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21-693: The key features of the MC-303 are: The synthesizer built into the Roland MC-303 is a rompler which contains sounds largely drawn from classic Roland synths and drum machines such as the TB-303 , TR-808 and TR-909 along with the Juno series and various other dance themed sounds such as pads, pianos, strings and vinyl scratches. The sounds can be manipulated with a low-pass filter , various modulation capabilities and some simple DSP effects. It doesn't have

42-544: A sampler , although the instruction book contains instructions for getting it to control an external sampler. The most important part of the MC-303 is its built-in pattern based 8 track sequencer . Each pattern can contain up to 32 bars. It can record and send MIDI data via the MIDI jacks on the rear panel, enabling its internal sequencer to control other sound modules, or its internal sound module to be controlled by an external sequencer. Although communication with other devices

63-721: A tone . Tones could be modified using up to three low-frequency oscillators , a pitch envelope, a programmable equalizer, and on-board effects such as reverberation and chorus. Two tones grouped together created a patch . Yamaha's SY77 , its rack-mount equivalent TG77 , and successor SY99 introduced Advanced Wave Memory 2 (AWM2), enabling playback and digital filtering of samples. Notably, these also let AWM2 samples be used as transients to Advanced FM (AFM) synth sounds, as looped oscillators in their own right, or even as modulators of AFM carriers. This, like LA, enabled more realistic modeling of physical instruments, and in combination with FM, new possibilities for synthesis. The SY99 seemed to be

84-541: A collection of totally synthetic waves derived from additive synthesis, as well as sequences of inharmonic wave cycles. Thus, LA synthesis offered the realistic sounds of a sampler with the control and creativity of a synthesizer.) The PCM waveforms could be modified with a pitch envelope and a time-variant amplifier. Waveforms from the sound wave generators could be further modified with time-variant filters for cutoff frequency and resonance. These modified waveforms were called "partials". Two partials grouped together created

105-473: A mainstay of subsequent flagship Yamaha products, such as the Yamaha EX5, Motif , and Montage lines — which still use the umbrella term AWM2, though the engine's details have changed many times. Casio has also developed a similar synthesis system known as Advanced and High Quality Large Waveform , better known as AHL, for use on their portable keyboard line. Earlier Casio keyboard models instead use ZPI,

126-405: A rompler, compared to a sampler, is that they do not have the ability to record new samples, or in case of software instruments, the ability to add user samples from disk. Note that earlier digital synthesizers, which used short-cycle sampled waveforms, are usually not considered romplers but are either called "PCM synthesizers" or " wavetable synthesizers " because the sampled waveform in this case

147-511: A similar but more advanced system. AHL was originally a simplified version of the previous ZPI, in which both are mostly optimized for acoustic instrument samples. Ensoniq with the SQ-80 called the same technique Cross Wave Synthesis. Kawai with the K4 called the same technique Digital Multi Spectrum. Korg's Modwave engine was designed to do both the morphing wavetable and sample synthesis, along with

168-574: Is a blend of the terms ROM and sampler. In contrast to samplers , romplers do not record audio. Both may have additional sound editing features, such as layering several waveforms and modulation with ADSR envelopes , filters and LFOs . The waveforms are commonly stored in form of PCM -encoded waveforms which were similar to those stored in WAV or AIFF file formats, although in some hardware design other encodings and forms of (usually lossless) compression could be used. The core characteristic of

189-495: Is a means of sound synthesis invented by the Roland Corporation when they released their D-50 synthesizer in 1987. LA synthesis combines traditional subtractive synthesis with PCM -based samples. The term linear arithmetic refers to synthesis that puts sounds together in a timeline. Typically a PCM transient begins a note, which is then continued with a subtractive synthesis prolongation. Roland did not use

210-487: Is possible, the main advantage to the MC-303 with its small form factor and all-in-one design is the ability to use it as a self-contained studio, albeit an amateur one. Featuring a micro-keyboard that can also be used as a drum sequencer, the MC-303 imitates the handling as well as the look and feel of other famous Roland synthesizers and drum machines such as the MC-202 , TB-303 , TR-808 and TR-909 . One criticism made of

