The Roland MS-1 Digital Sampler was a compact, 16-bit

digital audio Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical samples in a continuous sequence. For example, in CD audio, sa ...

phrase sampler produced by

Roland Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

in 1994 as a straightforward, inexpensive, entry-level sampler. In the year of 1998, the sampler was succeeded by the Boss SP-202 sampler.

Overview

The MS-1 was what Roland refers to as a "phrase sampler" and featured eight rubber pads that triggered individual samples assigned to them. The eight pads were arranged into five banks for a total of 40 sampled sounds - 16 sounds (banks A & B) with the built-in flash memory and up to 24 (banks C, D & E) expanded with the insertion of a

PCMCIA The Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) was a group of computer hardware manufacturers, operating under that name from 1989 to 2009. Starting with the PCMCIA card in 1990 (the name later simplified to ''PC Card''), i ...

memory card A memory card is an electronic data storage device used for storing digital information, typically using flash memory. These are commonly used in digital portable electronic devices. They allow adding memory to such devices using a card in a so ...

. Without a card, only banks A & B could be used. Programming of the MS-1 was possible through the use of a small LCD display and menu-driven settings entered with left and right directional buttons which increased or decreased numerical values and controlled a text editing cursor. Sample time depended on the sample-rate quality that was selected during recording. The settings were simply called "High", "Standard," "Long-1," or "Long 2." The internal flash memory held approximately 20 seconds on the High setting, or nearly a minute on the Long-2 setting. Typically, Sandisk 2.5, 5 and 10 mega-byte memory cards were used with the MS-1 which increased sampling time and expanded its capabilities. There were no built-in audio effects, but samples could be pitch controlled, playback start-and-end points could be edited, samples could be truncated allowing the deletion of audio bits that were not desired, samples could be divided and the split parts assigned to separate pads, and samples could be looped and loop start-and-end points could be edited. It also featured

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...

in and out, but no thru. For recording audio, the MS-1 used left/right RCA jack audio inputs and two microphone jacks. It could sample in either mono or stereo and sampling quality could be reduced to allow more sampling time and the lower the setting, the grittier the digitized sounds became. Audio output was provided through a pair of left/right RCA output jacks and a headphone jack. The MS-1 also featured a simple, single track

sequencer Sequencer may refer to: Technology * Drum sequencer (controller), an electromechanical system for controlling a sequence of events automatically * DNA sequencer, a machine used to automatically produce a sequence readout from a biological DNA sam ...

which triggered only the internal sounds. Up to four sequence patterns could be stored in memory to a total of 900 pad operations. The machine was also portable and powered either by AC adapter or batteries.

Features

* 16-bit

Stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

Phrase Sampler * R-DAC (Roland

Digital Audio Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical samples in a continuous sequence. For example, in CD audio, sa ...

Coding) * AD/ DA Conversion * 8 Onboard Trigger Pads * 4 Sampling Frequencies * • (High: 44.1 kHz-32.07 kHz) * • (Standard: 32 kHz-23.27 kHz) * • (Long-1: 22.05 kHz-16.04 kHz) * • (Long-2: 16 kHz-11.64 kHz) * Single Track Sequencer * RPS (Real Time Phrase Sequencer) *

In/Out *

Battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

Operation Possible *

Flash ROM Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for the NOR and NAND logic gates. Both use ...

Feature * Bundled Sampling CD

External links

Sonicstate review of the MS-1Harmony Central review of the MS-1Sound on Sound Magazine - Roland MS1 Digital Sampler - March 1995
{{Roland MS-1

SP-303 The Boss Dr. Sample SP-303 is a discontinued digital sampler from Boss, successor of the Boss SP-202 Dr. Sample. The SP-303 was revamped and redesigned in 2005, and released as the SP-404, by Roland Corporation. Features While the Dr. Sample SP ...

Roland Workstations Samplers (musical instrument) Grooveboxes Music sequencers Sound modules Music workstations Hip hop production Japanese inventions

Overview

Features

See also

External links