moving right along, you have the

Sequential Circuits 440. Now we are talking. Its got a 12 bit, 8 voice sampler and

a relatively full functioned sequencer. It will hold 50,000 notes across 8 tracks and

has adjustable swing (50 - 75%). To top is all off it has a SCSI port so you can

transfer data between machines. You are sold, right. Wrong! It only has 512kb of

memory and it costs 5 grand! Besides, you just heard that Sequential Circuits is

about to go bankrupt so why hitch to a sinking ship. Finally, the Emu SP12 looks

nice but even the turbo model only has 5 seconds of sample time and the even

though you have heard great things about the sequencer and you have a feeling

those 5.25 disks are on the way out, so no thanks.

Enter the SP-1200!

<Cue Dramatic String Sample>

Its game over! This beast has 10 seconds of 12 bit sample time at 26,040hz (albeit

in 4 chunks of 2.5 seconds), 32 user sample slots, a flexible 5000 note sequencer

with input quantization, midi in/out/thru connections, smpte sync, analog filters,

and 8 individual ¼ inch outputs so you can break things out on a mixing board. To

top it off you can save everything to 3.5 floppies! Now you have a self-contained

way to sample, sequence, mix and save your tracks. Then you realize this thing

is just small enough to take with you just about anywhere which means you will

53 Producer’s Edge Magazine Fall Winter 08

be that much more productive (no

pun intended). You can work on beats

whenever you have spare time (and

a few records) and you won’t have

to deal with a lot of bulky equipment.

Having an essentially mobile studio

means you can track,

collaborate or perform

with more people in more

places. The possibilities

are endless.

Not so Fast!

<Cue sound

of a needle being brutally

removed from a record>

Not so fast you say.

It is almost 2008 and

your phone has more

memory than this thing!

And just about any recent computer

has enough horsepower to provide a

virtually unlimited number of tracks,

many Gigabytes of storage and a sea

of effects to choose from that Magellan

wouldn’t cross. Okay so maybe

endless is a little strong. The

SP-1200 was a great update but

it still had plenty of limitations.

However, there is something to

be learned from this machine and

the producers who mastered it.

That something is the art of “less

is more”. The history of hip-hop

is often the history of artists doing

a lot with very little. Don’t have a

canvas. Find a train. Don’t have

a drum set. Use Dad’s record

collection. As we will see, the

SP-1200 embodies this concept

completely and it does it with

style.

In-Use

<cue the smell of a dusty

record sleeve>

Lay of the Land

The SP-1200 is a very hands-on

machine. You get 8 buttons that are

used to select sounds for editing and

also to trigger sounds when sequencing.

The bank select button lets you step

through each of the 4 available banks

(A, B, C or D) providing quick access

to all 32 user sounds. Other function

buttons are dedicated for important

tasks. There’s also a global switch to

toggle each trigger’s velocity sensitivity

on or off. The tap/note repeat button

allows you to quickly set sequence

tempo or input notes automatically

at the currently selected quantization

value.

You also get 8 sliders that can be

used for data entry in various edits.

Their function changes depending

upon which mode you are in. You

can use them to control the pitch,

volume, decay or loop point of selected

sounds. They are especially handy in

truncation/loop mode. Sliders 1 and 2

controls control sample start points.

Slider 1 is coarse adjustment and

slider 2 is fine adjustment. Sliders 3

and 4 control sample end points. As

you may be able to guess slider 3 is for

coarse adjustment and slider 4 is for

fine adjustment. Sliders 5 and 6 give

control over coarse and fine loop point

adjustment, respectively. The sliders

can also be used to make edits while

sequencing. For example, you can also

use slider 1 to adjust sequence tempo.

Overall, the user interface of the SP-

1200 is very efficient, especially when

considering it was designed over two

decades ago. Its thoughtful design and

hands-on approach made it easy for

producers to put down ideas quickly

and that rawness was evident in the

music that resulted.

Sampling

As we said, we are

only talking 4 banks of

2.5 seconds so you will

have to plan carefully

to make the most of this

beast. Most of us by now

are aware of the trick

of playing the record at

45rpm and detuning the

sample at playback. Well,

this machine (along with

the original SP12), were

the initial inspirations for that technique.