231-423: Is usually only made of a single full cycle (or a handful of full cycles) of the wave and would therefore be a fraction of a second in length, whereas in case of a sampler or a rompler, the recording would usually contain the sample's decay and sometimes even release sections, such as with a recorded drum hit or piano note. Also, in their usage of sampled waves, filters (usually digital) were employed to gradually alter

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252-738: The emergence of software virtual instruments, computer sound hardware gradually shifted from synthesizer based sound and music reproduction (such as with Commodore SID or Yamaha OPN chips) to PCM-based chips, such as Commodore Amiga 's Paula . Combined with computer's RAM and disk storage, these chips allowed for longer PCM recordings to be reproduced, and games and other software often used rompler-like software technology to reproduce music, most notable example being music trackers on Amiga. Later computer sound hardware employed hardware rompler and sample-based synthesizers (such as Gravis Ultrasound and E-mu/Creative SoundBlaster ) to increase number of voices and reduce CPU usage for sound processing. As

273-399: The introduction of digital audio workstations , musicians started to employ more and more virtual instruments , so a market for software romplers, as a source of instantly available sampled instruments, also emerged. Some popular examples of software romplers are reFX Nexus and IK Multimedia Sampletank. Linear Arithmetic synthesis Linear arithmetic synthesis , or LA synthesis ,

294-566: The last FM workstation by Yamaha, and the later FM synth FS1R did not feature AWM — so SY99 was seemingly the last synthesizer to combine AWM with fully-fledged FM. This was until the Montage in 2016, which combines a later version of AWM2 with FM-X (an offshoot of the FM engine from FS1R, without the latter's Formant Synthesis) - though without letting samples be used as modulators, as the 77/99 series did. In any case, AWM sampling on its own has become

315-522: The late 1980s, as price drops of memory chips allowed for longer recording storage to be used without making the instruments prohibitively expensive. They were meant to displace previous FM and PCM-based digital synthesizers in the market, by offering more realistic sound of real, acoustic and electronic instruments, and by the early 1990s they became the dominant technology for mainstream keyboards. The most successful early romplers are considered to be Korg M1 workstation, and E-mu Proteus module. Before

336-484: The machine in various reviews, including the August 1996 issue of Sound on Sound magazine, was that the sound module was essentially limited to only playing built-in preset sounds, discouraging innovation. From a more technical perspective, a major concern was that any knob tweaks made during real time recording were not transmitted via MIDI. The number of preset patterns (mostly aimed for Trance and Techno music) outweighed

357-494: The more complex parts of a sound to program is the attack transient , so Roland added a suite of sampled attack transients to subtractive synthesis. As well as the attack transients, Roland added a suite of single-cycle sampled waveforms that could be continuously looped. Sounds could now have three components: An attack, a body made from a subtractive synth sound (saw or pulse wave through a filter) and an "embellishment" of one of many looped samples. (The looped samples also contained

378-419: The number of programmable user patterns which also discouraged innovation. Roland responded in part to these criticisms in its later grooveboxes by solving the MIDI problem, increasing the synthesis capabilities and user pattern storage and adding a sampler section. Rompler A rompler is an electronic musical instrument that plays pre-fabricated sounds based on audio samples . The term rompler

399-410: The processing power of personal computers grew, these hardware synthesizers were gradually abandoned and sound hardware of contemporary computers now usually has only PCM reproduction converters with all synthesis and reproduction logic implemented in software. Modern computers are capable of real-time reproduction of large number of voices, as well as real-time emulation of analogue sound circuits. With

420-699: The term additive , as additive synthesis already refers to a different synthesis method. This technology first appeared in 1987, in the Roland D-50 synthesizer. At the time, re-synthesizing samplers were very expensive, so Roland set out to produce a machine that would be easy to program, sound realistic, and still sound like a synthesizer. Also, Yamaha had previously gained world market lead with their DX7 FM synth , which excelled at metallic, percussive sounds—something that Roland's synths using subtractive synthesis were less good at. Roland understood that their subtractive synthesis method had to change. One of

441-424: The timbre of cycling wave which makes them somewhat similar to analog subtractive synthesizers . However in many such designs, the attack section of a sound was often sampled as a full, longer sample, and then crossfaded or mixed with the looping PCM waveform, such as with Roland's Linear Arithmetic synthesis and its competitors from other manufacturers, further blurring the difference. Hardware romplers emerged in

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