Sound samples/music

Sample based music has been very popular since the early 1980’s with the invention of the sampler. Quite simply a sampler is a device that can be used to play back (sometimes record) sound. Where this differentiates between a tape or CD recorder is the features of the sampler. Any sampler may have some, all or none of the following features; polyphonic sound playback, re-pitch (speed up or slow down sounds), Enveloper (attack delay sustain release controls), sample rate conversion and/or time stretching (making a sound longer or shorter without affecting pitch) as well as lfo or frequency modulation.

Samplers used to be hardware based, which a lot of samplist still swear by, but now virtual software instruments (plugins eg vst) mean you can have all the same functionality for your desktop for very little or for a free download. Now you have a sampler you have access to professionally recorded sounds from across the world, recorded with the best equipment and mixed in the best studios. Samples mean that the user can play classic sounds in a very realistic way; sometimes not being able to distinguish from the real thing (flutes, violins etc). A good sample bank should be the backbone of any electronic musicians home studio.