Roger Linn is one of the most famous names in music technology. Creator of the LM-1, the first drum machine to use digital samples, he also designed the MPC60 and MPC3000 for Akai.
Linn stopped working with Akai after the company went out of business in 2000, but the electronic instrument division that was spun off from the main brand has continued to produce new instruments in the MPC line that draw on Linn's pioneering designs.