When the factory sounds just were not cutting it for your next big radio hit, E-MU came to the rescue with the very first installment of their floppy disk for the Proteus/1 line: Vol. 1 Fresh Mix.

Because in 1989, if you were not labeling your product “fresh,” “rad,” or “extreme,” you were basically invisible to the consumer market. This collection was not for the avant-garde ambient experimentalists. These 64 pop/rock-oriented presets were the absolute meat and potatoes of the mainstream music industry. It was essentially an FM radio hit-making starter kit, giving you all the punchy basses and bright, glossy keys needed to conquer the Billboard charts.

True to the strict limitations of the era, the entire library was perfectly portioned into a 64-preset bank. It was the exact, magical number required to fit snugly onto a floppy disk without blowing up your studio’s workflow.

It was the perfect digital booster shot for a synth that was already busy dominating the airwaves.