Roland has announced that top producers Armand Van Helden and Jermaine Dupri are currently creating and remixing their latest projects with the new Roland MV-8000 Production Studio.
Cranking out epic beats since he was 15, Helden officially broke onto the global music scene in 1996 with a series of remix classics that became danceclub favorites worldwide. Since then he’s recorded for labels such as Strictly Rhythm, Henry St., Logic, and ZYX, and is now considered one of the most popular dance producers in the world.
In a recent interview Van Helden revealed, “This is the piece that I’ve been wanting for a long time. You (don’t) need anything else, especially if you’re working like me–using a lot of vinyl, or CDs for that matter. Honestly, you could be sitting in front of the MV-8000 and just have a CD or turntable plugged into it, and you’re done. That’s it.”
From making beats to sampling and CD-burning, the MV-8000 Production Studio allows producers to do it all, both quickly and elegantly, in one box. Earlier this year Van Helden hooked up with the recently released MV-8000 and became an overnight advocate.
Van Helden relates, “The MV-8000 does everything. It’s the real, full-on–from start to finish–piece that can do full production. Its all the right stuff put in one package.”
Executive super-producer and performer Jermaine Dupri shares Van Helden’s enthusiasm for the new production studio.
At 14 Dupri produced and secured a record contract for the trio Silk Tymes Leather. By age 16 he had formed So So Def Productions in Atlanta, and in 1991 he secured his first platinum act. Since then Dupri has earned a reputation as one of the most consistent and influential producers around.
“One thing I do a lot of is remixing,” says Dupri. “I love the fact that you can put vocals in the MV, and change the tempo without changing the pitch [a.k.a. time-stretching]. That part excited me about the MV from day one. I also like how you can throw loops in and synchronize everything up quickly — which has always been a problem with samplers in the past.”
The MV-8000 allows producers and recording artists to sample their own sounds or import Roland, Akai, ACID, and WAV libraries, then arrange it all using 16 velocity/aftertouch-sensitive pads and Roland’s most powerful audio/MIDI sequencer. A selection of professional COSM effects, onboard mastering tools, a built-in CD-RW drive, and USB port make the production studio the ultimate tool for today’s producers. And with the MV8-VGA option, the MV-8000 can be expanded with an optical mouse and VGA display.
“I guarantee, I’ll be carrying that setup on the road with me wherever I go.”