Where does this come from, and can I check it?

The 1981 machine stored its sampled sounds on ordinary floppy disks. The figure is taken from NAMM, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a music fact?

Yes. It sits on the Music shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

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The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

The E-mu Emulator brought sampling into reach

The 1981 machine stored its sampled sounds on ordinary floppy disks E-mu's Emulator cost about 10,000 dollars, a fraction of a Fairlight, and held eight-bit samples on 5.25-inch disks. Its sound is gritty by later standards, but it let ordinary studios and touring bands play sampled instruments from a keyboard instead of hiring an orchestra. It sits in Mondo's music collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

NAMM

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Technology trivia

More facts like this

MIDI 1.0 let rival synthesizers finally talkSequential Circuits and Roland agreed the specification in 1983 Moog's modular synthesizer used voltage as controlPitch, filter and loudness were all steered by electrical signals The Minimoog made synthesizers portable enough for bandsThe 1970 model folded a whole modular patch into one wooden case The Akai MPC60 combined pads, sampler and sequencerRoger Linn designed the 1988 machine around his velocity-sensitive pads The Amen break became the most sampled loopA six-second drum solo recorded in 1969 underpins thousands of tracks Clyde Stubblefield's Funky Drummer beat is everywhereThe 1969 James Brown session produced one of the most reused grooves

Tags: sampling, emu, synthesizers

The E-mu Emulator brought sampling into reach: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: The 1981 machine stored its sampled sounds on ordinary floppy disks. The figure is taken from NAMM, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a music fact?: Yes. It sits on the Music shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.