ARP Solina String Synthesizer (1974–1981)
The ARP Solina String Synthesizer was originally marketed as the Solina String Ensemble, and most people just call it the ARP Solina. It defined the thick, chorus-heavy string pad of 1970s popular music. It showed up on countless records from that decade and has stayed the benchmark for analog string synthesis ever since.
Sound generation is divide-down. A single top-octave oscillator feeds a bank of divider chips - twelve per voice card - to produce the full chromatic scale across several octaves. Sawtooth and pulse waveforms go through a simple two-pole low-pass filter, then through the signature ensemble effect: three delayed versions of the signal, modulated by a low-frequency oscillator. That makes the swirling chorus. A built-in vibrato and the ensemble circuit are the only onboard effects. There are no envelope generators and no filter modulation. The keyboard spans 49 notes, and the instrument is big: 46 inches wide, 15 inches deep, 5 inches tall, and 29.5 kg (about 65 pounds).
The design came from Kenneth Freeman for the Solina company, and it was manufactured in Italy. ARP licensed it and built it under their own name from approximately 1974 through 1981, though the Solina String Ensemble first appeared in 1972. Competing string synthesizers of the era included the Freeman String Symphonizer, the Elka Rhapsody, the Crumar Performer, and the Jen SX1000. The original price was $1,295 in the US (£1,195 in the UK).
EQ Magazine (August 2010, p.31) noted that the Australian band Midnight Juggernauts used the Solina String Synthesizer in their studio, controlling it via a Kenton MIDI-to-CV converter—a modern workaround for a classic that has no MIDI interface natively.
On the used market, the Solina has appreciated considerably. Working units currently sell for $2,500-$3,500. Common problems are aging power-supply capacitors, failing divider chips (which are hard to source), and oil-filled capacitors in the ensemble section that can leak. The audio output is a proprietary 5-pin DIN and needs an adapter. The instrument is designed for 110V operation, so a step-down transformer is recommended on 220V circuits. The divider chips are hard to find, but much of the rest of the circuit uses standard components and a competent technician can service it.
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