Roland MC-909 Getting Started Manual page 28

®ÂØÒňΠMC-909
How to
Sample
First, Some Things to Know About Sampling
Before we actually start sampling, here are a few things you'll need to know in order to master the
MC-909's sampling power.
Measuring Sample Memory
Samples come in all sorts of sizes, depending on their length and whether they're stereo or
mono.
Samples are measured in bytes, the way things are usually measured in computer-based devices.
Since most samples you record are thousands of bytes in size, the MC-909 counts them in
thousands, to make life easier. Each thousand bytes is called a "kilobyte," and is abbreviated on the
MC-909's display as simply "KB," as in "100 KB," "32752 KB," and so on.
Here are a couple of examples that show how a sample's length—and whether it's stereo or
mono—affect its size. The roughly five-second "There's no other love" sample that ships in the
MC-909 is a stereo sample whose left side and right side are both 257 KB in size. "257 KB" means
257,000 bytes, so the sample's size is 514,000 bytes in total. On the other hand, the short, mono R&B
Guitar sample is only 76 KB. Most samples you're likely to create will be in the hundreds of KBs.
Really, though, you don't have to think about all this too much. It is worth noting, however, that the
amount of memory you have for sampling and sample storage is counted in "megabytes," or "MB,"
so you'll need to do a little math to make sure you've got enough memory for what you want to
sample. Each MB is a thousand KBs, or one million bytes. That means that even an unexpanded
MC-909 straight from the factory has 11,000,000—yup, that's 11 million—bytes available for
sampling. Yipes.
Forget to Remember to Forget—Types of Sample Memory
The MC-909 holds and stores samples using as many as three different types of sample memory.
This may sound scary, but each one has its own job to perform, and they all come in handy. Let's
talk a bit about what they are and how they get used. This'll help you get the most from the
MC-909's sampling power. It'll also help you avoid becoming confused as you start sampling on
the MC-909.
©
2003 Roland Corporation U.S.
Getting Started Guide
MC-909 Getting Started Guide
This is a list of the
factory preset samples.
Page 28