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Sampler Facts

Sampler Facts
A sampler is an electronic musical instrument that uses 'samples' of recorded sounds and music and plays them back with the help of either the sampler's own program or a triggering device such as electronic drums, sequencer or a MIDI keyboard or alternative MIDI controller. The samples are stored in memory that is easily and quickly accessible when required. Samplers are usually equipped with a variety of features that may include effects, filters, and the ability to play more than one sound at the same time. Before the invention of computer-based samplers a musician's only option was a tape relay keyboard. The Mellotron was the most famous.
Interesting Sampler Facts:
Samplers are different than synthesizers because they use recordings, or samples, of sounds which are stored and used to create sequences or music. Synthesizers create sound from scratch instead.
Some people refer to a sampler as a glorified tape recorder because the sounds are all pre-recorded and then used to create new sequences.
One of the first digital samplers first appeared on the TV show Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood in 1967, demonstrated by Bruce Haack.
The first sampling synthesizer made available commercially was the Computer Music Melodian. It was released in 1976 by Harry Mendell.
The Fairlight CMI was introduced in 1979, and was the first digital sampling synthesizer released.
Samplers are usually attached to a keyboard or MIDI device that acts as its controller.
Each sample can be attached to a key on a keyboard. The sample could be a note or a set of notes.
When a group of notes is attached as a single sample this is called a keyzone. A set of keyzones is referred to as a keymap.
One of the challenges to using samples is making the transition from one keymap to another while sounding natural.
Samplers have different specifications such as polyphony, sample space, channels, bit depth, and outputs.
Sampler polyphony: refers to the number of voices that can be played simultaneously with a sampler.
Sampler sample space: refers to the amount of memory available for loading multiple samples.
Sampler channels: refers to the number of MIDI channels that can be assigned to various instruments.
Sampler bit depth: refers to the amount of sample resolution able to be supported.
Sampler outputs: refers to the number of outputs available for audio output.
Manufacturers of samplers include Alesis, Casio, Clavia, Tascam, E-mu Systems, Korg, Kurzweil, Yamaha, Roland, and Akai, among many others.
Storage systems in samplers have included SCSI, hard drives, CDROMs, removable cartridges, zip drives, and memory cards such as SmartMedia.
Hardware samplers were the original option but beginning in the 1990s technology made it possible for software to act as a sampler once installed on a computer.
Samplers are used in a variety of music styles including pop, electronic, and hip hop.
Musicians known for being some of the first to use samplers and make them mainstream were Herbie Hancock, Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, and Duran Duran.
One of the most famous examples of early sampling is 'Beat Box' by The Art of Noise.


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