The Evolution of Sampling Technology 1940 – 1985

John, Aqeel

Abstract

This thesis will provide a chronological history of the development and evolution of music sampling technology. Sampling has long been used to create music; however, there is no resource, either popular or scholarly, that provides a detailed and sequential progression of the art from its very beginnings. A possible reason for this is that sampling is a loose technical term applied to many genres of music. It can mean the direct use of (usually short) recordings within musical works such as drum loops, vocal phrases or field recordings (incidental sampling), or it can mean the representation of
acoustic instruments from a playable musical interface (usually a keyboard) which utilizes source sound recorded from the acoustic instruments (virtual instrument sampling). This project will serve to document the early history; the creation, influences, milestones, and technological breakthroughs, responsible for bringing sampling
technology to its current ubiquitous state – an accepted and affordable music technology with very wide public distribution. The thesis will discuss moment sampling to an extent, but the focus will be to unveil the genesis and evolution of instrumental sampling for the creation of virtual instruments. It will critically examine and explore the
events, places, personalities, dates, and conflicts behind the technical innovation from
1940 to 1985. During this time, the conceptual aspects of sampling were re-invented
several times on successive, very different generations of hardware. This technology is
sufficiently different to the modern iterations of sampling (post 1990) that it requires
explanation and interpretation to the current generation musicians which this thesis
seeks to achieve.

Citation

John, A. (2023). The Evolution of Sampling Technology 1940 – 1985. (Thesis). University of Salford

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Mar 4, 2024
• Award Date: Dec 8, 2023