Analogue samplers

The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. As the key is released, the tape is retracted by a spring to its initial position. Different portions of the tape can be played for different sounds.

right|thumb|300px|Keyboard overview of a model 35002 Optigan. The coded strip above the main keyboard corresponded to numbers in the music books for those unable to read music. The Optigan (a portmanteau of optical organ) is an electronic keyboard instrument designed for the consumer market. The name stems from the instrument's reliance on pre-recorded optical soundtracks to reproduce sound. Later versions (built under license and aimed at the professional market) were sold under the name Orchestron.

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The Vako Orchestron is a keyboard instrument made in the 1970s, that produces its sound through electronic amplification of sounds pre-recorded as an optical track on a disc. It is the professional version of the Mattel Optigan, an earlier and lower-priced model intended for amateur musicians.