Is a wavetable synth a musical instrument? It&#x27;s just manipulating samples. Is a mellotron (1960s&#x2F;70s tape-based instrument) an instrument? When you listen to the &quot;flute&quot; part on the Beatles&#x27; &quot;Strawberry Fields&quot;, is that a musical instrument? Mellotrons are much more primitive than modern samplers.<p>When a musician plays a &quot;real instrument&quot; to exactly imitate the part played by another musician, is it real music? If not, is classical or other forms of note-reading &quot;real music&quot;?<p>If you drop the prejudices and actually <i>think</i> about it, of course a sampler is an actual musical instrument.