Akai Professional

In 1984, Akai Professional entered the electronic music industry with the goal of providing artists with the tools needed to express and explore new musical possibilities. Throughout the years, Akai Professional products have been a fixture of modern music in both the studio and on stage. The refinement of their digital sampling technology has become the building block of today’s most popular music. Tom Lee Music is proud to carry a wide variety of Akai Pro products including the Akai MPK mini, MPC one sampler, MIDI keyboard & controller and more! Shop online or through our retail stores in Vancouver, Richmond, Coquitlam, Langley and Victoria.

History of Akai

Akai was founded by Masukichi Akai and his son, Saburo Akai, as Akai Electric Company Ltd in 1964. A new division of the company was formed in 1984 to focus on the manufacture and sale of high-end audio electronics and instruments, popularly known as Akai Professional. Today, Akai is known for their Digital MIDI sequencers and digital synthesizers such as the MPC (a line of integrated drum machines) MIDI sequences, samplers and direct-to-disk recorders.

The MPC sequencing samplers have forever changed the way modern music is created by allowing digital samples to be used as the basis for composition. The first MPCs were designed by Roger Linn, who had designed many successful drum machines in the 1980s. The MPC had a major influence on the development of electronic and hip hop music and are used and loved by popular artists like Mark Ronson, Kanye West and DJ Shadow. Over the past 20 years, Akai Pro has been at the forefront of digital technology and remains an influential manufacturer of musical equipment. Explore our website and visit a Tom Lee Music location near you to try out Akai MPK Mini controllers, keyboards, samplers and more!