By playing the record faster, you could

sample longer phrases and make better

use of your meager sample time. Do

you remember what I said about doing

less with more. An added benefit

is that when you pitch the sample

back down to regular speed the

interpolation that takes place often

yields pleasing results. An almost

ring modulation-like artifacts color

the sample.

The SP-1200 does not allow for

extreme precision when editing

samples. When adjusting sample

start points, for instance, you will

find that the smallest adjustment

you will be able to make will be

about 25 samples. The upside for

some styles is that this can prevent

you from sucking the soul out of

your beat by being too “on”. One man’s

slop is another man’s funk. Additional

limitations include the omission of

things we take for granted today, like

time-stretch. On the SP-1200 there

isn’t any. Also, the pitch adjustment

allows you to only tune in semitones,

as opposed to cents, so matching

samples require a good ear and a little

luck. The multi-pitch feature allows

you to pitch one sound across 8 pads

and each of those pads can be tuned

independently. This allows you to play

your samples in different pitches and

come up with melodic/rhythmic phrases

as you would on a traditional keyboard.

T

he history of hip-hop is often the history

of artists doing a lot with very little.

Don’t have a canvas. Find a train. Don’t have a

drum set. Use Dad’s record collection. As we

will see, the SP-1200 embodies this concept

completely and it does it with style.

54 Producer’s Edge Magazine Fall Winter 08

As an example, you can have one pad

trigger the sample at original pitch,

one at the fifth interval above or below

original, and maybe one at the third

interval. This can be very useful for

creating basslines, etc.

Sequencing

Sequencing on the SP-1200 gener-

ally involves recording a handful of

segments and then chaining them

together in song mode. While build-

ing segments you can save time by

using auto correct to align hits to a

selected value (1/8, 1/16, etc.). After

your parts are laid you can add swing

at the desired value. They are entered

in terms of percentages. In case you

are wondering WHICH percentage is

the key to achieving perfect bounce,

don’t ask. Just feel it out for the song

at hand. If you are interested in gross

generalizations, then think of the high-

est percentages as more “Jazzy” and

the lower settings as more “rockish”.

Right in the middle is hip hop terri-

tory. It is important to note that many

get great results from not quantizing

or adding swing at all. Find your own

path Grasshoppa! Experimentation is

the key and it lead to one of the most

widely use tricks in hip-hop, namely

the double tempo trick. That is if you

are working on a beat that is 90bpm,

simply set the tempo on the SP to

180bpm. This effectively doubles the

sequencers resolution, giving you

twice as many places to put your hits.

It allows for more nuanced patterns

and enhances other programming

tricks like ghost notes, etc.

Other sequencer features include the

ability to erase notes on the fly which

greatly speeds things along. The note

repeat button can also be useful for

drum rolls or for laying down a quick

hi hat line. As you assemble your seg-

ments you can save additional time by

copying or appending them to each

other. Once you have created seg-

ments for your intro, verses, hooks,

variations, etc. you are ready to chain

them together in song mode. Song

mode is essentially a list of segments.

You can specify how many times a

segment repeats or you can insert/de-

lete segments at will until your song is

fleshed out.

While working you may need to make

detailed edits that are tricky to do in

real time with the note erase feature. In

these situations, you will want to enter

step edit mode. In this mode you can

move through each note in the segment

and insert or delete as desired. Think of

it as microscope mode where you can

slow things down and find that flam or

that bum hit and fix it.

Fast Forward to 2007

So the SP-1200 was a very capable

machine in its day and it enjoyed

a pretty good run until it was finally

discontinued in 1998. The question

that remains is how it fits into a mod-

ern studio. First of all, the SP-1200

could be a killer tone module. Its 12

bit sound and warm analog filters can

be a nice color to have on the palette.

