Sample CD
𐑕𐑭𐑥𐑐𐑩𐑤 𐑕𐑰𐑛𐑰
Datafile One
As you might imagine, a sample CD is a CD containing samples. These were originally audio CDs, which were soon superseded by CD-ROMs formatted for specific samplers, chiefly for the Akai S1000.[1]
In 1993, sample CDs tended to cost around £54.95 on audio CD, and £199 on CD-ROM[2] — £144.05 being the cost of saving you the time and hassle of tediously sampling, trimming and looping thousands of samples yourself.
Sample CDs evolved out of two different things. The first was DJ battle tools, chiefly uncleared samples of breakbeats taken from early seventies funk records.
The second was sample libraries on floppy disk, where each disk would group together multiple recordings, each of a single pitch being played on the same instrument. These would typically be meticulous recordings of prohibitively expensive or difficult instruments such as grand pianos, violins, and flutes, ready to load and play on a humble keyboard.
In effect, these sample libraries were an evolution of the recording playback keyboards of the 1960s and 1970s such as the Mellotron and Orchestron, in that it was much cheaper for a studio to buy one than it was to routinely hire a choir of singers, or a string quartet. (As Mellotrons and Orchestrons have their own primitive charm, they were inevitably also sampled and sold on sample CD-ROMs, such as Mellotron Archives and Optigan/Orchestron/Talentmaker.)
Both types of sample CD got more ambitious. Those that had evolved from DJ battle tools crammed together hundreds of breakbeats, trimmed and grouped together by tempo. Meanwhile, as newer samplers had more RAM, the sample CDs that had evolved from floppy disks featured increasingly comprehensive and expressive recreations of instruments, including samples of more pitches and velocities.
As home computers grew more powerful, hardware samplers gave way to software samplers, and mail order sample CDs gave way to instantly downloadable sample libraries on the Web.
Notable examples
- Datafiles
- The X-Static Goldmine
References
- "The S1000, probably because it was one of the first truly affordable stereo samplers to establish itself as an industry standard, quickly became the most popular format for sample CD‑ROM producers... For the most part, sample CD‑ROM manufacturers have opted to stick with producing discs using the S1000 format as a sort of common denominator." "Solving Akai Sampler SCSI & CD-ROM Compatibility Problems" Paul Farrer, Sound On Sound, Nov 1997
- "Time + Space" Time + Space (Vendor), Sound On Sound, Dec 1993, pp. 82–83
Sampling: A cappella | Breakbeat | DJ battle tool | Multisampling | Personal sample library | Pingpong loop | Program (sampler) | Sample CD | Sampling string machines
Sample CDs: Datafiles | Mellotron Archives | Peter Siedleczek's Advanced Orchestra
