E-mu SP-1200
SP-1200 | |
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![]() E-mu SP-1200 sampler | |
Manufacturer | E-mu Systems[1] Rossum Electro-Music (2021 reissue)[2][3][4] |
Dates | 1987–1990, 1993-1998,[1][5][6][7] 2021–present[2][3][4] |
Price | US $2,745[5] US $3,999 (2021 reissue)[4][8] |
Technical specifications | |
Polyphony | polyphonic 8 voices[6] |
Synthesis type | 26.04 kHz 12-bit samples,[6] drop-sample pitch-shifting[9][10][11] |
Filter | SSM2044,[5] SSI2144 (2021 reissue)[2][4] |
Storage memory | 10 seconds sample time, 100 user patterns, 100 user songs,[6] 20 seconds sample time (2021 reissue)[2][4][8] |
Effects | Independent level and tuning for all sounds[6] |
Input/output | |
Keyboard | 8 hard plastic touch-sensitive buttons[5][6] |
External control | MIDI, SMPTE[5][6] |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/E-mu_SP-1200_front_of_machine.jpg/220px-E-mu_SP-1200_front_of_machine.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/E-mu_SP-1200_back_panel.jpg/220px-E-mu_SP-1200_back_panel.jpg)
The E-mu SP-1200 is a sampling drum machine[12] designed by Dave Rossum and released in August 1987 by E-mu Systems.[1][5][6]
Like its predecessor, the SP-12, the SP-1200 was designed as a drum machine featuring user sampling.[5][13] The distinctive character of SP-1200's sound, often described as "warm," "dirty," and "gritty,"[2][5][6][7][9][14][15] and attributed to SP-1200's low 26.04 kHz sampling rate, 12-bit sampling resolution, drop-sample pitch-shifting,[9][10][11] and analog SSM2044 filter chips (ICs),[3][5][6][7] has sustained demand for the SP-1200 more than thirty-five years after its debut, despite the availability of digital audio workstations and samplers/sequencers with superior technical specifications.[3][5][6][16][17][18]
The SP-1200 is strongly associated with hip hop's golden age.[1][3][6][7][14] It enabled musicians to construct the bulk of a song within one piece of portable gear, a first for the industry,[1][3][19] reducing production costs and increasing creative control for hip-hop artists.[3][20] According to the Village Voice, "The machine rose to such prominence that its strengths and weaknesses sculpted an entire era of music: the crunchy digitized drums, choppy segmented samples, and murky filtered basslines that characterize the vintage New York sound are all mechanisms of the machine."[14]
Features
The SP-1200 can store up to 100 patterns, 100 songs, and has a 5,000-note maximum memory for sequences.[6] The sequencer enables musicians to create patterns using both step programming and real-time recording of performances using the touch-sensitive[5][6] front panel buttons (and via external MIDI note input). Patterns can be easily organized into songs, and swing, quantization, and tempo and mix changes can be applied. SP-1200 can both generate SMPTE, MIDI, and analog clock signals and synchronize its tempo and sequencer to them. Users can also tap the front panel Tap / Repeat button or an external footswitch to program the tempo. "[21][22]
Selecting between banks A, B, C, and D gives the user easy access to each of the 32 sounds. Eight sliders are used to set sounds' pitch and volume parameters. Large buttons located directly below each slider are used to play or to select sounds. Using a piezo sensor on the circuit board listening for the button’s impact, a technology invented by E-mu co-founder Scott Wedge, enables dynamics to be performed.[5][6][22]
Sound
SP-1200 uses a 12-bit linear data format and the same 26.04kHz sample rate E-mu previously used in Drumulator and SP-12.[5][6][8][22][23][24] The sample rate was chosen early on in Drumulator’s development as a compromise between bandwidth and sampling time.[5][6][25] A reconstruction filter was deliberately omitted, resulting in a brighter sound due to imaging (sounds above the Nyquist frequency).[6][24][25] SP-12 and SP-1200 instead feature three pairs of analog lowpass filters at successively higher frequencies, including two SSM2044 on channels 1 and 2, while channels 7 and 8 are unfiltered entirely.[5][6][9][22][24][25]
