A string synthesizer or string machine is a specialized

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 ...

designed specifically to make sounds similar to that of a

string orchestra A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first ...

. Dedicated string synthesizers occupied a specific musical instrument niche between

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 ...

s and general-purpose synthesizers in the 1970s and early 1980s, until advances in

digital signal processing Digital signal processing (DSP) is the use of digital processing, such as by computers or more specialized digital signal processors, to perform a wide variety of signal processing operations. The digital signals processed in this manner are ...

technology allowed the production of inexpensive general-purpose

polyphonic synthesizer 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 monophoni ...

s and samplers, which made the existence of a separate type of instrument unnecessary. The development of the string synthesizer was originally motivated by the need for a cheaper and more portable alternative to the

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

, which was itself a cheaper alternative to human string ensembles. The availability of string synthesizers was influential in adding string orchestration to popular music that would not otherwise be able to afford the use of a human string ensemble, and their characteristic sound, which was almost, but not quite, like that of a real string ensemble, was one of the distinguishing sounds of the era. To keep costs down, string synthesizers typically used a frequency divider architecture similar to that of

s, with the addition of specialized in-built

vibrato Vibrato (Italian language, Italian, from past participle of "wikt:vibrare, vibrare", to vibrate) is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch (music), pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. ...

and

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, ...

s to mimic the ensemble effect of multiple string instruments playing at once. Classic string synthesizers included the

Freeman String Symphonizer The Freeman String Symphonizer was a 5-octave synthesizer 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 C ...

Eminent 310 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 ...

, Logan String Melody, Roland RS-101,

Roland RS-202 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 synthesizer operated using sawtooth wave oscillators, which used a frequency divider in a sim ...

,A Tale of Two String Synths
''

Sound on Sound ''Sound on Sound'' is an independently owned monthly music technology magazine published by SOS Publications Group, based in Cambridge, United Kingdom. The magazine includes product tests of electronic musical performance and recording devices, a ...

'', July 2002

Korg , founded as Keio Electronic Laboratories, is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instruments, audio processors and guitar pedals, recording equipment, and electronic tuners. Under the Vox brand name, they ...

Polyphonic Ensemble S, Crumar Orchestrator (Multiman-S),

Elka Rhapsody ELKA, Elka, or Elkas may refer to: * Aspioti-ELKA, Greek publishing and printing firm, active 1873–1997 * An Italian synthesizer manufacturer, now defunct; brand now owned by Generalmusic, used for their amplifier products ** Elka Synthex, a synt ...

, ARP String Ensemble, Moog Opus 3 and the Vox String Thing (a rebranded version of the budget Jen SM2007 String Machine) and the

Roland VP-330 The Roland VP-330 is a paraphonic ten band vocoder and string machine manufactured by Roland Corporation from 1979 to 1980. While there are several string machines and vocoders, a single device combining the two is rare, despite the advantage ...

References

Synthesizers {{Electronic-musical-instrument-stub

See also

References