Sampler (musical instrument)Lichttonorgel (1936), an earlier sampling organ utilizing analog optical discAn AkaiMPC2000 sampling sequencer (1997)A sampler is an electronic musical instrument that records and plays back samples (portions of sound recordings). Samples may comprise elements such as rhythm, melody, speech, sound effects or longer portions of music. The mid-20th century saw the introduction of keyboard instruments that played sounds recorded on tape, such as the Mellotron.
Sound recording and reproductionSound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording.Polyphony and monophony in instrumentsPolyphony is a property of musical instruments that means that they can play multiple independent melody lines simultaneously. Instruments featuring polyphony are said to be polyphonic. Instruments that are not capable of polyphony are monophonic or paraphonic.
AlgorithmIn mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is any well-defined set of instructions that when followed terminates after a finite number of steps that comprise a solution to a given computational problem. Advanced algorithms may utilize loops and involve many conditionals that decide the next step based on the inputs provided, resulting in long sequences of steps before halting, but all algorithms terminate by definition.
Reel-to-reel audio tape recordingReel-to-reel audio tape recording, also called open-reel recording, is magnetic tape audio recording in which the recording tape is spooled between reels. To prepare for use, the supply reel (or feed reel) containing the tape is placed on a spindle or hub. The end of the tape is manually pulled from the reel, threaded through mechanical guides and over a tape head assembly, and attached by friction to the hub of the second, initially empty takeup reel.Music workstationA music workstation is an electronic musical instrument providing the facilities of: a sound module, a music sequencer and (usually) a musical keyboard. It enables a musician to compose electronic music using just one piece of equipment.Novation SupernovaThe Novation SuperNova, released in 1998, was a 3U rack-mounted virtual analogue polyphonic synthesizer with 16+ note polyphony and multitimbral operation, made by the British company Novation. Unique to the Supernova was the addition of multiple effects options which were retained per part in multi-timbral use, allowing a much richer sound than had generally been possible with a multitimbral synthesizer.
SynthesizerA synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis, and frequency modulation synthesis.
MIDIMusical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is a technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and related audio devices for playing, editing, and recording music. A single MIDI cable can carry up to sixteen channels of MIDI data, each of which can be routed to a separate device.
Roland JD-990The Roland JD-990 Super JD is an updated version of the Roland JD-800 synthesizer in the form of a module with expanded capabilities, which was released in 1993 by Roland Corporation. JD-990 is a multitimbral synthesizer utilising PCM sample-based synthesis technology. In a sense it is not a true module version of a JD-800 as it has many expanded features and as a result the two are incompatible in exchanging presets.
Ensoniq ESQ-1Ensoniq ESQ-1 is a 61-key, velocity sensitive, eight-note polyphonic and multitimbral synthesizer released by Ensoniq in 1985. It was marketed as a "digital wave synthesizer" but was an early music workstation. Although its voice generation is typically subtractive in much the same fashion as most analog synthesizers that preceded it, its oscillators are neither voltage nor digitally controlled, but true digital oscillators, provided by a custom Ensoniq wavetable chip.
Musical keyboardA musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeat at the interval of an octave.
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