Orchestra hit

An orchestra hit, also known as an orchestral hit, orchestra stab, or orchestral stab, is a synthesized sound created through the layering of the sounds of a number of different orchestral instruments playing a single staccato note or chord.^[1] The orchestra hit sound was propagated by the use of early samplers, particularly the Fairlight CMI where it was known as the ORCH5 sample.^[2] The sound is used in pop, hip hop, jazz fusion, techno, and video game genres to accentuate passages of music.^[3]

The orchestra hit has been identified as a "hip hop cliché".^[4] In 1990, Musician magazine stated that Fairlight's ORCH5 sample was "the orchestral hit that was heard on every rap and techno-pop record of the early 1980s".^[5] The orchestra hit has been described as popular music's equivalent to the Wilhelm scream, a sound effect widely used in film.^[6]