Retro Machines MK2

One of the last ARP instruments, the Quadra combined a bass synth, a poly synth, a lead synth, and a string synth in one instrument. It scored high on sound — especially the strings — and had a wonderfully lush phaser effect, but build quality was flimsy and the usability was poor — issues not shared by the virtual version. The Quadra's main problem, however, was timing — it was released in the same year as Sequential Circuits' Prophet 5. Famous users include Genesis, The Human League, Pink Floyd, New Order, Joe Zawinul, and film-maker John Carpenter.

Released 1978

Crumar was an Italian company that started out manufacturing electric pianos and string synthesizers, finally combining the two in 1977 with the Multiman, also known as Orchestrator. This rare Italian beauty delivers brass, piano, clavichord, cello and violin presets. If you're looking for the string sound of Peter Frampton's 'I'm in You' or perhaps the Bee Gee's 'Nights on Broadway' this is your instrument.

Released 1974

Crumar’s 'Roady' is a great vintage analogue electric piano, with a variety of warm, enchanting sounds. Three main e-piano voices, organ-style bass sounds, the 'vibes' section with tremolo and an organ style percussive key-press sound.

Released 1970

The Keio Electronic company, now better known as Korg, released its first mono-synth in 1973. The Korg 700 or Mini-korg offered oscillator settings such as 'chorus I' and 'chorus II', and its subtle percussion controls created envelopes quite unlike those of the other manufacturers of that time. Famous artists who used the Mini-korg are: The Cure, Human League, Vangelis, The Normal, Stevie Wonder and Paul Hardcastle.

Released 1973

The Polysix was one of the first easily-affordable programmable polyphonic synths. It had a warm, rounded, meaty sound, with great chorus and ensemble effects. It delivered a good Mellotron strings sound and you could save 32 patches, which was pretty good at the time, or save patches onto cassette tape for backup. You can hear the Polysix on tracks by Eat Static, Geoff Downes, Astral Projection, Jimi Tenor, Global Communications, Kitaro, Robert Rich, Keith Emerson and Tears for Fears.

Released 1981

The Memorymoog was a polyphonic synthesizer manufactured by Moog Music. Sonically sublime, it was often described as six Minimoogs in one unit. Each of the six polyphonic voices of the Memorymoog is made up of three VCOs that can be set to pulse, saw, or triangle waveforms. Moog was 'the' synth of this era and nearly every major artist who used electronic sounds played one. To name just a few: David Bowie, ABBA, Wendy Carlos, Depeche Mode, Devo, Vangelis, Stevie Wonder, Hans Zimmer

Released 1982

The Minimoog was one of the first widely available, portable and relatively affordable monophonic analog synthesizers, eventually becoming one of the most popular analog synths of all time. Due to the design of its 24dB/octave filter, its three oscillators, and tuning instabilities the Minimoog can produce an extremely rich and powerful bass sound. Used by: The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Kraftwerk, Dr. Dre, Giorgio Moroder, Jean-Jacques Perrey, Radiohead, Rick Rubin, Stereolab and The Neptunes.

Released 1970

If you're looking for a synth to use in your video, this is it: a big, heavy instrument in stylish light-gray that looked like a spaceship control panel with a 4-octave keyboard. Not surprisingly, this analog synth used four separate dual-oscillator SEM modules with their own filters and envelopes, plus a basic mixer panel. You can hear the 4-Voice in the early works of the Pat Metheney group, and Prince also used it on 1999. Classic analog looks and sound.

Released 1975

With a rich analog sound and virtually unlimited modulation options, the Matrix 12 was a high-end synth with a high price. It was tough to program but rewarding, and in 1985, this was the one you wanted: 61-note velocity-sensitive keyboard, 12 voice polyphony, 24 CEM oscillators, 15 LFO types, 100 patch memory and MIDI control. The list of well-known players reflects the Matrix 12's flexibility, including Vangelis, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Van Halen, Boris Blank (Yello), Jason Miles, Scritti Politti and The Orb.

Released 1984

Developed by ARP but released by Rhodes (Fender) after ARP folded, the Chroma was a 16-voice polyphonic synthesizer with a high-quality weighted keyboard. The sound was immaculate — the powerful synthesis engine delivered rich pads and eloquent leads. The Chroma dispensed with the Moog-style knobs and buttons in favor of sleek membrane push-buttons, which limited its real-time tweaking potential, but that was not really what the Chroma was made for — it was a player's instrument. Well-known Chroma owners include Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul and Oscar Peterson.

Released 1981

The 368 Electra-Piano was an electronic piano and the most popular instrument created by RMI. Whereas other electric pianos at the time were actually electro-magnetic, using tines hit by hammers that were amplified by pickups, the Electra-Piano's sound was generated electronically with oscillators. Chick Corea played an RMI 368 on Miles Davis's 1968 album 'Filles De Kilimanjaro' and you can also hear it on John Lennon's 'Imagine', Stevie Wonder's 'Isn't She Lovely', The Doors' 'Hello, I Love You'.

Released 1967

The first electronic pianos from Roland were the EP-10 and EP-20, both released in 1973 (along with the SH-1000). These came in heavy-duty rosewood and tolex cases and were designed for stage use. Four distinctive sounds were available: Piano I, Piano II, Harpsicord I, Harpsicord II. They also featured an accompaniment section and a built-in amplifier and speakers.

Released 1973

Firstly, no keyboard— the Super Jupiter was a 2-units high rackmount analog synthesizer, released by Roland on the wave of Jupiter-8 success. It had a thick, assertive, classic analog sound, well-suited to screaming leads, buzz-bass and all kinds of blips and pieces. This certainly appealed to artists like Hardfloor, Astral Projection, Vince Clarke, Vangelis, Pet Shop Boys, and Snap — all of them Super Jupiter users. With complex programming options, the usability of the MKS-80 was a lot less than super, but an additional controller module — the MPG-80 — provided knobs and faders galore.

Released 1984

The Pro One was a small monophonic synthesizer with a 3-octave keyboard. After the success of the Prophet 5, Sequential Circuits could seemingly do no wrong, and they certainly didn't slip up here — the Pro One sounded warm and fat, and delivered a huge range of sounds from super-hard basslines to pensive, melancholy leads. Yazoo's album 'Upstairs at Erics' is the definitive Pro One showcase — apart from the drums and the voice, 'Only You' was all Pro One sounds. Other well-known users include the Prodigy, Depeche Mode, New Order, Freddy Fresh, Mouse on Mars, Prince, Soft Cell, Emily Haines (Metric), Richard Barbieri and Sigue Sigue Sputnik.

Released 1981

The original aim of the so called 'string machine' was to generate the sound of a 'big' string ensemble sound common in 1970s disco music. The String Melody II weighed 23 kilos — heavy, but lighter than the combined weight of a real string ensemble. Each of the 49 keys had its own attack/decay envelope, resulting in a sound that surpassed the other string keyboards of the time. Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream are just two of the famous musicians who used the String Melody II in their music.

Released 1977

Before digital pianos and polyphonic synthesizers became available and affordable to professionals and home users, electronic pianos such as the Yamaha® CP11 were widely used. Electronic pianos work similarly to analog synthesizers in that they generate their tones through oscillators, whereas electric pianos are mechanical, their sound being electrified by a pickup.

Released 1981