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Origin of the term "rompler"?


Josh Paxton

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Possibly a strange question, but does anyone know approximately when this term came into popular use, and where it originated from? I ask because back in the mid-'90s, before I had ever heard the term, I had the following conversation with another keyboardist about a particular synth:

 

ME: What kind of board is it?

 

HIM: It's a rompler.

 

ME: A what? Did you say "rompler"?

 

HIM: Ha, no, I said "ROM player." But I like that, "rompler." That's a good word. I'll have to start using it.

 

I then pretty much forgot about the conversation until I started hearing other musicians use the word years later. Now I don't think it's particularly likely that the common use can be traced back to that conversation, since it's a fairly obvious play on words that could easily have been coined independently by multiple people. But it's something I've always wondered about in the back of my mind.

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It's derived from "sampler", most of which had volatile memory and/or read from disc.

 

As ROM-burned samples began to change the industry's paradigm, it was a natural progression to create the term "ROMpler".

 

Sort of like how every scandal gets suffixed with "-gate", from "Watergate".

 

As for when the term first appeared, I don't know.

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Na.

 

It's from Romper Room.

 

 

Well, of course. I mean, who actually thought otherwise. :P

 

That chick used to personally welcome me to the show, every time! I mean, how cool is that, right? :D

 

--Dave

 

Although I fondly remember, as a wee lad, the children's TV show "Romper Room", Dave's post makes me chuckle (as in.. entering a Strip Club and being greeted..)

 

(Although I have never personally ever been in a Strip Club--as far as you know. ;) )

Steve Force,

Durham, North Carolina

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My Professional Websites

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