The Freeman String Symphonizer was a 5-octave
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
of the 1970s. (The first prototype being shown prior to 1970, but the most well known shown in 1970, the second according to the Sound on Sound article) It was finally manufactured by the
Chicago Musical Instrument Co. and was also known as the Cordovox CSS. Its sound was related to that of the
ARP String Ensemble
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 (known for their ''Solina'' brand). It was distributed in the United States by ...
– cool, glassy-sounding strings. Eventually, its inventor
Ken Freeman tried to strike a deal with the company Ling but they abandoned their interest in it. Lowrey a division of CMI finally struck a deal after some deliberation.
The delay in getting the Freeman to market limited its sales. Some users were fairly famous, but its release was overshadowed by both the Eminent Solina and Crumar Stringman, both of which had only one oscillator and were cheaper to make.
The Freeman has 25 oscillators. One controls a digital 'top octave synthesizer' (TOS) IC (the common MK50240 in later versions; M087 or SAA1004 in earlier ones). The MK50240 TOS contains a set of 12 digital
frequency divider
A frequency divider, also called a clock divider or scaler or prescaler, is a circuit that takes an input signal of a frequency, f_, and generates an output signal of a frequency:
:
f_ = \frac
where n is an integer. Phase-locked loop frequency ...
s which derive a 'top octave' of notes from one 2MHz input signal. The tuning relationship is not perfect, but it can never vary. The other 24 oscillators are assigned two to each of the 12 notes. Thus there are 3 separate pitch references for each note. Each pitch is slightly different, thus creating an analog
warmth as the tones of 2 out of 3 gradually drift a tiny amount to give a dynamic beat frequency between them, much like real instruments gradually change in pitch ever so slightly due to temperature changes.
Each top-octave note is fed to a simple digital counter IC, which divides by 2, 4, 8, 16, and so on, generating all the lower octaves of that note. So the Freeman has three complete sets of tones that can be mixed to create more or fewer overtones in the sound, as one rank is tuned an octave below the other from the beginning. The 'High' and 'Low' buttons on the front panel select which group is selected, or both can be mixed for a thicker octave overtone on each note. The 'Low' must be on to hear anything on the highest octave because there are not enough frequency divisions to layer the two across the whole 61-key keyboard.
Because all tones are present all the time, it had no restrictions on how many notes could be played at once, unlike most synthesizers at the time, which were often monophonic. (Aside from the duophonic ARP Odyssey for instance.)
The Ensemble effect invokes the TOS rank to add the additional thickness to the other two 'ranks' of oscillators. But the two that have one discrete oscillator per note have an 'animation amount' slider associated with them. 6 low-frequency oscillators are grouped to notes such that it maximizes the effect for typical chords. In other words, makes it always sound like there are as many different vibrato rates as possible to again simulate an actual symphony. A built-in spring
reverb
Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abso ...
helps simulate a hall environment. And again one could choose 'cello' (16'), and 'violin' (8') tones.
There was a 'touch' (delayed) vibrato setting, and a 'glide' switch on the foot volume pedal (found also on many Lowery home organs), which dropped the pitch one-half step. This made it unique compared to other string machines that had only one oscillator and relied on delay line chips to produce the ensemble effect (chips that have to reduce the audio bandwidth to mask the digital clocking).
It was a heavy machine - about 70 lbs - and was rather durable except for the removable keyboard cover which looked like it hinged up, but rather pulled straight out.
It was used by
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
,
Jan Hammer
Jan Hammer () (born 17 April 1948) is a Czech-American musician, composer, and record producer. He first gained his most visible audience while playing keyboards with the Mahavishnu Orchestra during the early 1970s, as well as his film scores fo ...
,
Chick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", " 500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and ...
,
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
,
Ramsey Lewis
Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five RIAA certification, gold records and three Grammy Awards ...
,
Peter Sinfield
Peter John Sinfield (born 27 December 1943) is an English poet and songwriter. He is best known as the co-founder and former lyricist of King Crimson, whose debut album ''In the Court of the Crimson King'' is considered one of the first and mos ...
,
Peter Bardens
Peter Bardens (19 June 1945 – 22 January 2002) was an English keyboardist and a founding member of the British progressive rock group Camel. He played keyboards, sang, and wrote songs with Andrew Latimer. During his career, Bardens worked alo ...
of
Camel
A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...
and
John Philip Shenale
John Philip Shenale (often mentioned as Phil Shenale) is a Canadian composer, arranger, musician and producer based in Los Angeles.
Background
Shenale was born in Canada in 1951. His family relocated to the United States in the late-1950s ...
on "Reindeer King" from
Native Invader
''Native Invader'' is the fifteenth studio album (twelfth of entirely original material) by American singer/songwriter Tori Amos. It was released on September 8, 2017, through Decca Records. Its lead single, "Cloud Riders", was released on July ...
by
Tori Amos
Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...
.
Recently, it has been emulated in software by
GForce, with their Virtual String Machine software.
References
{{Reflist
Ken Freeman & The Birth Of String Synthesis Sound On Sound, February 2007
String synthesizers