Take four seconds from someone else's music; repeat it, stretch it, turn it upside down, and you can get a hit song. Take four minutes of someone else's music, and camouflage it with different lyrics and a different arrangement, and you can still get a hit song. (M's Pop Music vs Ghostbusters for example). Where's the justice?

The second observation may be the exception whereas the first one is increasingly becoming the rule. To take a sample from a symphony, add a bit of drum machine and a well used bass line, and therein lies the common denominator for the present day one hit wonders. Samplers are this year's rave and consequently there has been mass proliferation from most of the big manufacturers who know when there is a buck or two to be made.

One of the more exciting and eagerly awaited samplers to have appeared on our shores is Korg's new SDD-2000 sampling digital delay. This unit will provide you with over one second of delay or sample time at full bandwidth, or alternatively give you over four seconds of memory with a reduced bandwidth. It has 64 memories in which to store the delay settings, and the samples can be played via MIDI from a MIDI instrument. Facilities? The SDD-2000 has them...

To be more specific, when functioning as a conventional DDL, the 2000 provides its user with all the standard features found on DDLs — modulation, feedback, and delay settings from 0 to a massive 4368 mS. All the delay parameters can be stored in memories which can be instantly recalled, either by simply switching to the assigned memory location from the unit's front panel; or via the MIDI bus from an external MIDI source.

The MIDI bus plays an important role in most of the functions found on the SDD-2000 — the most exciting of which is when it is in the Sampling mode.

The sampling mode is, in fact, divided into two modes — Sampling and Sequencing. The primary difference between the two is that when playing back a sample in the Sequencing mode, the sample will loop to the tempo of a MIDI clock or trigger pulse; and in the Sampling mode, the sample will trigger either from an external trigger pulse or via control from a MIDI source.

Sampling

To go about sampling a sound on the SDD-2000, one simply selects the sampling or sequencing mode as well as the delay time (x1 or x4) over which the sample is to be recorded, and the unit is then ready to receive a sample. When an input signal lights the +3dB LED, the sampling will commence, and will last either until the REC CANCEL button is depressed, or until the delay time reaches its maximum length. The sample can then be roughly edited (its end can be shortened), and then assigned a range over the MIDI instrument's keyboard. Samples which are made using the x1 delay setting, however, can only be played in a single octave from the sample's true pitch, whereas the samples which use the x4 delay setting (and hence have a reduced bandwidth), can be played up to three octaves from the sample's true pitch.

The front panel is unusual in its lack of knobs. Other than having the knobs for input and output level control, all other parameters are controlled from the one knob on the right hand side of the unit. To alter, for example, the feedback setting, one must first press the feedback switch and then increase or decrease this incrementer control accordingly. In the programmer section of the front panel are buttons for frequency and intensity of the modulation of the delayed signal; as well as switches for accessing parameter change of the delayed signal's output level, the delay time, program select, and the previously mentioned feedback control.

By using digital control of the parameters in this way editing of the programmed patches is exceptionally easy and convenient. To slightly decrease the modulation rate of a flange patch, for example, only requires you to select 'FREQ' and turn the incrementer control by the amount you wish to change the previous setting.

Another user-friendly feature found on the SDD-2000 is the amount of information that is actually given on the six digit alphanumeric display. In the standard DDL mode, the two green digits on the left indicate the current patch number, and the four red digits on the right indicate the delay time. When you are in the sampling mode, all kinds of displays come up to have a chat with you: for example, the SDD-2000 lets you either remain in MIDI Omni mode (the default setting for power-on), or select any specific channel on which it receives information. Then, if you choose to operate the unit on MIDI channel one, the display indicates "1ch'.

Another feature found on this unit is the ability to automatically set its delay time to a MIDI clock sent to its MIDI bus — in which case the display says things like 'Trig', or 'Cloc' or 'C1 16' (indicating that the delay time will equal 16 MIDI clock pulses).

Furthermore, when recording a sample, the display will also indicate 'Rec' for record-ready, and 'Play' when the recorded sound is ready to be played back. Quite a chatty little thing, really.

Conclusion

Access to all the standard DDL features is quite a straightforward procedure — push the button and turn the knob. Even the basics of the sampling are equally simple as most functions (such as starting sampling and record calibration) are done automatically. Being able to play the samples from a keyboard is a great advantage as it simply makes what is quite often a technical gimmick, a musical tool. Fine tuning of the samples is done with a tuning knob on the rear of the unit (capable of tuning by ±50%), where switching between either mike or line level operation is also done.

With a not too unaffordable price tag of £799, Korg's SDD-2000 can provide its user with many very useful features of a very high quality — when in the x1 mode, degradation of the sampled signal's sound quality in comparison with the original was minimal; whilst in the x4 mode, the delay times of up to four seconds still remain quite acceptable, even though they might be frowned upon with their reduced bandwidth of only 4.5kHz.

The SDD-2000 represents yet another exciting product to appear from Korg, and although £800 is not an insubstantial sum to pay for such a unit, it is likely, nevertheless, to win quite a lot of fans who will appreciate its ability to do many different jobs very well.

For: MIDI; sound quality; digital control
Against: Price

KORG SDD-2000 SAMPLING DIGITAL DELAY - RRP: £799