SP-1200 uses drop-sample pitch-shifting (simply dropping or replaying sample data in order to pitch/speed the playback up or down), producing significant additional (unfiltered) audible artifacts and distortion which proved to be musical useful. More advanced pitch-shifting algorithms like linear and higher-order interpolation reproduce high frequency data more accurately, but consequently may not sound as "warm" in comparison to simpler techniques.[9][10][11]
Differences from the SP-12
The SP-1200 retained all of the capabilities, inputs, and outputs of its predecessor, the SP-12, minus the cassette output and connectivity for the 1541 Commodore Computer 5.25" floppy disk drive.[6] In their place, SP-1200 features an integrated disk drive for storing and loading sounds and sequences, making the instrument particularly attractive to producers.[5][6][9]
Unlike the SP-12 and Drumulator, the SP-1200 does not use any ROM-based samples; all samples are stored in volatile RAM and loaded from 3.5" disk.[3][5][6][19] Maximum sampling time was doubled from the upgraded SP-12 Turbo, to 10 seconds, though the maximum duration of an individual sound remained limited to 2.5 seconds.[3][5][6][7][14]
SP-1200 provides additional unfiltered versions of the signals from its first six channels (not available on SP-12) using TRS connections for each individual output, providing the option to use unfiltered signals from all eight channels / voices alternatively to their analog filters.[6][14][22][24][25]
Technique
Upon its release, hip-hop music producers quickly embraced sampling loops and musical phrases such as breaks in addition to individual drum sounds with SP-1200.[3][6][16][17][19][26] Early adopters soon innovated with techniques beyond looping by combining SP-1200's truncation and sequencing features to slice (or "chop") samples of drums and other instruments into shorter pieces and re-compose them to create original productions.[3][6][14][18][20][27]
Music producers discovered and shared techniques using SP-1200's tuning (pitch) features to enable samples longer than 2.5 seconds, and more than 10 seconds total sampling time, to be used. Using a tape machine, another sampler, or, most famously, a vinyl turntable with multiple and/or variable playback speeds, sounds can be pitched up (sped up), allowing them to be sampled with SP-1200 using less sampling time (RAM). SP-1200 can shift the pitch of the sounds down to the original pitch (and beyond) when they are played back. The prevalent technique compresses samples of longer durations into the available memory, while reducing their fidelity and introducing notably more audible artifacts.[6][14]
Longevity and Reissue
E-mu and Rossum Samplers and Drum Machines | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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1980 — – 1982 — – 1984 — – 1986 — – 1988 — – 1990 — – 1992 — – 1994 — – 1996 — – 1998 — – 2000 — – 2002 — – 2004 — – 2006 — – 2008 — – 2010 — – 2012 — – 2014 — – 2016 — – 2018 — – 2020 — – 2022 — – 2024 — – | SP-1200[1][5][6] SP-1200[1][5][6] SP-1200[2][3][4] Assimil8or[35] ESI[5] |
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E-mu Systems's sampling drum machines had earned a strong following, especially from hip hop music producers seeking out its characteristic sound, by the time of SP-1200's initial discontinuation in 1990.[3][5][6][19] Owing to unending demand, SP-1200 was reissued by E-mu in 1993 with a cooler-running power supply and black chassis that complied with contemporaneous electrical regulations, and became E-mu's longest-lived product in 1996.[3][5][6] E-mu continued to build SP-1200 units until the unavailability of aging parts including the analog SSM2044 filter chips (ICs), forced the instrument's second discontinuation, marked by a "Final Edition" of SP-1200 units, in 1998.[2][5][6]
In 2015, E-mu Systems co-founder and original SP-12 and SP-1200 designer Dave Rossum returned to designing synthesizers, co-founding a new company, Rossum Electro-Music ("Rossum") that soon began receiving requests for SP-1200.[3][10] Sound Semiconductor's announcement of SSI2144, an analog filter chip (IC) using a modern manufacturing process with the same internal circuit and sonic character as the SSM2044 (also designed by Dave Rossum),[36][37] and Rossum's announcement of Assimil8or, a new hardware sampler in eurorack format in 2017,[35] further fueled speculation of a new SP-1200 product. Rossum announced an extremely limited 35th Anniversary edition of rebuilt SP-1200 units in 2020.[38][39]
