Crumar Trilogy

i guess when having no experience in using synths you would not be able to fully use it. but ofcourse that's with every synth. everything is very clear and if you really don't understand you can turn to the manual wich i think is very extensive. I don't really use the presets because i believe they are always just not what i like to hear.

The synthesiser is stated to be polyphonic but i would not advise anyone who wants to play chords to buy this machine, when playing 2 notes at the same time it's still ok but it will start to sound crappy. when playing chords it all blends together.i strongly advise to buy this synth only if playing long single notes rather than piano like chords. the synth doesn't have much filtering options, but the ones it has are easy to use. no pressure sensitive keys. no midi, new boards, ... .
it also doesn't have a sequencer. it's synth section is very limited compared to many other analog synths, but then again it has synth, strings and organ.

i like all the sounds coming from this machine, espacially the strings. the strings don't sound like strings but it flaws a bit making it sound like the early 80's new wave sound (the reason i bought this synth : new order/ joy division). organ is limited (organ doesn't have chorus or leslie effects) but again sounds cool in its own way. synth is limited but it works and has some filtering options. this machine doesn't have aftertouch or velocity sensitivity.

Believe me , you can rely on this machine. parts can break but only if handled uncarefully. i've seen the inside of mine and it's very organised.

never dealt with the company and i don't think anyone will ever again.

It's not the best synth for sale, it has organ synth and strings but only the strings really stand out because it has a sound wich i think a lot of people are searching for.

all his flaws are compensated by the low price.

A bit short on cash? like early 80's music?
BUY THE CRUMAR TRILOGY!

The Trilogy was 'three keyboards in one', Organ, Stringsynth and Synth. Organ was basic - about 5 drawbars but effective, strings were awful unless you were into Michel-Jarre, synth was pretty naff too. 8 presets (all adjustable by a set of trimmer pots under top panel) and one user patch using the controls. Making a patch was easy enough, even adjusting the internal presets to emulate a 'good' patch was painless enough (apart from you had to open the top up like a car bonnet/hood). Never had a manual.

It was reputed to be fully polyphonic and I guess it was but the action was simply terrible - if you banged out a full chord on a long sustain sound then, after loosing all notes, played a single note then all oscillators would cancel out!! Horrible. No effects. No expansion. No MIDI. No sequencer.

The 5 (or was it 6) drawbar organ sounded like a basic organ sound, effective enough but no C3 by a long chalk. The strings were ok for an ethereal haunting strigsy type thing but that's about it. The synth was just bland and incapable of producing anything like a good old gutsy synth stab or a full combed swoosh - not much point really. There was no aftertouch or velocity sensing and as stated above it big BIG letdown was the polyphonic managment, where a single note would cancel out a sustaining chord. Poor.

Again - like the Crumar Roadster (as mine was badged) it always worked and stayed in tune etc. But it had nothing else to be relied upon it was such a poor instrument. I did gig it for a few years and I have a hernia to proove it. I simply wouldn't use one again. Ever.

Never contacted them. They were Italian.

If it were lost I'd leave it lost, infact it is lost - forgot what happened to it - I may have abandoned it at some club somewhere. Sorry guys. If it were stolen I'd thank the thief. Been playing since 1983, own Korg and Roland gear in the main. I loved nothing about the Trilogy and I hate having to admit to owning one. If it had better polyphony management it might have gained a few extra brownie points but it didn't so I would compare it to a Trebant - served it's pupose in the most basic of terms.

Unit came with Presets erased. Manual isn't going to teach you how to make great sounds, but it shows the basic of using this instruments and it's bells and whistles.

Great polyphony. Look up Crumar clever polyphony tricks on an old Sound On Sound article you'll find Googling 'Crumar Trilogy'. The action is FANTASTIC, blows every MIDI synth I've ever owned away. No expansion capabilties short of hard core circuit bending. No sequencing, no velocity sensitive keyboard. I love the psuedo-sequencer effect of the octave shifting oscillators. Great early New Order / Joy Division wheeze.

Realistic isn't the goal here. Sounds unique, crappy, cool. Great for Experimental, New Wave/Goth, Prog Rock, Disco - use it Sine Wave out as Vocoder Carrier wave.
No crappy onboard effects.

The action is so snappy that the lack of velocity and aftertouch is forgiven. A synth like this needs to be played with (multiple) volume pedals (each instrument - Synth, Organ, Strings, Sine - has it's own Out: A FAVORITE feature for me.

The Organ is pretty weak as a Organ, but as a background coloration for your synth sounds, can be quite nice.
The Strings while quite asthmatic and unrealistic, have a hanuting quality that evokes images ranging from Genesis to Joy Division, again rally only when used as coloration on top of Synth patch.
The Synth is of course the important sound here. It's certainly not the best synth in the world, but it's unique, and nowadays, that's really all that matters. I love the Alternation Square and Sine waves, love the inverted Envelopes. Most people hate the weak sound generated from the Sync mode, but it's a key part of it's asthmatic charm.

I can really depend on mine. I think once I get it serviced once it will stay reliable. It isn't getting any worse. I would take this to a gig, it's big and heavy, but it ain't fragile. Most Crumar found in their natural state today seems pretty beat up. Not sure their engineering has stood the test of time. Architecture simple enough for any good repair to fix, even if they haven't seen one before.

You're joking right? Ain't gonna happen.

Love it, Love it. I'm a dork for owning obscure and quirky instruments, this is a classic in that category. High end users of this synth's generation looked down their nose at this synth, but that same cheap yet powerful cheese quotient is what lots of modern users are looking for.
I'd buy it again. I'd love to MIDI-ify it (as long as the snappiness of it's response isn't hurt.) A poor man's Oberheim is a reasonable thumb nail description. I use it in my music alot.