Crumar is an Italian company which manufactured synthesizers and keyboards in the 60's, 70s and 80s. Its name is taken from that of its founder, Mario Crucianelli.[1] 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 synthesizers are comparable and contemporaneous to Moog synthesizers and other analog synthesizers. In fact, Crumar's Spirit synthesizer was originally designed by Bob Moog himself, along with Jim Scott & 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 Jazz musician Sun Ra occasionally played the Crumar DS-2. Keyboardists Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran used the Crumar Performer. The Crumar Performer was known for having a string section that could almost beat the more expensive ARP.
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.