The Kit Operating Instructions

By MPC Electronics

In 1982 the company MPC Electronics Ltd was formed in Cambridge by entrepreneur Mike Coxhead to manufacture and market a small electronic drum trigger device designed by Clive Button that could be played using fingers rather than drumsticks - The Kit. After modifications were made to the original design and a few manufacturing issues were overcome, The Kit (Mark 2) was unveiled at music equipment trade shows to high acclaim, and was to sell by the thousands when released to the British, European and North American markets. MPC Electronics released several accessories to accompany The Kit, including a special foot pedal for Bass drum triggering and additional drum sound-source units in the form of The Clap, The Tymp, and the Synkit. A year later Clive Button's innovative MPC-1 design - the Music Percussion Computer - combined the simplicity of The Kit with the complexity of an eight-pad drum trigger unit that not only provided an onboard computer capable of storing electronic drum patterns, but also interfaced with the leading home computers of the time to enable drum pattern programming using a computer monitor. The eight pad trigger concept was to be later copied by Roland with their Pad-8 Octapad (and a whole range of similar Roland products in future years), and by Allen & Heath (AHB) with their ill-fated Inpulse One drum machine. Full size electronic drum pads for triggering the MPC-1 appeared later, which were also to be used to trigger a range of rack-mounted electronic drum synthesizer modules designed by Clive Button and released in 1984-85. A few other Button designs were to be released by MPC Electronics, but the company's chief designer subsequently took his talents elsewhere (designing for Bokse, Nomad and Trace Elliot), and MPC Electronics folded in 1986. There are still many working examples of The Kit in existence, and this booklet provides not only a fully comprehensive operating manual (with additional notes, diagrams and photographs) for The Kit and accessories, but also a full history of MPC Electronics Ltd and all the products released by the company during the period 1982-1986.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0CXJ68PVS
• ISBN13: 9798876300690
• Release Date: March 2024
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 72 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.2" x 6.0"