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63-541: ARP Instruments, having developed the large and powerful ARP 2500 for studio work, released the Soloist as a light, portable, easy-to-use performance instrument that could be placed on top of an electric piano or electronic organ . In contrast to the flexible modular design of the 2500, the Soloist had no patch panels or cables. A set of toggle switches allowed the performer to quickly choose one of 18 preset monophonic patches that were not modifiable (note that "Voice"

126-626: A 2500 unit is used to communicate with aliens . Phil Dodds , ARP's Vice President of Engineering, was on set to install and manage the synthesizer; Steven Spielberg , liking his looks, cast him on the spot as an extra to play the 2500. The unit featured in the film consisted of a fully loaded main unit, two fully loaded wing cabinets and dual keyboards in a custom case. It has been used by artists such as Aphex Twin , David Bowie , Vince Clarke , Ekseption , Faust , John Frusciante , Jean Michel Jarre , Cevin Key , Kraftwerk , Jimmy Page , Vangelis and

189-495: A 64-step "staircase" waveform to emulate a sawtooth pattern. Pulse waves are generated at a very high frequency, seven or eight octaves higher than the pitch of the note being played. A digital code from the octave selector is combined with the key code and sent to a frequency divider , which outputs the correct sub-octave waveforms from the oscillator. The pulse oscillator provides pulse-width ratios of 1/14, 1/9, 1/64, and 2/11. A dynamic pulse width output adds harmonic expression to

252-592: A Combo Compact, before progressing to a Compact Duo. By 1970, he had started to use a Hammond onstage and alternated between that and the Farfisa, depending on the song. The Farfisa was last used on The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), but Wright reintroduced it to his keyboard setup on David Gilmour's 2006 tour , featured on the Pink Floyd song " Echoes ". Hugh Banton from Van der Graaf Generator originally used

315-576: A Farfisa on " Dancing Days " from Houses of the Holy . Mike Oldfield 's album Tubular Bells (1973) features a Farfisa organ as one of the instruments. Can 's Irmin Schmidt regularly used the Professional and Professional Piano. The Syntorchestra was used by Klaus Schulze on several albums, including Moondawn . Manuel Göttsching played the instrument on New Age of Earth . After

378-480: A Hammond and had a full set of drawbars. The American conglomerate Lear Siegler became a major controlling interest in 1968. Production of combo organs began to be phased out in the late 1970s, after synthesizers had become more commonplace, with the last unit being produced in 1982. The company faced increased competition from Japanese companies and struggled to handle the departure of the Scandalli family from

441-482: A built-in spring reverb system. The Mini Compact is the smallest of the Compact Series, and was introduced in 1966. It has only four octaves, with no bass on the early models. The later version has a selector switch to choose bass or high sound in the lowest octave; these models have grey naturals with white sharps in the bass octave. Some of these extended bass models have only three voices (sounds), while

504-524: A cable-free experience but at the price of greater cross-talk. Although the 2500 proved to be a reliable and user-friendly machine, it was not commercially successful, selling approximately 100 units. A collection of the 2500's most popular modules was packaged into a single, non-modular unit as the ARP 2600 , leaving out the matrix switching and more esoteric functions. John Kongos first used one at Trident Studios in 1971, then in 1973 he acquired his own - it

567-624: A greater quantity of combo organs at a cheaper cost, and consequently, they were picked up by many amateur and semi-professional groups. For example, the list price of a Farfisa Mini Compact in 1966 was $ 495, compared to $ 995 of the Vox Continental a year before. Distribution in the U.S. was handled by the Chicago Musical Instruments Company, which also owned Gibson , and the instruments were originally known as CMI organs when introduced there. This design

630-481: A multi-pin cable that connects the controls of the accordion with the controls of the amplifier, or the F/AR Reverb preamp power supply unit. The Farfisa Matador was introduced in 1972. Unlike earlier instruments, it uses drawbars to select a variable amount of sound, like a Hammond. The lowest 17 keys cover the manual bass section. The Matador-M was compact version that used tabs. In 1975, Farfisa introduced

