9Chapter 1: Basic Setup
ABOUT SAMPLING
Morpheus utilizes digital recording of acoustic sounds for the basis of
each Instrument. This is similar to a tape recorder except that inside
the Morpheus, the sounds are permanently recorded on digital
memory chips.
Sound and instrument waveforms are first sampled into the Emulator
III, our top of the line, 16 bit stereo digital sampler. After the sounds
and waveforms have been truncated, looped and processed, they are
permanently encoded into the Morpheus ROM (Read Only Memory)
chips.
Conceptually, the sampling process is very simple, as shown in the
Basic Sampling System diagram. As a sound wave strikes the dia-
phragm of a microphone, a corresponding voltage is generated. To
sample the sound, the voltage level is repeatedly measured over time
and the corresponding data values are stored in memory. To play the
sound back, the numbers are read back out of memory, modified by
the Z-plane filter, converted back into voltages, then amplified and fed
to a speaker which converts the voltage back into sound waves. Of
course, playing back 32 channels at different pitches tends to compli-
cate matters, but this is basically how it works.
BACKGROUND
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