Emulators were digital sampling synthesizers that were quite popular between the 1980s and the 1990s. Musicians commonly used these devices mainly because they were affordable and small in size. At their peak era, emulators were fairly popular in live performances. As you can imagine, they became an instant market hit. However, their discontinuation came around 2002.
Emulators: History
The first emulator was pretty simple and involved basic features. It was only capable of doing basic sampling, playback, and pitch shifting. The emulator was based on a floppy disk keyboard workstation that allowed the musician to sample and record sounds. Then, the emulator was played back as a musical note on said keyboard.
Emulators and the Floppy Disk
The floppy disk drive helped the user to create a wide variety of samples and share them with others. This device also enabled the user to buy pre-recorded libraries. All emulators used floppy disks for external samples and patch storage, which helped them to create its own samples. It had a basic sampler with a simple filter which allowed one single loop. There were two choices for this device: a two-voice model, a four-voice model, or an eight-voice model. Nowadays, emulators are popular among the collectors’ market.
The Emulator II
The emulator II was a second sampler, far more flexible when editing and shaping sounds. It had better real-time control and had an additional floppy drive. In addition, it had a very peculiar sound. This device became quite popular among famous musicians around 1980. Similarly, many well-known films employed it. Currently, the emulator II has gained popularity again due to the rebirth of pop music.
And There Was an Emulator III! And a Fourth!
Afterwards, the emulator III came to life. It had more advanced features and better sound quality. However, it was less popular than previous emulators. Likewise, the emulator IV had a new operating system that made it far superior than previous models.
