E-mu SP-1200

SP-1200

Launched as grey body
Black body re-issue in 1997



Produced between 1987 - 1998
Re-issue Price $2495

Product Specs

• Sampling Drum Machine
• 12-bit linear resolution
• 26,040 Hz Sample Rate
• 8 velocity sensing pads
• 384 Kbytes sample ROM
• 10 seconds sample time
• Realtime sequencer
• MIDI Sample Dump
• Analog filters!

E-mu SP-1200 is a classic drum machine and sampler released in August 1987 by E-mu Systems, Inc. as an update of the SP-12, which was originally created for dance music producers. In an article published in New York City's The Village Voice in November 2007, Ben Detrick explains, "The machine rose to such prominence that its strengths and weaknesses sculpted an entire era of music: the crunchy digitized drums, choppy segmented samples, and murky filtered basslines that characterize the vintage New York sound are all mechanisms of the machine."

Designed to be used as both a drum sequencer and sampler in one, the SP-1200 features a 26.040 kHz sampling rate (roughly half the fidelity of a compact disc) and 12-bit resolution; along with the idiosyncratic SSM2044 filter chips, these machines were fitted with make for a dirty, gritty sound. One of the attributes of the SP-1200 is its extremely small amount of memory---roughly 10 seconds.

E-mu SP1200 interior


Features

The SP1200 can store up to 100 patterns, 100 songs and has a 5000 note minimum memory for drum sequences. It also has a mono mix output and eight individual outputs, MIDI in/out/thru, SMPTE sync, and a metronome output. There is one button that allows you to select between banks A, B, C and D giving the user easy access to each of the 32 sounds. The front panel contains several LED lights, buttons and eight volume and pitch faders for each sound in the selected bank. Below each fader is a large button to initialize the sound, or select the sound for editing, and a switch to turn the trigger's velocity sensitivity off or on. The sequencer works in the familiar pattern-style of placing short consecutive sections of samples into a song. The user can easily add swing quantisation and tempo changes. The sequencer can sync the tempo to SMPTE, MIDI or analogue clock pulses. Also, if one wanted, the sequencer can synchronize the tempo to a tapping finger with the 'tap tempo' button.

On Madvillainy, Madlib is holding a SP1200 in his hands on the back cover. 2 songs were not made with the Sp1200, they instead use the SP-303.


Ski Beatz - the making of Jay-Z's "Dead Presidents" beat using SP1200


Albums produced using SP1200

• Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill
• Pete Rock - INI, Soul Survivor, Petestrumentals
• Lootpack - Soundpieces: Da Antidote
• Ultramagnetic MCs - Critical Beatdown
  
• Geto Boys - The Geto Boys
• EPMD - Strictly Business
• Cypress Hill - Black Sunday
• Main Source - Breaking Atoms
• Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt
• Madlib - Madvillainy

Producers using SP1200

• Marley Marl (Juice Crew)
• Hank Shocklee (Bomb Squad/Public Enemy)
• Prince Paul (De La Soul)
• Showbiz (DITC)
• Lord Finesse (DITC)
• Large Professor
• Q-Tip (A Tribe Called Quest)
• Pete Rock
• DJ Muggs (Cypress Hill)
• Beastie Boys
• Da Beatminerz: Mr. Walt, DJ Evil Dee (Black Moon), Baby Paul
• The RZA (Wu-Tang Clan)
• Easy Mo Bee
• Jay Dee aka Dilla
• Madlib