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4 samplers that changed musical history


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Anyone still doing their own sampling as part of their music making? Still using hardware, or have you found software with a workflow you like? Please share!

 

 

The 4 samplers that changed musical history (and how they did it)

By Computer Music

 

"The vast majority of producers making use of samples today do so in software. Replaying, processing and manipulating recorded sounds is so easy in modern DAWs that we take it for granted but this certainly wasnt always the case.

 

In fact, software sampling is quite a recent development in the bigger picture of music making. Until as recently as the late '90s, if you wanted to use a sample in a track then youd probably have done it with a hardware sampler.

 

The history of sampling as we now know it only really stretches back to the 1970s, when the development of digital audio technology meant that, for the first time, sounds could be recorded and played back with a new level of accuracy and unparalleled processing potential. However, these early samplers were expensive, and so generally only accessible to the ultra-rich.

 

It was only in the 80s that the technology became commercially viable, with hardware samplers gradually dropping in price and increasing in power up to their '90s heyday.

 

Come the late '90s and early 2000s, the writing was on the wall for hardware samplers as software options finally began to mature, and DAWs offered previously unseen levels of sample processing power.

 

Those early samplers have secured their place in musical history, though, with some models still being lusted after today. Here, we celebrate the four samplers that changed musical history..." full article.

 

1. FairlightCMI

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2. E-MUSP-12 andSP-1200

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3. AkaiMPCseries

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4. ElektronOctatrack

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Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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Yes, I think its a puff piece to bring light on the Elektron - but its a great topic.

My first experience with sampling was the Emulator II as well. I didnt own it, a home studio in the 80s that I frequented had one. We first used it to sample our own drum set, but he already had a nice collection of hits on floppies. Other producers I knew were using the Akai S1000 and successors. Thats the first I got my hands on one and learned to work with it on my own, trimming samples with the jog wheel.

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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Last year, I bought two samplers (an Akai & Roland S-760) for peanuts. I ignored hardware samplers for years, because I thought all the libraries could easily be loaded with Kontakt and such.

 

And yet, something was missing. So I started GASsing for one. Mainly I was interested in using them as sound modules to load all their legacy libraries.

 

First of all, they do sound different. The same patch ran through Kontakt sounds better on the Roland, for instance (and that isnt even the best Roland there was).

 

And second, yes I do enjoy using them in the software context - I like working with hardware (I usually record both the audio and MIDI).

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Ah yes, the Roland 7xx series samplers. A lot of those libraries are Persings work, some libraries ended up in SR-JV and/or SRX cards I imagine. Ever think of grabbing a Roland Integra-7?

 

Have you experimented with doing your own sampling on the 760? I hear there are lots of modifications for getting USB thumb drives to work as memory expansion.

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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Yes, I think its a puff piece to bring light on the Elektron - but its a great topic.

My first experience with sampling was the Emulator II as well. I didnt own it, a home studio in the 80s that I frequented had one. We first used it to sample our own drum set, but he already had a nice collection of hits on floppies. Other producers I knew were using the Akai S1000 and successors. Thats the first I got my hands on one and learned to work with it on my own, trimming samples with the jog wheel.

The Emulator II... I remember it well. I got a platinum record in 1985 producing & playing on this old jazz standard. Hard to listen to now but it was a hoot to use the Emu II for everything but the piano (real), drums (real) and bass (DX7!!). I believe I have strings, harp and a cello in there. This was a little before the Mirage, I think. BTW I'm old. Recorded at a NYC studio famous in the 1980s called "Unique Recording", it was one of the first to go all-in on midi & samplers. That's Stanley Turrentine playing the sax solo here.

 

(PS - my masterful production had zero to do with this record going platinum! - that was another ditty called "Rock Me Tonight." I was happy to go along for the ride though!)

 

[video:youtube]

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Thanks! "Dated" is a kind word but I agree completely! Hey, it was 1985. Still, it was quite a shock when that record hit. Haven't seen Freddie since those days but I think he still does gigs.

 

The Emu was not mine, it was in Unique Recording. A little after this is when I got my Mirage. I still have that somewhere, in a storage facility I haven't been to in years. I wonder if it still turns on? I do remember the keyboard was pretty mushy; they went with a different keybed in later years I think. Mine is one of the first, I pre-ordered. I also had the "Advanced Sampling Filter" but that's probably gone now.

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Loved my Mirage...

 

What about Roland's sampler/groovebox line? I thought the SP 808 was quite popular.

 

And the VP9000 IMHO was unique and did what no other samplers could do, although I understand not very popular..

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I still have my Roland S-760 and disks around. Loved it back in the day....

Layered it and my M1R for some of the best brass sounds around town. Fun stuff!

Montage 7, Mojo 61, PC-3, XK-3c Pro, Kronos 88, Hammond SK-1, Motif XF- 7, Hammond SK-2, Roland FR-1, FR-18, Hammond B3 - Blond, Hammond BV -Cherry
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Last year, I bought two samplers (an Akai & Roland S-760) for peanuts. I ignored hardware samplers for years, because I thought all the libraries could easily be loaded with Kontakt and such.

