Mannie Fresh Made Juvenile’s Entire “Ha” Beat With an E-mu SP-1200
Mannie Fresh isn’t afraid of advancing technology. Fans of the popular Beatmaker 2 app will recognize his jaw-dropping Microphone Check live set where he played bounce versions of “Beat It”, “California Love”, and “September”, all crafted with the $9.99 iOS program. Beyond live performances, he also brought the app into his studio process and made the hit 2 Chainz single “Used 2” with Beatmaker 2.
Although his mastery of the iPad is impressive, when asked about his instruments of choice he often points to the classics. He has shown a willingness to adapt to new tools, but the E-mu SP-1200 is the sampler Fresh used to make many classic songs and remains one of his favorite pieces of gear.
Many people associate the SP-1200 with producers like Large Professor and Pete Rock, as both men used the machine to push the limits of we thought was possible with drum programming, filtering, and sampling. But when you dig a bit deeper, you find that the iconic E-mu machine also played a role in the careers of several prominent southern producers. It seems the SP’s influence spans far beyond the golden era, New York-based vibes often associated with it.
“We ain’t got nothing but eight outputs on this drum machine, and this song is going to be so [crazy].”
As Fresh once told Electronic Musician, “I’ve got different drum machines that I use for different things, but I think the older ones are always the best when it comes down to getting that 808 bass. That’s why you’ve gotta have a 1200 or something like it — you can’t do it with nothing new because it’s gonna sound too digital. When I know it’s like a bass song, I gotta go with my SP-1200.”
Those who remember the dominance of Cash Money in the late 90s and early 2000s may be surprised to learn that Mannie crafted many of the songs for folks like Juvenile with the 1200. In fact “Ha”, one of Juvenile’s biggest hits from his 400 Degreez album, was created from beginning to end on the 1200.
As Fresh told XXL, “The whole song was created on my SP 1200…It was no keyboards, none of that. Like, I did the key sounds like just by tuning bass sounds or whatever. We ain’t got nothing but eight outputs on this drum machine, and this song is going to be so [crazy].”
“That’s why you’ve gotta have a 1200 or something like it — you can’t do it with nothing new because it’s gonna sound too digital.”
This technique of tuning sounds on the 1200 is not unique to “Ha”, as Fresh also broke down this technique in the Electronic Musician piece, saying “You can set up a 1200 into notes, like you can get from [middle] C to C on it, so once I make the bass line, I might just keep on with that. Every time I find a new instrument, I’ll just sample from a middle C and go from there, so everything can be in key.”
Beyond his work for Cash Money, Fresh continues to make use of the sampler with his more current projects, often making the 1200 and Ensoniq EPS keyboard work hand-in-hand, crafting hits like T.I.’s “Top Back” by using both. And while he has demonstrated numerous times that he can still work the 1200 by itself, these days he is once again painting outside the lines by using the Beatmaker 2 app and the 1200 together. Whatever new pieces of technology Mannie Fresh decides to add to his repertoire next, it seems certain that the E-mu SP-1200 will remain a central component.
You can connect with Mannie Fresh on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @manniefresh.
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