E-mu Emulator 1 - Sampler Synthesizer - w/ 90 Disks, Expression, & Flight Case

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"Comes with 90 Disks, Emu expression pedal, and Anvil Flight Case. All functions currently work. You can sample into the EMU onto floppy disk if you so desire. Here are the sounds in order: 1. Harp 0:00 2. Musical Saw 0:11 3. Male Choir 0:32 4. French Horns and Flute 0:53 5. Prophet 1:06 6. Synth Wind 1:23 7. Soft Brass 1:33 8. Mountain Lion 1:45 9. Synth Brass 2:02 10. French Horns and Flute (with Filter) 2:25 11. Tabla 2:46 12. Bowed Cymbals 3:00 13. Sitar 3:17 14. Steel Drums 3:26

The E-mu Emulator was a floppy disk-based keyboard workstation which enabled the musician to sample sounds, recording them to non-volatile media and allowing the samples to be played back as musical notes on the keyboard. The 51⁄4” floppy disk drive enabled the owner to build a library of samples and share them with others, or buy pre-recorded libraries on disk.

The Emulator had a very basic 8-bit sampler – ; it only had a simple filter, and only allowed for a single loop. The initial model did not even include a VCA envelope generator. It came in three forms: A two-voice model (only one of these was ever sold), a four-voice model, and an eight-voice model. When the original Emulator was turned on the keyboard was split. It was designed to be played in split mode, so playing the same sound on the full keyboard required loading up the same sound floppy disk in each drive.

Stevie Wonder, who gave the sampler a glowing review at the 1981 NAMM convention, received the first unit (serial number “0001”). Originally 0001 was promised to Daryl Dragon of Captain & Tennille, because he had been a loyal E-mu modular system owner for a long time before that. However, Wonder was more famous. In 1982, the Emulator was updated to include a VCA envelope generator and a simple sequencer, and the price was lowered. Approximately 500 units were sold before the unit was discontinued in early 1984. Other prominent users of the original E-mu Emulator were New Order, Tangerine Dream, and Genesis, and it was among the many groundbreaking instruments used in the production of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album. Composer and Writer David Frank of The System used the original Emulator on his productions from “Sweat” to “Don’t Disturb this Groove.” The Residents, who had gotten the fifth Emulator to ever be produced, used the instrument extensively on their album The Tunes of Two Cities.'"