Zoë Blade's notebook

String Ensemble

String Ensemble tech specs

The String Ensemble was the first string machine, made by Solina (a brand of Eminent), and subsequently rebranded in the US by ARP.

It's essentially the string ensemble section of their 310 Unique organ, redesigned as a standalone instrument.

While it doesn't sound great by today's standards, it introduced many musicians to paraphony, long before synthesised polyphony was a technologically viable alternative, let alone affordable. It didn't matter that it sounded less realistic than a Mellotron when it was cheaper, lighter, and more reliable... and it didn't matter that it had a limited range of sounds, when those sounds could play multiple notes at once.

It was mostly relegated to background duty, and it was great at that, adding a lot of atmosphere to a mix. When it was needed for more upfront work, it could be paired with an effect such as a phaser, suitably augmenting its sound. At the time, it was a big leap forward for sound synthesis.

Notable users

References

  1. "ABC" Paul Colbert, One Two Testing, Jun 1985, pp. 48—51
  2. Moon Safari Air, 1998, p. 10
  3. "The Concerts In China" Mike Beecher, Electronics & Music Maker, Jun 1982, pp. 6—12
  4. "Docklands Rendezvous" David Bradwell, Music Technology, Aug 1988, pp. 26—31
  5. Pink Floyd: Song by Song Andrew Wild, 2017, ISBN 978-1-78155-599-6, pp. 79, 85, 89

Retrospectives

ARP: 2600 | String Ensemble

Hardwired synthesisers: CZ-101 | Juno-6 | Juno-106 | MS-1 | Minimoog | Model D | Polivoks | RS-101 | RS-202 | SH-101 | Solina String Ensemble | String Ensemble | TB-303 | VC340 | VP-330

Paraphonic synthesisers: RS-101 | RS-202 | Solina String Ensemble | String Ensemble | VC340 | VP-330

Solina: String Ensemble

String machines: RS-101 | RS-202 | Solina String Ensemble | String Ensemble | VC340 | VP-330