693-607: A series of other keyboard instruments. They were used by a number of popular musicians, including Sam the Sham , Country Joe and the Fish , Pink Floyd , Sly Stone , Blondie , Suicide and the B-52s . The company was formed after three Italian accordion manufacturers combined to form a single company. They began to produce electronic instruments in the late 1950s, and combo organs were introduced in response to similar instruments such as

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756-404: A serious synthesizer by most professional musicians. The limited set of voices, combined with tuning stability problems, kept it from wider use. Nevertheless, it found a place on recordings by such artists as Quincy Jones and Steely Dan . During the recording of Steely Dan's Countdown to Ecstasy (1973), Donald Fagen was so irritated with having to tune the Soloist so often, he threw it down

819-533: A two-speed vibrato and an optional swell pedal. The Fast 3 features more sounds, including 16' bass and clarinet, 8' oboe and trumpet, and with 8' and 4' flute. The Fast 4 has a larger five-octave keyboard, with an additional light / heavy vibrato option, two mixture stops and five percussion controls. The Fast 5 adds three sustain stops. The Professional series were the most sophisticated models made by Farfisa, first announced in August 1968 and designed to compete with

882-547: Is heavily built on the Pro Soloist), Anthony Phillips (whose 1977 album The Geese and the Ghost took its name from Phillips' nicknames for two sounds produced by the Pro Soloist), John Entwistle , and Steve Walsh of Kansas (particularly on the 1975 release Song for America ). Dennis DeYoung of Styx (used it through 1976 featured on the songs "Suite Madame Blue", "Crystal Ball" & "Man of Miracles"). Banks used

945-506: Is placed after the main oscillators, as this was the only way to make individual controls for each voice work. The Professional Duo is a double-manual version with bass pedals, a swell pedal and a slalom pedal. There is an optional amplifier and speaker unit, the PAS 55, that can be placed between the organ and pedals, to resemble a spinet organ. The Professional Piano was an electronic piano . There were two different models, whose main difference

1008-558: Is sheet metal with wooden side panels, and a fiberboard or Masonite bottom cover. The Pro Soloist was significant in using digital read-only memory (ROM) chips to program all of its internal signal paths. The Voice selection switches deliver unique digital codes to set the ROMs' digital outputs, setting the parameters required for each circuit to produce the sound of the selected voice. The expression controls, including aftertouch, remain under analog control. There are four slider pots to

1071-773: Is switch-controllable for choice of a bass or acute sound with bass note sustain and controllable bass percussion. The volume balance between bass and treble is adjustable. The Compact Deluxe features similar controls to the Compact I, with additional voices such as the 2-2/3' footage with an independent "brilliant" tab. Later models, such as the Combo Deluxe Compact I, also include a rhythm section ( drum machine ) of brush cymbal and drum. The final Compact models were manufactured in 1969. The Compact series has caused reliability problems for later collectors. It features germanium transistors which tend to drift in value, and

1134-540: Is switch-controllable for choice of a bass or acute sound. The instrument has four vibrato and three reverb settings. Later models also incorporate tremolo, percussion and repeat functions for both the upper and lower treble manuals independently. Unlike other Compact series organs, the Compact Duo models require a separate power supply/solid-state preamp/real spring reverb unit (called the Farfisa F/AR), to which

1197-631: The Vox Continental . The relatively inexpensive Italian labour allowed Farfisa to sell their products cheaper than the competition, which led to their commercial success. Popular models included the Compact series introduced in 1964, the Professional in 1967, the FAST in 1968 and the VIP in 1970. The success of Farfisa organs declined with the increased popularity of the Hammond organ in rock groups during

1260-406: The console . The series features a photoresistor -driven swell pedal, instead of the later and more common potentiometer . There are two jack outputs, the second of which is optional and can be used to send the bass through a different amplifier. There is also a headphone output jack, but it designed for now-obsolete 2000 ohm -impedance headphones. Though advertised as a "transistorised" model,

1323-399: The 1970s, and in response the company produced models that could emulate a Hammond, and introduced electronic pianos and synthesisers. The Farfisa brand name saw a brief revival in the late 1970s as part of the new wave movement , and the final models were produced in the early 1980s. The company has survived, and Farfisa is now a consumer electronics manufacturer. The background to Farfisa