Before you even bring up the cute

little sample rate conversion provided

by your DAW, just stop. It is not the

same. Sorry. As for the filters, you

buy a nice hardware filter module but

it won’t be cheap and it will do only

one thing, unlike the SP. Next, the

sequencer makes the SP-1200 a valu-

able addition to most studios. Even if

you don’t buy into the hype surround-

ing its “magical swing”, this machine

is still one of the fastest ways to set a

tempo, bang out a beat and hook up

a song mode. Right click that. Really

the whole package is a great first draft

engine. You can throw on records,

hook up quick ideas and if you want to

get really surgical you can send dump

the midi and/or audio to your DAW

and enjoy the best of both worlds.

Finally, there is an intangible reason to

include the SP-1200 in your arsenal.

It is hip-hop history. It is hard not to be

inspired by a machine that spawned

so many great ideas.

Final Thoughts

On paper, its specifications are not

impressive by today’s standards, you

get very little sample time, a relatively

primitive sequencer and your storage

options are limited. Nevertheless, the

SP-1200 still draws high bids on eBay

(about 1300 as of September 2007)

and has the respect and admiration of

producers young and old school. The

enduring fascination with this machine

is one part idol worship, one part

nostalgia for the Golden Era sound,

and one part appreciation for its “do a

lot with a little” personality.

The SP1600, SP2400 and Other Urban Legends

O

ver the years there has been much speculation about the possibility of a new generation of SP. These

fantasies are not totally unfounded. For a time, there was talk at EMU about producing such a machine.

Rumor has it that the new machine would be called the SP1600 (or SP2400) and would, depending upon who

you listen to, would utilize the 16-bit sampling engine from either the Emax II or the ESI-32 samplers or even

a new 24 bit sampling engine. Sadly, the project was supposedly killed because Emu felt it was too much of a

niche product. And so the story goes, one of the chief architects of the new SP project jumped ship and went on

to produce another sampling drum machine you might have heard of: the AKAI MPC 2000. Ouch. To make a long

story short, it is highly unlikely that we will see a hardware update of the SP-1200.

SP 1200 Production Timeline

1987 1990 1993 1998

|------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------------------|

SP-1200 Original Reissued (Black Version) Final batch of SP-

Launched SP-1200 discontinued w/updated electronics to meet 1200s produced

(Partly due to limited regulatory standards

Availability of SSM

Chips)

Pros:

•Grimy 12 bit sound that CANNOT be achieved by sample rate

reduction

•Hands on feel (Sliders can be used for mixing, tuning and editing

functions.)

•Flexible sequencing and input quantization

•Limited sample time-forces you to be creative

•8 mono outputs for mixing flexibility

Cons:

•Very pricy (still)

•Limited sample time forces you to need additional gear for some

ideas

•Discontinued and thus parts and repair options are limited

Pioneers and Masters: Pete Rock, The Bomb Squad, Large Professor,

DJ Muggs, Marley Marl, Da BeatMinerz, Lord Finesse, Pharaoh Monch

(Organized Konfusion), etc.

Hear it in Action: Pete Rock & CL Smooth “Mecca & The Soul Brother”

(1992), Cypress Hill “Cypress Hill” (1991), Public enemy “It takes

a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988), Organized Konfusion

“Extinction Agenda” (1994), etc.

Fun Facts:

•The SP-1200 was the first sampling drum machine with integrated

floppy. This encouraged use of it as a portable studio.

•The longest run product in Emu history

•One of the first drum machines to utilize smpte synchronization

Summary of Specifications

Sample Memory

10 seconds at 26,040 Hz in four 2.5-second blocks (12-

bit linear resolution)

Filters:

SSM Analog Filters

Sequence capacity

5000 notes minimum (depending on density of parts)

Patterns (referred to in the manual as “segments”)

100

Songs 100

Tempo Range 40-240 BPM

Auto correct with values of: 8th note, 8th triplet,

16th note, 16th Triplet, 32nd note, 32nd triplet and

high resolution mode

Outputs

Mono mix Individual channels, (eight, programmable.

tip = unfiltered. ring - filtered). MIDI out. MIDI thru,

SMPTE, Metronome/Clock

Inputs

Sample, MIDI, SMPTE/Sync, Footswitches (3)

Interface

MIDI, SMPTE, 24 pqn clock

Data and Sound Storage

3.5” floppy diskette

Optional accessories

Additional sound library diskettes, footswitches