McGill University Master Samples (MUMS) is the brainchild of Frank Opolko and Joel Wapnick. In late 1986, they approached Dean John Rea about the possibility of funding the project. Dean Rea encouraged Wapnick and Opolko to present a proposal to the McGill Budget Planning Group, and this proposal was accepted in the spring of 1987. Opolko and Wapnick produced three compact discs in the fall of 1987, and eight more were released the following year.

These 11 CDs provided source material to users of sampling synthesizers. They contained musical instrument sound samples for most standard classical and popular instruments, and differed from all other sampling CDs in that every note of every instrument was recorded.

In 1991, Opolko and Wapnick produced "Classical Sounds," which was the first CD-ROM originating from the McGill University Faculty of Music. "Classical Sounds" consisted of "virtual instruments" that could be loaded in directly to Digidesign Corporation's SampleCell. "Classical Sounds" for Akai and Peavey samplers were released in 1992.

A three-DVD set containing just about everything we ever recorded has just been released. All sounds are presented in .wav form only, and they are not edited for software sample players. They were cleaned up in subtle ways to make them even better than before.   Please click on the New: DVD Set button to the left for more information.

MUMS sounds have been used by many well known performers and composers, both of classical and popular music. In addition, they are used for teaching and research in over 200 universities worldwide. Their use has been cited in journals such as Computer Music Journal and Music Perception.