ABSTRACT
One very short production run design that predated the Robert Moog synthesizers, and even the widespread use of the transistor, had started life in Italy. Elka had a comparatively illustrious history, based in Italy and making organs, such as the Capri and Panther, and from 1975 the Rhapsody 490 and 610. 1981 saw the launch of the Crumar Trilogy, a large polyphonic keyboard using frequency divider technology for string and organ sounds. The Crumar Stratus, launched in 1982, was a cut-down Trilogy featuring an input for the Master Touch breath controller designed by the US company Steiner-Parker, and the same year Crumar also showed the Composer keyboard, which added a monophonic synthesizer section and which also had a breath controller input. Teisco and Kawai, two closely linked and frequently interchanged brand names, offered many affordable analog products throughout the 1970s and 1980s, no doubt with the financial support of Kawai’s massive worldwide acoustic piano sales.
