Category: Instruments

ROMplers

In essence, ROMplers are ROM-based sample players. People use this term to refer to software sample players that involve a fixed group of waveforms. It comes from a slang term given to sound modules that feature stock presets that are based on samples stored in ROM. The term ROMpler is a combination of ROM and…
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Soft Synths (aka Software Synthesizers)

Software synthesizers, commonly known as soft synths, are speaker computer programs or plugins that produces digital audio. Over the years, there have been many advances in terms of processing speed. These have allowed them to achieve the same tasks with simpler hardware. In brief, today soft synths are more affordable, more portable, and easier to…
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Sampler (Musical Instrument)

A sampler is a digital or electronic musical instrument that resembles a synthesizer. The main difference between the former and the latter is that the sampler can produce new sounds with sound recordings of real or artificial instrument sounds, instead of with voltage-controlled oscillators. People call these sound recordings samples. The Sampler: a Brief History…
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Step Sequencer

Originally, a step sequencer was a hardware module that produced a limited number of control signals in a stable and pulsed sequence that was continuous while active. In it, you usually sent the output of the signal to an oscillator or an audio filter. When the step sequencer was active and the musician played a…
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Woodwind Instruments

Woodwind instruments are instruments made of metal, wood, plastic, ocarinas, or a combination of these. They have a great variety of forms, although they are all narrow cylinders or pipes with holes. In addition, all have an opening at the bottom as well as a mouthpiece at the top. Metal caps, known as keys, are…
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Brass Instruments

Brass instruments, also known as labrosones, produce sounds by a vibration of air in a tubular resonator that is in sympathy with the vibration of the player’s lips. This means that they are lip-vibrated instruments, as well as aerophones, because the musician must blow air into them. There are a variety of involved in the…
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String Instruments

String instruments produce sounds when their string(s) vibrate. They exist in all music cultures. And all have three main parts: the body, the neck, and the head. The bodies are often made of different kinds of wood, while the strings are often made of nylon, steel, or gut. There are two main techniques to produce…
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Percussion Instruments

Percussion instruments are instruments that produce sounds by striking, hitting, scraping, or shaking. Every orchestra has a percussion section. This includes instruments such as snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, triangles, and tambourines, among the other non-percussion instruments. The key is that all percussion instruments keep a certain rhythm. In addition, they make specific sounds and…
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Keyboard Instruments

Broadly speaking, keyboard instruments are musical instruments you play with a keyboard. The most popular examples are pianos, organs, and electronic keyboards, such as synthesizers and digital pianos. They also include celestas and carillons, for instance. The term keyboard is often describes keyboard-style synthesizers. And the player can use the keyboard itself to control several…
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