History
The D-50 was the first affordable synthesizer to combine sample playback with digital synthesis, a process that Roland called Linear Arithmetic synthesis. The engineers at Roland determined the most difficult component of a realistic instrument to simulate is the attack, so the D-50 included almost 100 sampled attacks in ROM. The synthesizer played back an attack and used the synthesizer section to create the sustain of the sound. This dual-use method was required in 1987 since RAM was so expensive. Roland did, however, incorporate a number of "texture" samples that could be mixed into the synthesized sustain-part of a patch. These sustain samples gave many D-50 patches a lush and airy quality, particularly with its heavy use of choir, wind and string samples.
The Roland D-50 was awarded a TEC Award for outstanding technical achievement in musical technology in 1988.
Read more about this topic: Roland D-50
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