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1386-527: The Beach ; Glass is still in possession of his original Farfisa as of 2018. Steve Reich featured four Farfisa organs in his piece Four Organs . Elton John used the Farfisa on several early recordings, including the 1972 hit " Crocodile Rock ". He called the Farfisa "the worst organ sound possible" and used it in order to sound like Johnny and the Hurricanes . John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin used

1449-516: The Explorer lacked the aftertouch feature that made the Soloist and Pro Soloist such expressive instruments. ARP 2500 The ARP 2500 is a monophonic analog modular synthesizer . It was the first product of ARP Instruments, Inc. , built from 1970 to 1981. It is equipped with a set of sliding matrix switches above each module; these switches are the primary method of interconnecting modules. There are rows of 1/8" miniphone jacks at

1512-544: The Farfisa Compact Duo, before switching to a Professional after the band's gear was stolen. He applied his knowledge of electronics and contacts as a former BBC engineer to customise it with a variety of additional effects pedals , including distortion and phasing . He later started using a Hammond organ as an additional instrument. The Professional was retired after the group's 1972 split. The Grateful Dead 's Ron "Pigpen" McKernan 's first keyboard with

1575-471: The Farfisa on numerous southern soul recordings from the 1960s, including " When a Man Loves a Woman " by Percy Sledge . Richard Wright 's use of the Farfisa was integral to Pink Floyd 's early sound, and was his main instrument on the albums from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967) to Ummagumma (1969), as well as live performances, such as on " Careful with That Axe, Eugene ". Wright started with

1638-482: The Hammond. Contemporary advertising emphasised that these series of instruments did not sound like other combo organs and could be used for soul and rhythm and blues effectively. The instruments included sustain, eight different footages, a variety of percussion and vibrato options. The Professional (Model PP/222 and PP/221) contains a single keyboard with grey keys. The vibrato uses a phase shifter circuit that

1701-529: The Industrial group Cabaret Voltaire use Farfisa drum machines and organs. Inspiral Carpets ' Clint Boon 's main instrument was a Farfisa Compact Duo. The Post-rock group Stereolab used various Farfisa organs extensively throughout their career, beginning with a Bravo model they found cheaply in a second-hand store. Green Day used a Farfisa organ on the song "Misery" from the album Warning , played by their bassist Mike Dirnt . The sound of

1764-735: The Pro Soloist prominently on the Genesis albums Selling England by the Pound (1973) through to Seconds Out (1977). It was also used by Funk keyboardist like Junie Morrison on the Ohio Players song " Funky Worm " and by Bernie Worrell in the Parliament Mothership Connection (1975) album. Around the same time, the company released its ARP Odyssey synthesizer, a powerful duophonic instrument, as

1827-504: The Soloist. A novel "digitized" tone generator eliminated tuning problems suffered by the Soloist. The voice selection tabs were now above the keyboard, instead of below as on the original Soloist. Although initially marketed to home organists, it found its way into the hands of such famous musicians as Tony Banks of Genesis , Josef Zawinul , Billy Preston , Vangelis , Tangerine Dream , Edgar Froese , Peter Baumann , Christopher Franke , Gary Numan (his 1980 number one album Telekon

1890-497: The Stereo Syntorchestra synthesiser, that combined a polyphonic string ensemble with a monophonic analogue synth. It features a three-octave keyboard, and separate outputs for the monophonic and polyphonic sections. The Soundmaker was Farfisa's next non-organ instrument, with a further development of the synthesizer approach, incorporating an improved string sound and more modifiable monophonic synthesiser sounds. It

1953-525: The Who . The composer Éliane Radigue has worked almost exclusively with the 2500. Farfisa Historical products: Farfisa ( Italian : Fabbriche Riunite di Fisarmoniche ) is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo , Italy, founded in 1946. The company manufactured a series of compact electronic organs in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Compact, FAST, Professional and VIP ranges, and later,

