March 29, 2021: Two years ago today, Corduroy Institute obtained the E-mu ESI-4000. This purchase marked our first foray into rackamount samplers.
Since our first recordings, digital samplers have played a pivotal role in our composition. Initially, samplers with a drum machine form factor were used to establish the pulse of the music. Later we acquired keyboard-based samplers to access polyphony and multilayered tones. As functional as these are, transporting them between our multiple studios hindered their practicality.
In 2021, however, we made a leap into the rackmount world by obtaining an ESI-4000. This unit came with RAM upgrades and a USB floppy drive.
The previous owner was critical of the workflow and we have to concur. This is the first and only time we have ever had to print an owner's manual for any of our devices. The operating system, the navigation, the nomenclature, and the file conventions all conspire to make this unit unusually abstruse.
Despite these flaws, it remains a worthwhile sound processor. Samples acquire a pleasing metallic quality during transposition. The filter section is among the most extensive and each one can absolutely transform the basic tone. The ability to alter the bit rate also allows a sample to become degraded to uncannily precise depths. Finally, there are ways to induce errors which make it a curious part of the arsenal.
You can hear the E-mu ESI-4000 on "In This Confessional" where it provides percussive hits thanks to external MIDI control from the Arturia Microfreak. That is, thus far, our sole recorded use of the unit within a Corduroy Institute song. Most of the time, it serves as intermediary sound processor whose sampled contents then get sampled onto other samplers.
As always, however, further exploration and sonic research awaits.
