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 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 principal sound generation technique used by Eminent is Additive synthesis. Mod ...

(known for their ''Solina'' brand). It was distributed in the United States by

ARP Instruments 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 de ...

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 Chorus (or chorusing, choruser or chorused effect) is an audio effect that occurs when individual sounds with approximately the same time, and very similar pitches, converge. While similar sounds coming from multiple sources can occur naturally, ...

gives the instrument its distinctive sound.

Technology

The core technology is based on the string ensemble section of the Eminent 310 Unique

electronic organ An electric organ, also known as electronic organ, is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally designed to imitate their sound, or orchestral sounds, it has since developed ...

in 1972, manufactured by the Dutch company Eminent BV. The main oscillator consists of twelve discrete tone generators with octave divide-down to provide full polyphony (however all notes come from the same envelope and filter, so it is actually a paraphonic string machine); and the built-in triple

utilizes

bucket-brigade device A bucket brigade or bucket-brigade device (BBD) is a discrete-time analogue delay line, developed in 1969 by F. Sangster and K. Teer of the Philips Research Labs in the Netherlands. It consists of a series of capacitance sections C0 to Cn. The stor ...

s (BBDs) controlled by two LFOs to create the characteristic vibrato. Four versions have been released: * SE-I: Mono Output with a permanent

* SE-II: Mono Output with an ON/OFF switch for the

* SE-III: Stereo Outputs with a redesigned

* SE-IV: Stereo Outputs with LEDs added on the front panel

Notable users

The Solina String Ensemble was extensively used by pop,

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and disco artists of the 1970s, including Richard Wright of Pink Floyd, on albums such as ''Wish You Were Here'' (most notably on "

Shine On You Crazy Diamond "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is a nine-part Pink Floyd composition written by David Gilmour, Roger Waters, and Richard Wright. It appeared on Pink Floyd's 1975 concept album ''Wish You Were Here''. The song is written about and dedicated to Syd B ...

") and ''Animals'', Herbie Hancock,

Bernie Worrell George Bernard Worrell, Jr. (April 19, 1944 – June 24, 2016) was an American keyboardist and record producer best known as a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic and for his work with Talking Heads. He is a member of the Rock and Rol ...

Billy Beck Billy Beck (born Frank Billerbeck; May 26, 1920 – June 29, 2011) was an American clown and character actor. Career Beck began his career as a clown at the legendary Cirque Medrano in Paris, France, in the late 1950s, and appeared in sm ...

(of Ohio Players),

Kerry Livgren Kerry Allen Livgren (born September 18, 1949) is an American musician, best known as one of the founding members and primary songwriters for the American rock band Kansas. Biography Livgren was raised in Topeka, Kansas, by his father Allen ...

(of

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

Dennis DeYoung Dennis DeYoung (born February 18, 1947) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He was a founding member of the rock band Styx, and served as its primary lead vocalist and keyboardist from 1972 until 1999. DeYoung was th ...

and

Eumir Deodato Eumir Deodato de Almeida (; born 22 June 1942) is a Brazilian pianist, composer, arranger and record producer, primarily in jazz but who has been known for his eclectic melding of genres, such as pop, rock, disco, rhythm and blues, classical, ...

. Parliament (band) used the Solina on several tracks, particularly as a solo instrument on songs such as " Chocolate City", “

Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker) "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)" is a funk song by Parliament. It was released as a single under the name "Tear the Roof off the Sucker (Give Up the Funk)". It was the second single to be released from Parliament's 1975 album '' ...

” and "Flash Light". Elton John used a String Ensemble on his hit song "

Someone Saved My Life Tonight "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" is a song, with music by English musician Elton John and lyrics by Bernie Taupin, from John's 1975 album ''Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy.'' It was released as a single on 23 June 1975, the only sing ...

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

in their hit "

Fool to Cry "Fool to Cry" is a ballad by English rock band the Rolling Stones from their 1976 album ''Black and Blue''. The song was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Mick Taylor had just left the band and the Stones were left without a lead guitar ...

", KC & the Sunshine Band in their hit, " Please Don't Go",

the Buggles The Buggles were an English new wave band formed in London in 1977 by singer and bassist Trevor Horn and keyboardist Geoff Downes. They are best known for their 1979 debut single " Video Killed the Radio Star", which topped the UK Singles Cha ...

in "

Video Killed the Radio Star "Video Killed the Radio Star" is a song written by Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley in 1979. It was recorded concurrently by Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club (with Thomas Dolby on keyboards) for their album '' English Garden'' an ...

Hall & Oates Daryl Hall and John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, are an American pop rock duo formed in Philadelphia in 1970. Daryl Hall is generally the lead vocalist; John Oates primarily plays electric guitar and provides backing vocals. The two ...

in their cover version of "

You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin is a song by Phil Spector, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, first recorded in 1964 by the American vocal duo the Righteous Brothers, whose version was also produced by Spector and is cited by some music critics as the ...

", and

Rick James James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in ...

in " Mary Jane". In 1975, George Harrison used the ARP on his song "

You In Modern English, ''you'' is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from the Proto- ...