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2016-478: The attack and decay phase of some voices. The output of the pulse and sawtooth waves can be directed through a saw/pulse mixer followed by a high-pass filter with four selectable settings. Additionally, the pulse output can be directed through one of three resonator banks. These banks (with 2, 3, and 5 settings respectively) can tailor the filtering of the waveform to suit specific voices (such as cello, violin, flute, or oboe). All of these settings are determined by

2079-487: The company. However, Farfisa has survived into the 21st century, and the brand mainly produces intercom systems with the company ACI Farfisa , which makes and distributes systems for video intercoms, access control, video surveillance, and home automation. The Bontempi group owns the rights for Farfisa keyboards. The Compact series contains four models – Combo Compact, Mini Compact, Compact Deluxe and Compact Duo. They have 12 tone generator boards; one for each note of

2142-400: The design of the VIP 205 in updated form, while the lightweight and simple Bravo's sound was a move to compete with emerging portable keyboards and synthesisers. One of the first rock organists to play and spotlight the Farfisa was Domingo Samudio , known as " Sam the Sham ", who played a Combo Compact with his group The Pharaohs , who had their first hit " Wooly Bully " in 1965. In 1967, it

2205-430: The end of each row of matrix switches, to interconnect rows of switches. The main 2500 cabinet can hold 15 modules, and optional wing cabinets can each hold 8. The matrix switch interconnection scheme allow any module's output to connect to any other module's input. Unlike the patch cords of competitive units from Moog and Buchla , which can obscure control knobs and associated markings, the matrix implementation enables

2268-413: The factory programmed ROMs; they are not accessible by the user. Once the audio signal is routed through the mixer and resonators, it passes through a low-pass filter and amplifier each under the control of an attack-release (AR) or ADSR envelope generator, or both. The envelope settings, like all of the voice settings, are selected by the voice ROMs. The 24 dB/oct low-pass filter, ARP part no. 4034,

2331-409: The flagship of its performance line. The Pro Soloist offered an easier-to-use alternative which appealed to professionals as well as home users. By the time the Pro Soloist caught on, many competitors such as Moog Music , Korg , Roland Corporation , and Farfisa had introduced similar keyboards, though, ironically, most of the competitors' clones had the voice selection tabs below the keyboard, like

2394-476: The group was a Farfisa Compact, before switching to a Vox and then a Hammond. Sly Stone from Sly and the Family Stone played a Farfisa Professional, as seen at their 1969 Woodstock Festival performance. Composer Philip Glass began using Farfisa organs with his ensemble in the late 1960s. A Mini-Compact was played by him and Michael Riesman on some of Glass' early recordings, including Einstein on

2457-458: The introduction of synthesizers, Farfisa combo organs became less popular, but were revived in the late 1970s by several punk rock and new wave bands (especially those influenced by 1960s garage rock and psychedelia). Blondie 's Jimmy Destri used the Farfisa as his main instrument, and included stage tricks such as playing it with a hammer. Other groups from this period using Farfisas included The B-52's and Talking Heads . Numerous songs by

2520-631: The introduction of the Vox Continental combo organ in 1962, Farfisa decided to quickly build a competing instrument using the technical expertise they had gained from working with Lowrey. The first model, the Combo Compact, was introduced in 1964. Production was moved to a factory in Aspio Terme . The relatively cheap labour in Italy, compared to the UK and US meant that Farfisa were able to produce

2583-514: The later models had six voices. Early compact models including the Mini Compact and Mini Deluxe Compact have three tone switches – dolce, principale and strings, in 16', 8' and 4' footages. Later models include 16' bass, 8' flute, oboe, strings and 4' flute and strings. The first models have removable legs which could be stored inside the bottom cover, as opposed to later models that have folding or pivoting non-removable ones. The Compact Duo

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2646-444: The left of the keyboard to control volume, touch sensitivity, brilliance (VCF Cutoff), and portamento speed during live performance. A 3-position octave switch allows "normal" or plus or minus one octave transposition of the 3-octave keyboard to extend the range of the instrument to five playable octaves; the total range of instrument across all presets covers 8 octaves. There is also a rotary pot which serves double duty to control both

