On The Significance of Interface Design A Study of Digital Samplers In Two Eras A thesis submitted by Bjørnar Ersland Sandvik In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master’s degree in Musicology Department of Musicology Faculty of Humanities University of Oslo November, 2016 Adviser: Ragnhild Brøvig-Hanssen II Acknowledgments The process of completing this thesis would not have been possible without the help and support of a number of people. First of all, I wish to thank my supervisor, Ragnhild Brøvig- Hanssen, for taking a genuine interest in my work, and being so generous with her time, guidance, and support. Her contribution has been absolutely invaluable, and I have appreciated our conversations, her detailed and constructive comments on all of my drafts, and her general encouragement throughout the process. I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to present a draft of this thesis at the 10th Art of Record Production conference at Drexel University, Philadelphia in November 2015. I would like to thank the organizers of the conference, as well as the other participants for valuable feedback, inspiring paper presentations, and interesting conversations. A special thanks go to my co-student Emil Kraugerud, for being such a great travelling companion, and also to Associate Professor Hans T. Zeiner-Henriksen for joining us on a memorably day of sightseeing in New York. In addition, I want to thank the rest of my co-students for interesting conversations, important lunch breaks, and not least our short-lived but magnificent weekly ritual of celebrating “kakefredag” (cake Friday) at the university. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for their support and encouragement, and a very special thanks go to my wife, Åshild, for her patience and for always being there for me. Bjørnar Ersland Sandvik Oslo, October 25, 2016 III IV Contents Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................ III Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 Background ............................................................................................................................................. 1 Objectives ................................................................................................................................................ 4 Theory and Method ..................................................................................................................... 6 Conceptualizing Digital Samplers ............................................................................................................ 6 “Meta-Instruments” or “Boundary Objects” ....................................................................................... 6 The Theory of Technological Affordance ............................................................................................. 9 Analytical Approaches Toward the Study of Digital Samplers .............................................................. 12 Science and Technology Studies (STS) ............................................................................................... 13 Approach and Delimitations .................................................................................................................. 17 Outline of Thesis .................................................................................................................................... 19 Chapter 2: An Orchestra at Your Fingertips: The KeyBoard Sampler ......................................... 21 Historicizing The Keyboard Sampler ...................................................................................................... 22 The Keyboard Interface ..................................................................................................................... 23 Tape-Replay Instruments: The Chamberlin and the Mellotron ......................................................... 28 The Advent of Digital Keyboard Samplers ............................................................................................. 33 The Fairlight CMI ............................................................................................................................... 34 The Emulator – The First Dedicated Sampling Instrument ................................................................ 37 The Mirage and “The Art of Compromise” ........................................................................................ 40 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 43 Chapter 3: Music Made with Buttons: The Drum Machine Sampler ......................................... 47 Historicizing The Drum Machine Sampler ............................................................................................. 48 Anticipating Interactivity: The First Electronic Rhythm Machines .................................................... 49 Rhumba, Waltz, and Samba: The Era of Rhythm Boxes .................................................................... 54 From the Rhythm BoX to the Programmable Beat BoX ..................................................................... 58 The Drum Machine Sampler .................................................................................................................. 62 E-mu’s SP-12: The First “Sampling Drum Computer” ........................................................................ 62 Hip-Hop Beat Making: E-mu’s SP-1200 and The Extension of DJ Practice ........................................ 64 Enter The MatriX: Akai’s MPC Series ................................................................................................. 70 V Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................... 74 Chapter 4: The FeedBack Loop of Interfaces: Contemporary Samplers .................................... 77 Skeuomorphism and Technological Remediation ................................................................................. 77 The Skeuomorphing of Digital Samplers ............................................................................................... 81 Selling Sounds and Performances: Virtual Sample-Replay Instruments ............................................ 85 The Revival of Circuitry Imperfections: Auditory Skeuomorphs ........................................................ 87 Workflows, Creative Approaches, and Controllerism in the era of DAWs ............................................ 89 The MPC’s Influence on Contemporary Beat-Making ....................................................................... 89 Controllerism and the Reversal of the Software-Hardware Paradigm .............................................. 92 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................... 96 Conclusion: The Significance of Interface Design ....................................................................... 99 Summary and Findings ...................................................................................................................... 99 Restrictions, Further Research, and Interface Futures .................................................................... 106 BiBliography ............................................................................................................................... 111 Appendix: Illustrations ............................................................................................................... 121 VI Chapter 1: Introduction How can we define the musical sampler instrument of today? A laptop together with a software-controlling interface is perhaps the closest we get to the conventional concept of “a sampler” today, as it occupies, as well as complements, the role samplers had during the its golden age in the 1980s and 1990s. Scholars who draw attention to aesthetic choices made when utilizing sampling techniques in popular music production usually neglect that musicians/producers often have different musical approaches to different kinds of samplers.1 In this thesis, I will address the need for recognizing the significance of interface-design when researching sampling technology. Digital samplers have always been multi-purpose instruments, and different interfaces provide different interactional approaches to recording, manipulating, replaying and sequencing audio-segments. By exploring new ways of conceptualizing our understanding of sampler instruments, and by studying the use and development of different sampler interface-designs from a sociotechnical perspective, I argue that we can uncover several important aspects of how the historical and contemporary uses of sampling technology are perceived and defined in the sites of music production. In the present chapter, I will first present a brief background for my choice of this particular topic, before presenting the objectives of my thesis. Further on, the thesis’ theoretical framework and chosen methodology will be accounted for, along with a delimitation of the types of sampler interfaces and creative practices that I will focus on. Finally, I will present the outline of the thesis. Background During the late 1970s and early 1980s,