The MPC Sample Update We've Been Waiting For?! SampQOL Adds a Proper Step Sequencer, 16 Tracks and More to MPC Sample
The MPC Sample has become one of the more interesting pieces of music hardware to
watch lately. Akai recently revealed plans to open the platform up to community development, but developers are apparently not waiting around for that process to officially begin.
A free unofficial mod called SampQOL OS has already added a surprisingly large collection of features to the MPC Sample, including a proper step sequencer, up to 16 drum tracks, expanded chopping, a full mixer, stem export, a looper and much more.
After spending most of this year making beats with the stock MPC Sample since it released, there are several additions here that immediately caught my attention.
SampQOL Runs From the SD Card
One of the first things worth clarifying is that SampQOL does not actually replace or flash over the MPC Sample’s stock firmware. The current version, SampQOL OS 0.2.0, runs from the microSD card alongside MPC Sample firmware 1.3.0. With the appropriate files on the card, the mod automatically loads when the MPC starts. Remove the SD card and the hardware boots normally into Akai’s stock operating system.
That makes this a little different from some of the custom firmware projects we’ve been seeing on hardware like the SP404 MK2. SampQOL takes advantage of the MPC Sample’s existing ability to run a script from the SD card and loads its additional functionality into memory rather than permanently replacing the system software.
That does not mean there is zero risk. SampQOL is still beta software, and the developer specifically recommends backing up your projects and saving regularly. The current documentation warns that software errors or failed project loads can potentially result in lost unsaved work or samples.
SampQOL Expands Almost Every Part of the MPC Sample
SampQOL adds a pretty substantial list of features beyond the stock MPC Sample workflow, including a traditional step sequencer with Pad and Track views, up to 16 drum tracks, deeper mixing with inserts, submixes and per-pad EQ, Chop Mode with up to 128 slices, recording and looping tools, mixdown and stem export, automation, and a KEYS mode for playing samples chromatically from a MIDI keyboard. The latest version even adds a tuner that can detect a sample’s pitch and automatically set its root note. Taken together, these additions push the MPC Sample much closer to a full groovebox-style production environment, while addressing some of the stock OS limitations that immediately stood out to me, particularly the lack of a conventional step editor.
This Is Already Happening Before Akai Officially Opens the Platform
The timing of SampQOL is probably the part I find most interesting.
Akai recently revealed that the MPC Sample will be opened up to community development alongside its upcoming Sample Key, with inMusic also discussing open-source software and development tools. We still don’t know exactly what that official system will look like.
Meanwhile, developers are already showing what can happen when people gain deeper access to the existing hardware. SampQOL is not currently an official Akai project, and it isn’t part of the open-source system Akai has been teasing. But features like a more in depth step editor, expanded mixing, additional tracks and stem export are exactly the kinds of things that make the possibility of official community development so interesting.
Rather than waiting for Akai to decide which workflow improvements are worth prioritizing, developers could potentially build specialized versions of the MPC Sample around completely different ways of making music.
Does More Functionality Actually Make the MPC Sample Better?
There is one question I’d want to answer before getting too excited about the enormous feature list. Part of what makes the MPC Sample appealing is that it is significantly simpler than something like an MPC One or Live. Adding more tracks, deeper mixing, submixes, automation, looping, expanded sequencing and dozens of additional shortcuts could solve some limitations, but it could also start pushing the device toward the complexity that the smaller hardware was arguably designed to avoid.
That’s something a feature list can’t really answer. SampQOL includes several things I’ve specifically wished the stock MPC Sample could do, especially the traditional step sequencer. But the real test will be whether those additions still feel natural on the hardware rather than simply adding more things to memorize.
For now, it’s an impressive example of how much functionality developers are already managing to uncover and add to the MPC Sample. And with Akai itself preparing to officially embrace community development, this may only be the beginning.
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