| Description |
| MIRAGE |
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| Ensoniq's ground-breaking budget sampling keyboard,launched in 1984,was based on a single very large scale integrated circuit,the Q-chip.This made it possible to keep price down,but other cost-cutting measures,such as the incomprehensible two-digit hexadecimal data display,made the Mirage sampler hell to use.Since superceded by the EPS(Ensoniq Performance Sampler),the dirty eight-bit sampling sounds of the enormous library of sounds built up by dedicated users. |
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| MODULATION |
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| The way in which one waveform can alter the shape of another by interacting with it.For instance,a sub-audio low frequency oscillator can add a vibrato effect by modulating the pitch of the amin oscillator;or a tremolo effect by modulating the pitch of the main oscillator;or a tremolo effect by modulating the VCA.Usually modulation is introduced to a sound manually in order to make it perform more like an acoustic instrument;most synths have a modulation wheel or joystick,which progressively |
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| modulation - continuation |
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| adds the modulation effect as it is moved.In FM synthesis,sine-wave operators operating at high,rather than low,frequencies can modulate each other to create extremely complex waveforms. |
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| MOOG |
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| The man who started it all,Dr.Robert Moog(pronounced 'mowg')patented the voltage-controlled oscillator and filter circuits which made possible the development of practical analogue synthesizers.After building the enormous modular systems beloved of Walter Carlos,Tangerine Dream and other synth pioneers,Moog brought music to the masses in 1971 with the Minimoog,a classic instrument which was the first practical stage synth.Dispensing with cumbersome patch cards in favour of internal connections, |
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| moog - continuation |
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| the monophonic,three-oscillator Minimoog proved capable of producing howling lead sounds,sweet solos and powerful basses.Many minor revisions culminated in the Model D,the tuning of which was much more reliable than earlier models.The Minimoog is still sought after for its uniquely powerful sounds,though the same can't really be said for cheaper successors such as the Multimoog and Micromoog.Later Moog models such as the Prodigy and the digital-access,16-memory Source monosynth,stand up better.Continue |
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