Farfisa Syntorchestra 4 (1980) Mono / Polyfonic String Machine SN 6783 202 w/ Original Gig Bag

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Farfisa Syntorchestra 4 - trial Published on Jun 9, 2014

"Trial of an old Farfisa Syntorchestra 4 poly + mono synthesizer ( you can either select poly, mono, or play both at the same time ), please note that i am not a keyboardist so be gentle :P
The Farfisa is plugged into a line mixer, no ext. effects were added while recording..."

via this auction

Note the video above is from 2014.

"Super fun, great sounding, rare Italian keyboard from 1980 with original soft case.
It consists of mainly two sections, polyfonic and monofonic, but there are really four.
Rather than it's simple predecessor Syntorchestra 1, the Syntorchestra 4 has a lot in common with the Farfisa Soundmaker.

It shares the same presets and basic specs.

Poly section:
Separate output, volume and tuning
6 polyfonic presets in 3 sections, with vibrato option:
Section 1: Piano, Honky tonk, harpsichord
Section 2: Strings - with separate decay control *
Section 3: Brass and Reed presets, great warm synth tones.
Separate vibrato for the poly section.
The poly section can be routed to the Mono section via the button Poly in Mono: LFO and attack / decay controls, which is really this machine's strong point:
You can get phasery, wonky polyfonic sounds, distorted, by playing around with the filters, resonance and vibrato, and the pitchbend.
Since the signal is split when it's routed to the mono section, you can add the original signal for phaser/ flanger sounds, de-tune, plus us of course add a mono preset for some nice lush pads or big basses.

Mono section
Separate output, volume and tuning.
Pitch bend.
8 monofonic synth presets, modifiable LFO: Speed, Vibrato, VCF, brilliance, emphasis (envelope).
Portamento.
Mono preference - when you play chords, you can choose if the mono section triggers the lowest or highest note. This switch is a little loose, but works fine.

The keyboard has some wear, the slider caps are missing, it has standard slider cap attachments so easy to find replacements, meanwhile it's fully usable, plays great, everything works!
The mono preference switch is a little wobbly, again, works perfectly.
The bag is in less great shape, zipper works but is loose, shoulder strap missing.
For these reasons we're letting it go for a very reasonable price.

A very fun and musical string machine/synth, it sounds more 70's than 80's, Kraut rock or library music are obvious references, not so much glittery Vangelis.

It's very versatile, check out the Youtube video, and for reference Soundmaker and Syntorchestra 1 and you'll get a good idea of the range of sounds you can get out of it."