Music is important to huge numbers of people and without it their lives would be much duller.There exists an enormous selection of musical genres that there will always be at least one which appeals to you. There is also an incredible range of musical instruments which help in creating a distinctive sound. a huge number of artists are unable to afford using a string section and the likes so it is not surprising to learn that the music sampler came into being.
The sampler is a musical instrument which records sounds and allows them to be played back via a controller such as a keyboard or sequencer. The very first electronic samplers used spools of magnetic tape on which to record sounds. Each spool was assigned to the relevant key on keyboard. Therefore when a key was played the corresponding spool played the relating musical note. Obviously this meant that the resulting instrument was extremely large and shockingly heavy in weight. Another problematic area was that tapes were required to be changed each time a different sound was to be played. One of the earliest examples of this type of music sampler was the Mellotron which played recordings of strings, female choirs, male choirs and flutes.
Groups such as the Beach Boys and Beatles used the Mellotron on a few of their hits. Sadly the Mellotron was extremely costly and the sound so unique that it didn't become used extensively. The first examples of samplers were seen in the 1970s, the first models include the Synclavier however they proved to be incredibly restricted by the technology of the day, as well as the high cost of the parts such as memory.
During the Eighties synthesiser music increased incredibly in popularity and fascination in sampling technology also increased. manufacturers such as E-mu Systems started to produce digital samplers to a wider market, although their samplers were still very expensive and beyond the budgets of most bands. The E-mu Emulator series of samplers were for much less expense than the Fairlight CMI and the Synclavier System and promptly became a popular choice.
In 1984 Akai became an important player in the sphere of electronic musical instruments when they started to produce the 12 bit sampler, the S612 which became the first truly affordable sampler. Akai's following digital sampler was the Akai S900, which was less expensive than their S612, improved upon the frequency range and the sampling memory available. It could also hold up to thirty two samples in memory. The S950 quickly appeared and, with the release of their S1000 sampler, sampling was now available at 16-bit 44.1 kHz stereo resolution (CD quality). Other manufacturers, such as Roland released digital samplers, which now included a variety of techniques of synthesis, for example filters, envelopes and LFOs, which helped reduce the cost even more.
Towards the end of the Eighties sampler modules had reduced in price so much that musicians at all levels could purchase them. Computer memory prices had reduced so much that sample modules could now sample extremely long notes and sampler technology started to appear in nearly all keyboards up to the very latest.
Currently it is often virtually impossible to be able to tell the difference between a sampler and a real musical instrument. Digital samplers are now available in software form which use the computer's memory and hard drive which has decreased the expense even further and there are even freeware samplers available, so virtually everybody can afford a sampler. Many digital recording software packages, for example Logic Audio and Cubase incorporate softsamplers and the majority also include gigantic sound libraries. Many companies record and produce sample CDs for soft-samplers such as Kontakt, Structure, EXS24, Gigasampler and Halion.
The sampler is a musical instrument which records sounds and allows them to be played back via a controller such as a keyboard or sequencer. The very first electronic samplers used spools of magnetic tape on which to record sounds. Each spool was assigned to the relevant key on keyboard. Therefore when a key was played the corresponding spool played the relating musical note. Obviously this meant that the resulting instrument was extremely large and shockingly heavy in weight. Another problematic area was that tapes were required to be changed each time a different sound was to be played. One of the earliest examples of this type of music sampler was the Mellotron which played recordings of strings, female choirs, male choirs and flutes.
Groups such as the Beach Boys and Beatles used the Mellotron on a few of their hits. Sadly the Mellotron was extremely costly and the sound so unique that it didn't become used extensively. The first examples of samplers were seen in the 1970s, the first models include the Synclavier however they proved to be incredibly restricted by the technology of the day, as well as the high cost of the parts such as memory.
During the Eighties synthesiser music increased incredibly in popularity and fascination in sampling technology also increased. manufacturers such as E-mu Systems started to produce digital samplers to a wider market, although their samplers were still very expensive and beyond the budgets of most bands. The E-mu Emulator series of samplers were for much less expense than the Fairlight CMI and the Synclavier System and promptly became a popular choice.
In 1984 Akai became an important player in the sphere of electronic musical instruments when they started to produce the 12 bit sampler, the S612 which became the first truly affordable sampler. Akai's following digital sampler was the Akai S900, which was less expensive than their S612, improved upon the frequency range and the sampling memory available. It could also hold up to thirty two samples in memory. The S950 quickly appeared and, with the release of their S1000 sampler, sampling was now available at 16-bit 44.1 kHz stereo resolution (CD quality). Other manufacturers, such as Roland released digital samplers, which now included a variety of techniques of synthesis, for example filters, envelopes and LFOs, which helped reduce the cost even more.
Towards the end of the Eighties sampler modules had reduced in price so much that musicians at all levels could purchase them. Computer memory prices had reduced so much that sample modules could now sample extremely long notes and sampler technology started to appear in nearly all keyboards up to the very latest.
Currently it is often virtually impossible to be able to tell the difference between a sampler and a real musical instrument. Digital samplers are now available in software form which use the computer's memory and hard drive which has decreased the expense even further and there are even freeware samplers available, so virtually everybody can afford a sampler. Many digital recording software packages, for example Logic Audio and Cubase incorporate softsamplers and the majority also include gigantic sound libraries. Many companies record and produce sample CDs for soft-samplers such as Kontakt, Structure, EXS24, Gigasampler and Halion.
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