An electronic musical instrument or electrophone is a musical instrument that produces sound using electronic circuitry. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical, electronic or digital audio signal that ultimately is plugged into a power amplifier which drives a loudspeaker, creating the sound heard by the performer and listener.
An analogsynthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog signals to generate sound electronically.
ARP Instruments, Inc. was a Lexington, Massachusetts manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, founded by Alan Robert Pearlman in 1969. It created a popular and commercially successful range of synthesizers throughout the 1970s before declaring bankruptcy in 1981. The company earned a reputation for producing excellent sounding, innovative instruments and was granted several patents for the technology it developed.
The keytar is a lightweight synthesizer that is supported by a strap around the neck and shoulders, similar to the way a guitar is supported by a strap. Keytars allow players a greater range of movement onstage, compared to conventional keyboards, which are placed on stationary stands or which are part of heavy, floor-mounted structures. The instrument has a musical keyboard for triggering musical notes and sounds. Various controls are placed on the instrument's "neck", including those for pitch bends, vibrato, portamento, and sustain.
The Yamaha CS-80 is an analog synthesizer released in 1977. It supports true 8-voice polyphony, with two independent synthesizer layers per voice each with its own set of front panel controls, in addition to a number of hardwired preset voice settings and four parameter settings stores based on banks of subminiature potentiometers.
Sequential is an American synthesizer company founded in 1974 as Sequential Circuits by Dave Smith. In 1978, Sequential released the Prophet-5, the first programmable polyphonic synthesizer; it became a market leader and industry standard, used by artists including Michael Jackson, Madonna, and John Carpenter. In the 1980s, Sequential was pivotal in the development of MIDI, a technical standard for synchronizing electronic instruments.
The Jupiter-8, or JP-8, is an eight-voice polyphonic analog subtractive synthesizer introduced by Roland Corporation in early 1981.
The Roland Jupiter-4 (JP-4) was an analog synthesizer manufactured by the Roland Corporation between 1978 and 1981. It was notable as the company's first self-contained polyphonic synthesizer, and for employing digital control of analog circuits, allowing for such features as programmable memory, voice assignment modes, an arpeggiator, polyphonic portamento and others.
Crumar was an Italian manufacturer of electronic musical instruments. It was established by Mario Crucianelli in the late 1960s, and manufactured synthesizers and keyboards during the '70s and '80s. Its name is a shortening of Cruianelli and his business partner Marchetti. The company appears to have grown out of the Crucianelli accordion company and also continued to manufacture accordions under both names.
Arturia is a French electronics company founded in 1999 and based in Grenoble, France. The company designs and manufactures audio interfaces and electronic musical instruments, including software synthesizers, drum machines, analog synthesizers, MIDI controllers, sequencers, and mobile apps.
Cyclone is the eleventh major release and eighth studio album by Tangerine Dream and the first in their canon to feature proper vocals and lyrics. The cover is a painting by band leader Edgar Froese.
Polyphony is a property of musical instruments that means that they can play multiple independent melody lines simultaneously. Instruments featuring polyphony are said to be polyphonic. Instruments that are not capable of polyphony are monophonic or paraphonic.
The Solina String Ensemble, also marketed as the ARP String Ensemble, is a fully polyphonic multi-orchestral synthesizer with a 49-key keyboard, produced by Eminent BV. It was distributed in the United States by ARP Instruments from 1974 to 1981. The sounds it incorporates are violin, viola, trumpet, horn, cello, and contrabass. The keyboard uses 'organ style' divide-down technology to make it polyphonic. The built-in chorus effect gives the instrument its distinctive sound.
A synthesizer is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and frequency modulation synthesis. These sounds may be altered by components such as filters, which cut or boost frequencies; envelopes, which control articulation, or how notes begin and end; and low-frequency oscillators, which modulate parameters such as pitch, volume, or filter characteristics affecting timbre. Synthesizers are typically played with keyboards or controlled by sequencers, software or other instruments, and may be synchronized to other equipment via MIDI.
Paraphony is a term which has three distinct meanings in the field of music.
The Eminent 310 Unique is a home electronic organ that was built and introduced in 1972 by the Dutch organ manufacturer Eminent, at the time based in Bodegraven, the Netherlands. It was the first organ to include a string section, making it the first commercial polyphonic string synthesizer on the market. It is prominently featured on Jean Michel Jarre's albums Oxygène (1977) and Équinoxe (1978).
Eminent digital organs is a brand of electronic organ for use in churches, halls and homes. The company is headquartered in Lelystad (Flevoland), The Netherlands.
The Roland RS-202 was a polyphonic string synthesizer, introduced by Roland in 1976. It was the successor to the Roland RS-101, released in 1975.
The history of home keyboards lies in mechanical musical instrument keyboards, electrified keyboards and 1960s and 1970s synthesizer technologies.
The Jupiter-80 is a discontinued 256-voice polyphonic virtual analog subtractive synthesizer introduced by Roland Corporation in 2011. The Jupiter-80 is a part of Roland's flagship long-running synthesizer series, which began with the Jupiter-4 between the years of 1978 and 1981. The Jupiter-80 was shortly followed by the Jupiter-50, which is a combination of both the JP-80 and the JUNO series. It was succeeded by the Jupiter-X and Jupiter-Xm in 2019.
