Zoë Blade's notebook

S1000

S1000 tech specs

Akai S1000
Akai S1000

  • Released: 1988
  • Clearance price: £1,999[1]
  • Company: Akai
  • Type: Sampler
  • Pitch range: C1 — B7
  • Polyphony: 16 voices
  • Timbrality: Multitimbral
  • Sample rates: 22.05 kHz, 44.1 kHz
  • Sample resolution: 16-bit
  • Audio in: stereo pair
  • Audio out: 8 + stereo pair
  • Control: MIDI
  • RAM: 2 MB — 8 MB (2 MB ×4)[2]
  • Storage: 2HD/2DD 3.5" floppy disk, ACSI (optional), up to 512 MB SCSI (optional, £99[3])
  • Display: 40×8 character / 240×64 pixel LCD
  • Features: Velocity can offset sample start, timestretching, different tuning systems
  • Size: 3U

The Akai S1000 was a 16-bit, 44.1 kHz sampler, released by Akai in 1988. With its high fidelity and large screen, it superseded the Akai S900 to become ubiquitous in electronic music studios. Many bedroom producers made music using little more than an S1000 and an Atari ST to sequence it. Certainly in the UK, this combination was a popular way of producing music in genres from jungle to speed garage.

A seldom talked about feature of the S1000 is that each note's velocity can offset the start of its sample, so quieter notes can skip the louder initial part of the sound, allowing a more expressive use of single-note samples.

Much like the TX81Z, it supports different tuning systems. While most people will just stick with twelve-tone equal temperament, it's certainly nice to have this level of flexibility.

Version 2.0 of the S1000's operating system introduced primitive timestretching, allowing a sound's pitch and length to be altered independently of one another. Far from seamless, this distinctive sound became popular in its own right, featured on songs such as Josh Wink's "Higher State of Consciousness" and Double 99's "RipGroove".

S1000HD

S1000HD tech specs

  • Released: 1989
  • Company: Akai
  • Type: Sampler
  • Pitch range: C1 — B7
  • Polyphony: 16 voices
  • Timbrality: Multitimbral
  • Sample rates: 22.05 kHz, 44.1 kHz
  • Sample resolution: 16-bit
  • Audio in: stereo pair
  • Audio out: 8 + stereo pair
  • Control: MIDI
  • RAM: 2 MB — 8 MB (2 MB ×4)
  • Storage: 2HD/2DD 3.5" floppy disk, 40 MB internal hard disk, ACSI (optional), up to 512 MB SCSI (included)
  • Display: 40×8 character / 240×64 pixel LCD
  • Features: Velocity can offset sample start, timestretching
  • Size: 3U

The S1000HD contained a SCSI card as standard,[4] and included an internal 40 MB hard disk drive.

S1000PB

S1000PB tech specs

  • Released: 1989
  • Company: Akai
  • Type: Sampler
  • Pitch range: C1 — B7
  • Polyphony: 16 voices
  • Timbrality: Multitimbral
  • Sample rates: 22.05 kHz, 44.1 kHz
  • Sample resolution: 16-bit
  • Audio out: 8 + stereo pair
  • Control: MIDI
  • RAM: 2 MB — 8 MB (2 MB ×4)
  • Storage: 2HD/2DD 3.5" floppy disk, ACSI (optional), up to 512 MB SCSI (optional)
  • Display: 40×8 character / 240×64 pixel LCD
  • Features: Velocity can offset sample start, timestretching
  • Size: 3U

The S1000PB (short for playback) has no sampling capabilities, making it essentially a rompler without the built-in ROM. If you only wanted to use other people's sample libraries, it was considerably cheaper than the fully fledged S1000.

S1000KB

S1000KB tech specs

  • Released: 1990
  • Company: Akai
  • Type: Sampler
  • Pitch range: C1 — B7
  • Polyphony: 16 voices
  • Timbrality: Multitimbral
  • Sample rates: 22.05 kHz, 44.1 kHz
  • Sample resolution: 16-bit
  • Audio in: stereo pair
  • Audio out: 8 + stereo pair
  • Control: MIDI
  • RAM: 2 MB — 8 MB (2 MB ×4)
  • Storage: 45 MB removable hard disks, up to 512 MB SCSI (included)
  • Display: 40×8 character / 240×64 pixel LCD
  • Features: Velocity can offset sample start, timestretching

Akai released the S1000KB in 1990.

Perhaps a little too ambitious (not to mention big, heavy, and expensive), Akai managed to stuff an entire S1000 into a keyboard. To complete this opulent package, they added a SyQuest hard drive for swapping out 45 MB removable hard disk platters in caddies.[5]

This was not as popular as the regular rackmount version.

Accessories

RAM

There's understandably conflicting information online about whether the S1000 supports up to 8 MB or 32 MB of RAM, so let's clear that up. The S1000 came with 2 MB of RAM, in the form of a single EXM005 2 MB RAM board in one of its four slots. Originally, it could be expanded to a total of 8 MB of RAM, by buying three more EXM005 boards. Akai noted this in their literature at the time.

Shortly before the S1100's release, they released the EXM008 8 MB RAM board, allowing the S1100 and the S1000 to be expanded to a total of 32 MB of RAM.[2] However, this apparently requires the S1000's motherboard to be slightly modified, and the S1100's DIP switches to be set differently. So while the S1000 can be made to accept 32 MB of RAM, it requires a modification that's not for the faint of heart. Out of the box, it can only accept up to 8 MB.

Interface boards

Quotes

S1000

Another instrument that I like very much is the Akai S1000, because I think it's probably the most direct sampler at present. You just plug your microphone into the front panel and you can instantly start recording your sounds.

