Rompler
A family of electronic sound generators is called a Rompler . Like a sampler , a rompler can play back sampled sounds. In contrast to the sampler, however, it gets its sounds from a ROM (read-only memory, literally: read-only memory). It is therefore not possible to digitize your own sounds. Preamplifier, A / D converter and RAM are omitted, which significantly reduces the manufacturing costs. The term Rompler, initially used in a joking and derogatory way, is derived from the use of a ROM.
In addition to rompers with individual sound banks, which are intended for the production of certain types of music, there are also many devices on the market whose sound banks are standardized according to the General MIDI standard. In the past, they were intended to be able to play back MIDI files in a higher quality than was possible with standard sound cards and are still used today to expand the sound palette of older keyboards and home organs. Since Rompler make it possible to play additional sounds on keyboard instruments with integrated tone generation, the term expander has become a synonym .
history
The first synthesizers that were affordable for the average musician had to use some ingenious tricks in order to be able to produce somewhat natural-sounding instruments. For example, FM synthesis or LA synthesis were used .
With the drop in prices for electronic memory modules in the 1980s and 90s, it became possible to economically manufacture sound generators with a large supply of finished samples . While the Roland D-50 still had 512 kB of sample ROM in 1987, the JV-80 four years later had 4 MB. Alesis introduced their S-5 in 1992 with 16MB ROM.
While these devices were equipped with more or less in-depth synthesis functions at the same time, Rompler refers to so-called sound modules , which merely “play” the built-in sounds without great intervention. The MU series from Yamaha should be mentioned here as an example .
The 1990s were the heyday of the Romplers. The company E-mu Systems in particular produced a number of sound generators, each uniting instruments of a very specific musical direction. Examples are the Carnaval for Latin Music , the Planet Phatt for Hip-Hop / R&B or the Vintage Keys with the sounds of classic old synthesizers.
The advancement of computer technology with the simultaneous drop in prices currently seems to herald the end of the mostly 19-inch Rompler models. Their part is being taken over more and more by software synthesizers and samplers in the PC .
Web links
- www.vintagesynth.org - here u. a. all devices mentioned in the text are presented with a photo