Crumar
Encyclopedia
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Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s and keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
in the 60's, 70s and 80s. Its name is taken from that of its founder, Mario Crucianelli. Crumar started out manufacturing electric pianos and string synthesizers, famous with the names of compac-piano, compac-string and then pianoman and stringman combining the two in 1975 with the Multiman and in 1977 with the Multiman-s. Crumar factory is also known for good "hammond-clones" made in the 60's & 70's like the Organizer, Organizer T1 and T1/C, T2, T3, Organizer - B, Cougar and for some synthesizers with innovative features like Digital controller oscillators for example the DS-2. Crumar synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s are comparable and contemporaneous to Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
s and other analog synthesizer
Analog synthesizer
An analog or analogue synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog computer techniques to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s such as the Trautonium were built with a variety of vacuum-tube and electro-mechanical technologies...
s. In fact, Crumar's Spirit synthesizer was originally designed by Bob Moog himself, along with Jim Scott
Jim Scott
Jim Scott is a guitarist, singer/songwriter and composer in the genres of jazz, classical and folk music.-Life:Jim Scott has made it his business to create and perform music that celebrates peace, justice and the earth. He co-wrote the celebrated Missa Gaia - Earth Mass and many other pieces with...
& Tom Rhea. In 1983, they started producing digital synthesizers under the name of Bit, which were marketed in the US under the name Unique.
In the early '80's, Crumar formed a design/distribution collaborative with the New York-based Music Technology. Crumar and the MT designers worked in conjunction with some respected names in electronic music to produce the GDS (General Development System) and the Synergy. These leviathans, which used additive synthesis technology and phase modulation, were bulky and cumbersome, but they were state-of-the-art in 1981. This enormous project together with the growing up of Japanese manufactured (one for all, Yamaha with DX-7) were some of the causes of the getting out of business of CRUMAR.
Crumar ceased trading in 1987, just as they were about to launch a high-quality sampler at the lower end of the market.
Space
Space
Space is the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum...
Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
Sun Ra
Sun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
occasionally played the Crumar DS-2.
Keyboardists Nick Rhodes
Nick Rhodes
Nick Rhodes is an English musician, is best known as the keyboardist of the pop rock band Duran Duran...
from Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
used the Crumar Performer. The Crumar Performer was known for having a string section that could almost beat the more expensive ARP
ARP Instruments, Inc.
ARP Instruments, Inc. was an American manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, founded by Alan Robert Pearlman in 1969. Best known for its line of synthesizers that emerged in the early 1970s, ARP closed its doors in 1981 due to financial difficulties...
.
In 2008 the brand CRUMAR was acquired by Bg's srl, an Italian society that would like to start produce electronic musical instruments and keyboard under the original name of CRUMAR: at the 2008 edition of Frankfurt Musikmesse they presented a digital piano under the name of "Baby Grand" that seems the first model of the new Crumar production.
External links
- Vintage Synth Explorer - An online vintage synthesizer archive. This site has good images and descriptions of Crumar synthesizers.
- Performer sounds
- Technical view on Crumar Performer
- Italian Crumar Museum
- Crumar DS-2 reverse engineer
- History and technical overview of the Crumar Sririt