Crumar Multiman-S

Back in 1977, this Italian string machine cracked the polyphony code for lush orchestral layers using a top-octave divider chip, just like the organs of the era, letting every one of its 49 keys sing fully together without compromise.

It's a fully analog beast with six core sounds—bass for the left hand, plus brass, piano, clavichord, cello, and violin assignable to either side of the split keyboard. You get dedicated volume sliders for each instrument on lower and upper splits, plus a global sustain slider and vibrato section for depth. The brass has its own filter with attack, decay, cutoff, and resonance for self-oscillating growls, while cello and violin share a dedicated filter; a hidden brigade delay IC adds that signature string ensemble shimmer, especially lush in the lows. Physical vibe is classic wood-trimmed road-ready with optional organ-style 13-note pedals, sustain footswitch, and expression pedal for live filter sweeps—all outputting in stereo.

Players still chase these for their warm, versatile tones that go beyond basic strings into wild combos, praising the robustness for gigging and nostalgic charm, though some note the fixed ensemble effect can't be tweaked.