| Description |
| DX7 |
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| The Yamaha synth which introduced FM to an astonished world.Launched in1983,the DX7's realistic sounds,16-note polyphony,MIDI,velocity response and control options put everything else in the shade,despite the fact that only a genius could comprehend its programming method.Later conplemented by the TX7 module,TX816 rack,DX7II,and a host of cut-down 'four-operator' synths(including the DX21,27,100 and 11)the DX7 still remains a classic keyboard. |
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| E-MU |
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| The first company to challenge Fairlight's domination of the sampling market.With the Emulator,E-MU really launched the sampling war in 1980.Subsequent models,including the E-11 kept well up with technological developments,but the Emulator remained outside the price range of most musicians.The E-Max and E-Max rack,which offered almost all the facilities of the E-II at a lower price,ushered in a new era for E-MU.Other E-MU products included the Drumulator,an early rival to the Linn sampled drum |
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| e-mu - continuation |
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| machines,and the SP12,the first commercially successful sampling drum machine. |
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| ENSONIQ |
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| Founded by engineers who developed the sound chip for Commodore's best-selling CBM64 computer(usually known as the 'Commodore 64'),Ensoniq made waves with the inexpensive Mirage sampler and the ESQ-1 digital synthesizer.The latest versions of those classics,the EPS and SQ80,both feature excellent keyboard controllers,built-in multi-timbral sequencers,good visual displays and flexible editing. |
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| ENVELOPE |
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| The 'envelope' of a sound is the way it changes over time.The original analogue synths allowed four parameters for envelope control:Volume;Attack,the fade-in;Decay,the fall to a constant level;Sustain,the constant level the sound remains at and;Release,the fall-off - hence 'ADSR'.Digital synths such as the DX7 introduced the concept of a Rate for each parameter.Envelope can be applied to amplifiers,filters and other synth parameters. |
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