2709-517: The mergers of Settimo Soprani, Scandalli and Frontalini, whose businesses had suffered during World War II . The company was officially named Fabbriche Riunite Fisarmoniche Italiane S.p.A (United Italian Accordion Factories), and production continued in Castelfidardo. It quickly became the world's largest supplier of accordions, making up to 180 instruments a day with over 1,600 employees. The International Accordion Museum now occupies

2772-575: The movie version of Tommy . The ARP 2500 was extensively used by British producer David Hentschel on recordings such as " Funeral for a Friend " from Elton John 's 1973 album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road . Jeff Wayne's 1978 multi-platinum selling album War of the Worlds features the ARP 2500, including the sound of Martian speech. In the 1977 motion picture Close Encounters of the Third Kind ,

2835-468: The name implies, these use silicon transistors that produced more stable tones than the germanium ones used in the Compact series. The organs are contained in a metal cabinet covered with a skin plate and plastic edges, chrome folding legs, retractable carrying handles, and a removable music rack. The Fast 2 has a four-octave keyboard (C to C) with a one-octave manual bass on the left. There are four voice stops (flute, clarinet, reed and strings), all at 8',

2898-429: The organ connects via a multi-lead cable. Alternatively, it can be powered by a separate Farfisa TR/60 amplifier. Farfisa updated the Compact range through the 1960s, adding new features, but without changing the general model name. Later Compact models, such as the Combo Compact I introduced in 1968, include two inferior octaves (one black/white, one grey/white) on the left hand side of the keyboard. One set of octaves

2961-479: The original Soloist. The ARP Pro Soloist would eventually be reintroduced as the updated Pro-DGX featuring momentary digitally-latched push button voice selector switches with LED status indicators, rather than toggle switches. It would remain in production until the company's demise in 1981. The Pro Soloist is monophonic and features a multiple-trigger, low note priority, transposable 37-key three-octave keyboard with aftertouch (i.e., pressure) sensitivity. The case

3024-405: The plastic keys have tended to degrade over time, leaving cracks. Other problems include corroded contacts, leading to non-working switchings, and failing electrolytic capacitors . The design of the instrument makes it difficult to access components and service them. The FAST (Farfisa All Silicon Transistor) Series models were first introduced in 1967, to complement the existing Combo series. As

3087-452: The rate of Vibrato or Tremolo (dependent upon preset) and Repeat, which causes the LFO to retrigger the envelopes of any selected voice upon key depression. The Pro Soloist features a single oscillator , which generates simultaneously available pulse and sawtooth waveforms. The sawtooth wave is not a separate oscillator circuit, but instead is derived from the sum of 5 pulse waves, generating

3150-476: The recording studio stairwell and jumped up and down on it. Shortly after, a producer joined in with some alcohol and they burned the ARP into a pile of melted plastic. In 1972, ARP introduced the Pro Soloist , a revised and enhanced version of the Soloist. Expanding the number of preset patches to 30, and incorporating digital electronics for preset memory and keyboard control, it was much more reliable than

3213-744: The same time and included more features than earlier models. The VIP models were introduced in 1970 and included a foot-operated pitch bend . At the height of its production, Farfisa operated three factories to produce instruments in Camerano in the Marche region of Italy. By the late 1960s, major groups had moved on from combo organs and started to prefer the sound of a Hammond organ with an overdriven Leslie speaker , which were used by contemporary groups such as Yes , Emerson, Lake & Palmer , Deep Purple and Uriah Heep . In response, Farfisa advertised that its latest organs at that point could emulate

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3276-466: The scale, and use a frequency divider to generate the remaining notes. Unlike later organs, the Compact series is not fully transistorised, and includes high-voltage tube circuitry for the reverb unit. On most single-manual models the tone controls and a bass section volume are located on an indented panel on the rear of the instrument. Underneath the keyboards, there is a knee-high lever that can be actuated for tone boost, turned on by rocker levers on

3339-537: The site of the original factory. During the 1950s, after sales of accordions began to decline, Farfisa began to diversify its range of instruments including radios, televisions and musical instruments. The Microrgan, a portable reed organ , was released in 1958; it used an electric fan to blow air across the reeds. Two years later, the company developed the Cordovox accordion with Lowrey , which combined accordion reeds with electronically generated sounds. Following