In November 2021, Rossum announced a reissue of the SP-1200.[2][3][4] The Rossum SP-1200 provides 20 seconds total sampling time, equal to twice the original SP-1200's 10 seconds.[2][4][39] A new SD card interface replaces the 3.5" disk drive.[2][3][4][39] The chassis is made entirely from metal to comply with modern emissions standards.[39] The unavailable SSM2044 filters are replaced with functionally identical SSM2144 filter chips (IC).[2][4]
Notable Productions and Works
1988
Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (Def Jam, June 28, 1988)
- Produced by Chuck D, Rick Rubin, and Hank Shocklee[41]
N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton (Ruthless, August 8, 1988)
- Produced by Eazy-E (exec.), Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, Arabian Prince[42]
Ultramagnetic MCs - Critical Beatdown (Next Plateau, October 4, 1988)
- Produced by Andre Harrell (exec.), Ultramagnetic MCs, Paul C, Ced-Gee[16]
1989
Big Daddy Kane - It's a Big Daddy Thing (Cold Chillin', September 19, 1989)
- "Another Victory" and "Calling Mr. Welfare" (featuring DJ Red Alert) produced by Easy Mo Bee
1990
A Tribe Called Quest - People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm (Jive, April 10, 1990)[43][44]
Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet (Def Jam, April 10, 1990)
- Produced by The Bomb Squad[45]
1991
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory (Jive, September 24, 1991)[44]
1992
Gang Starr - "Take it Personal" (Chrysalis, March 30, 1992)
- Produced by DJ Premier
- Single from the album Daily Operation
Pete Rock & CL Smooth - "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" (Elektra, April 2, 1992)
- Produced by Pete Rock[14]
- Single from the album Mecca and the Soul Brother
1993
Miles Davis - Doo-Bop (Rhino, Jun 30, 1992)
- Produced by Easy Mo Bee[46]
A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders (Jive, November 9, 1993)[44] Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (Loud, November 9, 1993)
- Produced by RZA[47]
1994
Craig Mack - "Flava in Ya Ear" (Bad Boy, July 26, 1994)
- Produced by Easy Mo Bee
The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die (Bad Boy, September 13, 1994)
- "Gimme the Loot", "Machine Gun Funk", "Warning", "Ready to Die", "The What" (featuring Method Man), and "Friend of Mine" produced by Easy Mo Bee
- "Suicidal Thoughts" produced by Lord Finesse
1995
2Pac - Me Against the World (Interscope, March 14, 1995)
- "If I Die 2Nite" and "Temptations" produced by Easy Mo Bee
The Pharcyde - Labcabincalifornia (Delicious Vinyl, November 14, 1995)
- "Drop" and "Runnin" produced by Jay Dee[48]
1996
Lord Finesse - The Awakening (Penalty, February 20, 1996)
1997
Daft Punk - Homework (Virgin, January 20, 1997)[49][50]
1998
Juvenile - "Ha" (Cash Money, October 17, 1998)
- Produced by Mannie Fresh[51]
- from the album 400 Degreez
2001
Daft Punk - Discovery (Virgin, March 12 2001)[52]
2002
Jel - 10 Seconds (Mush, October 22, 2002)[53]
2012
Kid Koala - 12 Bit Blues (Ninja Tune, September 17, 2012)[54]
2019
Pete Rock - Return of the SP1200 (Tru Soul, April 13, 2019)
2022
Pete Rock - Return of the SP1200 V.2 (Tru Soul, Sat, Apr 23, 2022)
See also
- Amen break
- Akai S900
- Music Production Center
- Drum machine
- E-mu Drumulator
- E-mu Emulator
- E-mu SP-12
- E-mu Systems
- Sampler (musical instrument)
- Sampling (music)
- Ultimate Breaks and Beats
References
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- ^ a b c d e f g h Detrick, Ben (6 November 2007). "The Dirty Heartbeat of the Golden Age". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
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- ^ a b Sorcinelli, Gino (3 May 2017). "Easy Mo Bee Explains How a Historic Lawsuit Made Him a Better Producer". Medium. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
- ^ The Emulator Archive
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- ^ E-mu Systems Drumulator Service Manual. E-mu Systems. 1983. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
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Both the original SSM2044 and new SSI2144 were designed by electronic music icon Dave Rossum.
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