DIGITAL SAMPLIG INSTRUMENT FOR DIGITAL AUDIO DATA

A digital sampling instrument for multi-channel interpolative playback of digital audio data stored in a waveform memory provides improved interpolation of musical sounds by using seven or eight surrounding points. The present invention may be efficiently implemented in a single VLSI circuit of low cost. The present invention allows a high channel count, providing many musical notes which can be played simultaneously, allowing them to be conveniently enveloped and mixed for performance in mono or stereo. The present invention allows timbral changes to the notes being played providing a musician with musical responsiveness. Also, the present invention accesses a waveform memory in an enhanced manner to allow improved performance parity between computational units and memory. Also, the present invention includes techniques which dramatically reduce the amount of memory required to store the musical waveforms while still maintaining adequate bandwidth and fidelity in the output.