— Jean-Michel Jarre, 1990[7]

The S1000 and S1100 are probably the only pieces of equipment that I'm almost entirely satisfied with. I think they're probably the most beautiful invention in music ever. They're more fundamentally important than piano or guitar. To me they are like time machines. H.G. Wells would have had a heart attack if he'd seen them.

— Youth, 1993[8]

We have five or six samplers, but my favorite by far is still the Akai S1000. It's an old tank now, and the screen has faded so that I almost can't read it, but I know it inside out. It's the most spontaneous thing for making up little tunes.

— Michael Sandison, Boards of Canada, 2002[9]

Notable users

S1000

S1000HD

See also

References

  1. "Music Village" Music Village (Vendor), Sound On Sound, Oct 1992, pp. 36—37
  2. "Akai S1100" Paul Wiffen, Sound On Sound, Dec 1990, pp. 26—34
  3. "Turnkey" Turnkey (Vendor), Sound On Sound, Nov 1989, p. 85
  4. "Akai Professional Sampler Catalogue 1989" Akai, 1989, p. 4
  5. "Perfect Partners" Paul Wiffen, Sound On Sound, Nov 1990, pp. 56—58
  6. "Akai Professional Musical Instruments Catalogue 1988-1989" Akai, 1988, p. 7
  7. "The Synthetic Realism Of Jean-Michel Jarre" Richard Buskin, Sound On Sound, May 1990, pp. 24—28
  8. "Musical Youth" Paul Tingen, Sound On Sound, Jan 1993, pp. 64—69
  9. "Northern Exposure" Ken Micallef, Remix, Jul 2002
  10. "Apollo Four Forty: Ad Astra" Sam Molineaux, Sound On Sound, Nov 1999
  11. "What's That Noise?" Tim Goodyer, Music Technology, Aug 1990, pp. 30—34
  12. "The HEX Guide To Multimedia" Simon Trask, Music Technology, Oct 1993, pp. 36—38
  13. "Genetic Engineering" Simon Trask, Music Technology, Apr 1992, pp. 26—33
  14. "Past, Present and Future" Simon Trask, Music Technology, Aug 1992, pp. 61—66
  15. "Future Talk" Simon Trask, Music Technology, Jan 1994, pp. 16—18
  16. "Butch Vig: Nevermind the Garbage" Richard Buskin, Sound On Sound, Mar 1997
  17. "Butch Vig: 'Contrary to Popular Belief, Nirvana Were Not Slackers'" Steven Rosen, Ultimate Guitar, 2016
  18. "Butch Vig: Behind the Music" Paul Watson, Headliner Magazine
  19. "Sound And Vision" Phil Ward, Music Technology, Aug 1993, pp. 50—54
  20. "What instruments were used on Leftfield's Leftism?" Entropy, Gear Space, Nov 2007
  21. "Headache music..my rig was MC-303, with AKAI S1000, an Atari 1040 running Creator which would become Logic. As far gear went this was my set up, & a Roland JV 880. I'd had a Nord Lead too but it got burned out when lightning hit our building & I couldn't afford to get it fixed." @iamclintmansell Twitter, Apr 2020
  22. "Machine Head" Simon Trask, Music Technology, Jul 1991, pp. 56—62
  23. "Meet the Beat" Steve Cogan, Music Technology, Jan 1991, pp. 54—58
  24. "Message In A Sample" Phil Ward, Music Technology, May 1993, pp. 36—42
  25. Everything Is Wrong Moby, 1995
  26. "Recording Moby's 'Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?'" Tom Flint, Sound On Sound, Feb 2000
  27. "Earth beats" Roger Brown, The Mix, Apr 1995, pp. 76—80
  28. "Breaking Down Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill With Engineer/Mixer Chris Fogel" Produce Like a Pro, Jun 2020
  29. "Gary Numan: A New Flame" Jonathan Miller, Sound On Sound, Jul 1996
  30. "Key 1999 Tracks: Mr. Oizo — 'Flat Beat'" Chal Ravens, 2019
  31. "Tune In, Turn On, Chill Out" Tim Goodyer, Music Technology, Jun 1991, pp. 42—48
  32. "The Orb" Mark Prendergast, Sound On Sound, May 1993, pp. 28—34
  33. "The Heart Of The Bass" Tim Goodyer, Music Technology, Nov 1990, pp. 52—56
  34. "William Orbit" Paul Tingen, Sound On Sound, Oct 1991, pp. 58—64
  35. "Pet Sounds" Ian Masterson, Music Technology, Dec 1993, pp. 46—50
  36. "Second Course" Future Music, Oct 1993
  37. "Inner Space" Simon Trask, Music Technology, Jun 1992, pp. 44—50
  38. "Rack & Roll" Phil Ward, Music Technology, Dec 1993, pp. 20—22
  39. "SNAP! to tomorrow" Roger Brown, The Mix, Nov 1994, pp. 84—88
  40. "Soul Searching" Tim Goodyer, Music Technology, Jun 1989, pp. 42—47
  41. "Stereo Speakers" Phil Ward, Music Technology, Apr 1993, pp. 40—45
  42. "All Systems Go" Simon Trask, Music Technology, Oct 1991, pp. 36—42
  43. "Electric gypsy" Tim Barr, The Mix, Mar 1995, pp. 88—92
  44. "Live Tech Intelligence" Richard Wentk, Future Music, Apr 1993, pp. 17—20

Further reading

Reviews

S1000

S1000PB

S1000KB

Tips

Deep dives

Downloads

Documentation

Various

S1000HD

Akai: ASQ10 | S612 | S900 | S950 | S1000 | S1000 guide | S1000 page map | S1100

Samplers: FZ-1 | S612 | S900 | S950 | S1000 | S1100 | Studio 440 | W-30