 

...

 

First of all, they do sound different.

 

- I like working with hardware (I usually record both the audio and MIDI).

 

I can only agree.

The hardware sounds significantly different vs. Kontakt or other software where you load in the same original samples and programs coming from hardware.

 

I have the almost complete EMU III library on HDDs and MODs, a ton of AKAI libraries for AKAI S-1K/3K series samplers on CDs, lots of floppydisks for Oberheim DPX-1, mainly from EMU EII but also Mirage, Prophet 2K and AKAI S900.

The complete EMU EII "Universe of Sounds" library in "EII / Digidesign SD" file format too ...

 

Already years ago I invested time, converting samples and programs for Steinberg Halion 2 and Kontakt,- and it was wasted time because it sounds so different even you invest additional time for editing programs and such.

The sample conversion is not the culprit IMO,- it´s the different program structure,- hardware vs software.

 

There are always a lot of playback parameters not existing in the software the way they do in the hardware device and/ or, when conversion is done, those parameters, if they exist as a complete feature set in the software at all, behave different.

 

The filters implemented in software are far from what you have in hardware, especially when it comes to the SSM filters in a EII or Oberheim DPX-1.

 

Doesn´t mean the hardware filter sounds better always, but the difference causes different sound.

Even on the AKAI S-1K/3K w/ is weak digital non-resonant 12dB filter it sounds different and has still more punch because it´s all about the converter(s) and analog output stages.

The AKAI S-1100 sounds much better than S-1000 and S-3000 by reason of individual Burr-Brown convertors for each output (stereo-main and individual ones) vs. a multiplexing stereo main output converter in the S-1K.

 

My EMU E64 sounds very good w/ it´s ZPlane filters you find nowhere else except the other EOS samplers and EMU founder Dave Rossum´s eurorack module filter design.

The EMU X software was pretty good though, but is discontinued and except some users owning old computers running the software, there´s no hope such piece of software will come up again.

 

I say because for AKAi there was and is a good replacement existing in software/DSP hardware,- STS samplers running in SCOPE (32Bit) for old Creamware PCI cards or S|C XITE-1 / 1D.

The STS is exactly the architecture of AKAI S-1/3K up to 5 and 6K.

There are several "devices" existing, covering the features of the different hardware models and the DSP filters are WAY better that the originals.

But for EMU, I´ve found nothing comparable.

 

Today, I still own a working AKAI S-1000, a S-1100, a EMU E64 and a Oberheim DPX-1 (and in addition,- actually by different reasons "non-working" S-1000, S-1100 and DPX-1 for parts/restoration or waiting for repair.)

 

I also differenciate from (software) sample players and samplers.

 

EMU-X was a real sampler, not only a "player",- Creamware/ Sonic Core STS is too.

Most software "samplers" aren´t ...

 

And yes, I rarely sample myself, but sometimes I do.

 

A.C.

 

 

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No mention of the Ensoniq Mirage, the first keyboard that brought sampling to the masses?

 

was my first thought before reading your post, Rob. I could go on and on about this, but here is a tid bit. Jam and Lewis producing Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation 1814", Ensoniq Mirage at the helm. :cool:

:nopity:
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No mention of the Ensoniq Mirage

 

was my first thought before reading your post, Rob. I could go on and on about this, but here is a tid bit. Jam and Lewis producing Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation 1814", Ensoniq Mirage at the helm. :cool:

 

I´ve found the Ensoniq Mirage much too hard to operate when I had to demo it @ "Musikmesse" w/ just only 2 floppydisks existing.

The OS was also much too buggy.

I went nuts w/ these devices and sold mine in a minute for a premium price when my work on the fair was done.

 

I remember everyone wanted to hear the "piano" and I had to babble so much about features, I didn´t find time learning the updated OS and play music.

It was kind of nitemare ...

 

A.C.

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Mid 1980s, and a limited budget, pick one: a DX-7 with a very expressive but funny sounding electric piano, or a Mirage which actually sounded like a grand piano. And a horn section. And a bass. And a drum kit. The Mirage won by a landslide, and I never regretted it.

 

Once I paid off the Mirage, I traded it in on an EPS 13-minus, which was amazing -- I would call it an early workstation. The EPS was my backup band for some ten years.

-Tom Williams

{First Name} {at} AirNetworking {dot} com

PC4-7, PX-5S, AX-Edge, PC361

 

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I had a pretty cool rig for awhile in the late 80's.

 

-Emax 2 sampler

-Ensoniq ESQ-1

-Roland MKS-20

-Roland D-550

 

I sampled everything I could get my hands on with that Emax. You should hear my chainsaw lead sound (sampled from a Husqvarna.)

Moe

---

 

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They missed the first sampler to change history - the Mellotron (as well as the Chamberlain).