3402-612: The spring reverb tank is valve-driven. An optional 13-note bass pedalboard can be added to all models except the Mini-Compact. Unlike other combo organs like the Vox Continental, Farfisa Compact organs have integrated legs, which can be folded up and stored inside its base. The Combo Compact has a five-octave keyboard, one of which of bass with inverse key colors, 16' bass and strings, 8' flute, oboe, trumpet and strings, 4' flute, piccolo and strings, four vibrato settings, three choices of reverb and three bass volume switches. It has

3465-417: Was ARP parlance for Preset, or Patch). This lack of programmability was compensated by giving the performer control over the voice expression, adding "growl", "wow", "brilliance", portamento , pitch bend , and/or vibrato to the timbre . A pressure-sensitive keyboard allowed players to use aftertouch to control all of these effects. While moderately successful in its niche, the Soloist was not regarded as

3528-491: Was copied for later combo organs such as the Gibson G-101 . The organs also had a flip-down modesty panel displaying the brand name. The line of FAST (Farfisa All-Silicon Transistorized) organs was launched at the 1968 NAMM Convention . These superseded the earlier Compact models based on germanium transistors and were styled like the Vox Continental, including chrome stands. The Professional series appeared around

3591-422: Was introduced in 1966. It weighs 90 pounds (41 kg) and supports 49-key manuals. It features a four-octave upper keyboard with 9 selectors: 16' Bass, Strings; 8' Flute, Oboe, Trumpet, Strings; 4' Flute, Strings; 2-2/3' (Flute) and Brilliance, and a four-octave lower keyboard with three selectors: Dolce, Principale and Ottava. There are two inferior octaves on the left-hand side of the lower keyboard; one octave

3654-560: Was mainly sold in continental Europe. This was followed by the Polychrome, built at the end of the 1970s. It was Farfisa's largest and most feature-rich non-organ instrument, as an analog synthesizer featuring vocal, brass, string, and percussion sections, including a built in chorus, phase, modulation and aftertouch . Among the last combo organs made by Farfisa were the Bravo and Commander, released in 1980. The Commander reprised part of

3717-457: Was the location of the split point between bass and treble. The VIP-series organs were announced in 1970, which included a "Synthe-Slalom" foot pedal used for pitch bend . The Transicord was a transistor electric accordion , and is essentially the circuitry for a Compact-series organ in an accordion-shaped box. There are no reeds; the instrument is purely electronic. It was designed to be used in conjunction with Farfisa's amplifiers, and has

3780-542: Was the main instrument in the Strawberry Alarm Clock 's hit " Incense and Peppermints ". Other groups using Farfisas around this time included The Blues Magoos , The Blues Project and Country Joe and the Fish . Some sources suggest The Doors ' Ray Manzarek upgraded from a Vox Continental to a Farfisa, but he actually used a Gibson G-101 . Spooner Oldham , the house organist of Alabama recording studio Muscle Shoals Sound Studio , can be heard playing

3843-484: Was the popularity of the accordion in early 20th-century Italy. Silvio Scandalli started making these instruments by hand, commuting to Castelfidardo , Ancona daily. He was hoping to work for Paolo Soprani, who established the country's first accordion factory. He founded the Scandalli Brothers, who grew to employ from 400–700 people in their accordion factories. Farfisa was established in 1946, following

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3906-518: Was used extensively at his Tapestry Studio, on his own recordings as well as Def Leppard ( Pyromania ), Mutt Lange , Alain Chamfort , Tony Visconti , Ryan Ulyate and many others. In 1972 Pete Townshend of the Who used an ARP 2500 on the Who's Quadrophenia . Townshend built his own home studio to experiment and record, due to the enormous amount of time he spent creating his groundbreaking synthesizer orchestrations on both Quadrophenia, and

3969-528: Was very similar to the Moog transistor-ladder filter, and was eventually replaced due to concerns around IP . The output of the voice circuitry is routed to high- and low-impedance outputs for amplification. A later instrument, the ARP Explorer (1974-1978), was similar to the Pro Soloist, but allowed basic modification of the voices beyond the presets programmed into the memory. Though much more flexible,

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