So I picked up a Tascam Model 12 to go alongside my MPC One and it’s been great. It allows me to produce my beats the way they do it in a real studio for minimal investment. With the type of songs I make, I don’t need a lot of channels to be able to assign samples/tracks to, but I kind of wish I had waited and picked up the Tascam Model 24 because it does have so many more channels you can work with. For right now this is fine, but as my beat making becomes more and more sophisticated, I could see myself having to upgrade to the Model 24 in order to suffice. Making music has really been a blessing to myself and apparently many others. I was reading a guys post in a MPC Facebook group I’m in and he was talking about all the mental health issues he deals with and how he gets manic and things like that, which I can definitely relate to. He was saying that making music on his MPC helps him relax and it occupies his mind when he starts to go off the deep end. I would say it’s the same for me as well. Making beats really helps me get my mind to train in on one thing and not race like it does all the time. It’s not something negative I’m focused on and I’m creating something which gives me a sense of pride. I can’t find anyone to reliably rap over my beats, so I’m considering putting pen to pad and doing it myself. Hopefully I can get the hang of it rather quickly and I can make something decent. I have a beat I’m currently working on now that I want to rhyme over, so we’ll see how it goes. If you’re interested, my beat site on Bandcamp is www.godsowndj.bandcamp.com . There’s some wack beats on there, some ok stuff, and some stuff I put effort into that you can download. 90 percent of my music is free. If it has a charge it’s because I didn’t use any samples or I paid someone to make the art for the “cover”, etc. I would suggest that if you don’t have any hobbies besides watching tv, and you enjoy music, to start making music yourself. I bet you’d find a lot of joy in it and you’ll learn a lot as well. Til next time..