 

But definitely agree with the Akai MPC and Emulator. The Fairlight CMI of course had a pretty big impact in the studio but I doubt many people could afford one. Seems many of the others are a matter of preference as they all started falling in with similar features as time went on. But I was never much into sampling, so I'm probably not a good example. Only dedicated sampler I ever owned was the Akai S3000XL. Since then any sampling capabilities have been built into my workstations.

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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The Mirage piano was a disappointment to me but I undertood that for $1700 an unheard of low price for a sampler then it was the best I was gonna do. I brought it on the road with Liza Minnelli to do only strings, it really wasn't that bad for simple pads and lines. More realistic than the OBXa I used on her gig previously, though I never got complaints about the OB's strings and today I might prefer them over a sample in some circumstances.

 

I also had - and still have an Akai S900. That was a very popular sampler iirc, although it might not deserve a spot on a "samplers that changed music history" list.

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No mention of the Ensoniq Mirage, the first keyboard that brought sampling to the masses?

was my first thought before reading your post, Rob. I could go on and on about this, but here is a tid bit. Jam and Lewis producing Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation 1814", Ensoniq Mirage at the helm. :cool:

Another example of the axiom I quote often, "it's the artist, not the brush."

 

I remember the Mirage getting a bit of a second life when hip-hop started using "lo-fi" sounds. Perfect axe for the job! :)

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The article would have been more interesting if they had remembered to include even one factual sentence of how they changed music. They described the devices, made careful note of the cost, and then completely forgot to say a word about who used it or what music was produced / changed

 

Sure, you guys all know. But i dont. Disappointed.

The baiting I do is purely for entertainment value. Please feel free to ignore it.
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No mention of the Ensoniq Mirage, the first keyboard that brought sampling to the masses?

was my first thought before reading your post, Rob. I could go on and on about this, but here is a tid bit. Jam and Lewis producing Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation 1814", Ensoniq Mirage at the helm. :cool:

Another example of the axiom I quote often, "it's the artist, not the brush."

 

I remember the Mirage getting a bit of a second life when hip-hop started using "lo-fi" sounds. Perfect axe for the job! :)

 

I bought the first Mirage that came into Scottsdale in 85. Already had a CS80 so to me the Mirage was cheap. It had a great Guitar w/ ModWheel Feedback, actually is still the sound to beat for Guitar Sampled Leads and its 8 bit audio had a powerful sound. Lost my crew/management back then do I dumped the CS80 for an OBX too. Strings were nice and warm.

 

Liza? Damn, sounds like you and I did the big Schtick gigs. I did the Anne Murray, Raquel Welch and Dick Van Dykes 7 foot tall daughter gigs in the Swank resorts of Sedona and Scottsdale, AZ. Best bread around back then. I was so excited when Plaza 3 Agency sent me to the audition, I was thinking bikinis and such, then sadly saw she cut her hair off and was doing Elvis. She looked great regardless, and twas my ticket to Vegas.

 

The Mirage Guitar sounds shocked the Sands Showroom & Lounge.

 

Magnus C350 + FMR RNP + Realistic Unisphere Mic
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I bought the first Mirage that came into Scottsdale in 85. Already had a CS80 so to me the Mirage was cheap. It had a great Guitar w/ ModWheel Feedback, actually is still the sound to beat for Guitar Sampled Leads and its 8 bit audio had a powerful sound. Lost my crew/management back then do I dumped the CS80 for an OBX too. Strings were nice and warm.

You jogged my memory, yea that guitar was pretty cool for back then! I might have a box of floppies somewhere with some other sounds I've forgotten. I should probably get my Mirage out of mothballs and get it working, it might be in demand when the next wave of "lo-fi" comes around. :)

 

Liza? Damn, sounds like you and I did the big Schtick gigs. I did the Anne Murray, Raquel Welch and Dick Van Dykes 7 foot tall daughter gigs in the Swank resorts of Sedona and Scottsdale, AZ. Best bread around back then.

I was a struggling NYC jazzer making $50 - $75/gig before I got the call to go with Liza, so yea, it was a big deal for me. We toured the USA and spent a month in London at the Victoria theatre. Nothing like a month-long stand in a cool city with some bread in your pocket and your gig is done before 10PM. Those were the days. We played a theatre in Phoenix or Scottsdale too, probably the same one you did. I remember we were in Reno when Sinatra died. The band was on stage and it was 30 seconds to curtain when we got the word that the show was cancelled she was too messed up to perform. I think we all flew home the next day.

 

To get a little back on-topic I find it instructive that with all the latest & greatest we have at our fingertips these days, an 8-bit 128K ram sampler worked fine for some very "big" gigs. IMO - and especially in a live situation specs don't matter anywhere near the degree to which we discuss them here!

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More than "tacked on." It was a complete studio recording/production system.

Yea, "tacked on" might have been a poor choice of words. According to Wikipedia it was not in the original design, but added as an option to the Synclavier II. And, originally 16-bit mono. It definitely did evolve into the "complete studio recording/production system" of the day if you had north of $200K to spend for a complete system. Not something you'd see in a typical home studio, but "history changing" if you worked in film, tv or high-end recording studios I suppose or if you were Pat Metheny! :)

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