Editing Sample-based synthesis (section)

==History==
Before [[digital recording]] became practical, instruments such as the Welte {{illm|Lichttonorgel|lt=|de|Lichttonorgel|WD=}} (1930s), [[Chromatic_phonogene|phonogene]] (1950s) and the [[Mellotron]] (1960s) used analog [[optical disk]]s or analog tape decks to play back sampled sounds.

When sample-based synthesis was first developed,{{When?|date=June 2018}}{{Who?|date=June 2018}} most affordable consumer synthesizers{{what?|date=June 2018}} could not record arbitrary samples, but instead formed [[timbre]]s by combining pre-recorded samples from [[ROM]]{{citation needed|date=June 2018}} before routing the result through [[analog electronics|analog]] or [[Digital data|digital]] [[electronic filter|filters]]. These synthesizers and their more complex descendants are often referred to as [[ROMpler|ROMplers]].

Sample-based instruments have been used since the [[Computer Music Melodian]], the [[Fairlight CMI]] and the NED [[Synclavier]]. These instruments were way ahead of their time and were correspondingly expensive. The first recording using a sampling synthesizer was "[[Stevie Wonder's Journey Through "The Secret Life of Plants"]]" (1979){{citation needed|date=June 2018}} which used the [[Computer Music Melodian]] to create complex melodies and rhythms{{citation needed|date=June 2018}} from sampled sounds from nature. The first tune Wonder recorded was "The First Garden" where he used a sampled bird chirp as the lead sound in the song. More affordable{{Peacock term|date=June 2018}} sample-based synthesizers available for the masses with the introduction of the [[Ensoniq Mirage]] (1984), [[Roland D-50]] (1987) and the [[Korg M1]] (1988), which surfaced in the late eighties.  The M1 also introduced{{citation needed|date=June 2018}} the ''[[music workstation]]'' concept.

The concept has made it into [[sound card]]s for the [[multimedia PC]], under the names such as ''wavetable card'' or ''wavetable daughterboard''.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}} (See [[Wavetable synthesis#Background]])