", and the same year the Bee Gees played it on their hit "

Nights on Broadway "Nights on Broadway" is a song by the Bee Gees from the ''Main Course'' album released in 1975. The second single released from the album, it immediately followed their number-one hit "Jive Talkin'". This track was credited to Barry, Robin and ...

". Stevie Wonder played the famous string line on Peter Frampton's 1977 ballad "

I'm in You ''I'm in You'' is the fifth studio album by Peter Frampton. It was released on 28 May 1977, almost a year and a half after his blockbuster 1976 live album '' Frampton Comes Alive!'' It was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York, where '' ...

". The Solina string sound has also been used by

Kim Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese f ...

and

Ricky Wilde Ricky may refer to: Places * Říčky (Brno-Country District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic * Říčky v Orlických horách, a village in the north of the Czech Republic *Rickmansworth, a town in England sometimes called "Ricky ...

, Brian Eno,

Fun Lovin' Criminals Fun Lovin' Criminals are an American rap rock band from New York City. They are best known for their hit "Scooby Snacks", which features samples from films by Quentin Tarantino, and the song "Love Unlimited", which recalls Barry White's backin ...

The Cure The Cure are an English rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith has remained the only constant member. The band's ...

, Gorillaz,

The Chameleons The Chameleons are an English rock band, formed in Middleton, Greater Manchester in 1981. The band's classic line-up consisted of lead vocalist and bassist Mark Burgess, guitarists Reg Smithies and Dave Fielding, and drummer John Lever. Th ...

Carpenters Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters t ...

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after atte ...

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...

Air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

, Anthony Cedric Vuagniaux and

Rikk Agnew Richard Francis "Rikk" Agnew Jr. (born December 9, 1958) is an American musician with a career spanning more than 40 years. He has previously been a member of some of the most influential bands of the Orange County hardcore punk genre, as w ...

. Fleetwood Mac keyboardist

Christine McVie Christine Anne McVie (; née Perfect; 12 July 1943 – 30 November 2022) was an English musician and songwriter. She was best known as keyboardist and one of the vocalists of the band Fleetwood Mac. McVie was a member of several bands, nota ...

used it on the band's '' Heroes Are Hard to Find'' album, most notably on her song "Come a Little Bit Closer." Brian Wilson of

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...

used it on ''

15 Big Ones ''15 Big Ones'' is the 20th studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released July 5, 1976 on Brother/Reprise. It includes a mix of original songs and renditions of rock 'n' roll and R&B standards. The LP was the band's first albu ...

'' and ''

The Beach Boys Love You ''The Beach Boys Love You'' is the 21st studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released April 11, 1977 on Brother/Reprise. Sometimes referred to as the band's "punk" or "synth pop" album, ''Love You'' is distinguished for its pioneer ...

'',

Charly Garcia ''Charly'' (marketed and stylized as ''CHAЯLY'') is a 1968 American drama film directed and produced by Ralph Nelson and written by Stirling Silliphant. It is based on ''Flowers for Algernon'', a science-fiction short story (1958) and subseque ...

on '' Pequeñas anécdotas sobre las instituciones'', Porsuigieco, La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros, and with

Serú Girán Serú Girán was an Argentine rock supergroup. Formed in 1978, the group consisted of Charly García ( keyboards, synthesizers and vocals), David Lebón (guitars and vocals), Oscar Moro (drums and percussion) and Pedro Aznar (electric and fret ...

. Regional Mexican band

Grupo Yndio Grupo Yndio is a Mexican band from Sonora founded in 1972, by some of the members of the dissolute Los Pulpos. The band is known for Spanish covers of English-language pop hits, but with a distinctive Grupero style. Their best known hits includ ...

had used a Solina in their Spanish-language cover of

Leo Sayer Gerard Hugh "Leo" Sayer (born 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter whose singing career has spanned five decades. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009. Sayer launched his career in the United Kingdom ...

's hit "When I Need You" ("Me Haces Falta"). Tony Visconti, who produced David Bowie’s "Heroes", solos the Solina string part in this fascinating song breakdown.

Recreations

Many companies have recreated virtual plugins and VSTs of the Solina String Ensemble. One of them is the Solina V, created by French-based company Arturia. It's a replica of the original Solina String Ensemble keyboard with added features like a new "Humana" voice preset and filters.

Gallery

File:Eminent 310 Theatre String ensemble.jpg, "''String Ensemble''" section of Eminent 310 Theatre organ File:SolinaStringEnsemble 03.JPG, Solina String Ensemble, the original version of String Ensemble, derived from Eminent organ File:MC-303 - MicroKorg - Solina String Ensemble mk1 - Telecaster.webm, Improvisation with a MC-303, a MicroKorg, a Solina String Ensemble mk1 and a Telecaster electric guitar

References

External links

Retrosound - Pictures and Information about the Solina String Ensemble

Service Informations scanned as PDF-File
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solina String Ensemble ARP synthesizers String synthesizers Polyphonic synthesizers Analog synthesizers