ARP String Ensemble |
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| Manufactured by | ARP Instruments, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Dates | 1974 - 1981 |
| Technical specifications | |
| Polyphony | Full |
| Timbrality | Five tones: violin, viola, trumpet, horn, contrabass |
| Oscillator | Sub-octave divider network |
| LFO | None |
| Synthesis type | Analog Subtractive |
| Filter | None |
| Attenuator | AR |
| Memory | None |
| Effects | Chorus on/off |
| Input/output | |
| Keyboard | 49 keys |
| Left-hand control | None |
| External control | Gate out |
The ARP String Ensemble, also known as the Solina String Ensemble, is a fully polyphonic multi-orchestral ARP Instruments, Inc. synthesizer with a 49-key keyboard, produced by Solina from 1974 to 1981. The sounds it incorporates are violin, viola, trumpet, horn, cello and contrabass. The keyboard uses 'organ style' divide-down technology to make it polyphonic. The built-in chorus effect gives the instrument its famous sound.
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The core technology is based on the String Section of the Eminent 310 electronic organ, manufactured by the Dutch company Eminent NV, whose sound was popularized by Jean Michel Jarre on his early albums.
The ARP string ensemble has been extensively used by Jazz-funk artists in the 1970s such as Herbie Hancock, George Clinton and Eumir Deodato. Elton John played an ARP String Ensemble on his hit song Someone Saved My Life Tonight. The Rolling Stones in your Hit Fool To Cry, The Buggles played a Solina String Ensemble in Video Killed the Radio Star and has been used by bands such as The Cure, Joy Division and Styx. Rick James used an Arp Solina in his song Mary Jane. In 1975, George Harrison used the ARP on his #20 hit You (George Harrison song) and the same year The Bee Gees played it on their hit Nights on Broadway. The Solina string sound has also been used by Kim/Ricky Wilde, Pink Floyd, Joy Division, David Bowie, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Anthony Phillips (on Collections and Sleepfall (The Geese Fly West) from The Geese And The Ghost), and Air.