Elka Rhapsody (1974–1980)
A lush, wobbly string pad like that has a good chance of coming from this Italian workhorse. It has a split personality and a growl like a cello in a thunderstorm.
Overview
The Elka Rhapsody is a chameleon. It was born in Italy during the mid-1970s synth explosion, and it sat between organ, string ensemble and keyboard hybrid in a way few others did. It came in two versions, the Rhapsody 610 and the Rhapsody 490, and they were built for different players. The 610 has a 61-key span, a splittable keyboard and four distinct sounds: strings, violoncello, a surprisingly serviceable analog piano, and a clavichord that leans more toward harpsichord, as heard on tracks like The Yardbirds’ “For Your Love.” The 490 is the little brother. It has 49 keys, no split, and only the string and cello voices. Under the hood the two are nearly identical, right down to the circuitry. The Hohner StringVox is the same machine in a different paint job - black for Elka, beige for Hohner, with German switch labels.
The architecture is what sets the Rhapsody apart. It doesn’t layer square waves or use complex oscillators. It works like an organ: a master top octave generator feeds pitch data to divider chips, one for each key, each on its own tiny voice board. The 610 has 61 of these boards, labeled A through Z (with I, J, K, Q, V, and X missing). Each is tuned to filter the sound a little differently across the keyboard. The lowest five keys share the same board type (A), while the top few use Z boards. That zoning makes the sound warm and rounded down low, and bright and cutting up top. Then there is the chorus, a double-stacked, multi-speed unit. A fast modulator adds "life" and "ensemble," and a slow one gives the "slow beating" effect. The chorus keeps the long, organ-like releases from sounding sterile.
It’s stable, mostly. Owners report it as a very pitch-stable instrument, though early 1975 units have a quirk: the F#/Gb note runs nearly 6 cents flat. That’s noticeable to a trained ear, or when playing with other instruments. Once warmed up, it holds its tuning. The keyboard action is great, if a bit dusty after decades, and easily cleaned. The chassis is described as "rugged and very strange," and it opens with just four screws, two on top and two underneath. Then you flip the keybed up like a hood to get at the voice boards. If a clavinet note is dead, swap its voice board with one from a less-used key in the same range.
Specifications
| Manufacturer | Elka, an Italian company |
| Production Years | Built from 1975 till 1980; began around 1974 |
| Keyboard | 61 keys (Rhapsody 610); 49 keys (4 octaves, Rhapsody 490) |
| Keyboard Range | 4 octaves (C to C) |
| Keyboard Splits | Splittable keyboard (2 / 3 octaves) |
| Sounds | Violoncello, Strings, Piano, Clavinet |
| Controls | 4 individual volume sliders for each keyboard split side; 3 release time sliders (DECAY) for Violoncello, Strings, and Piano/Clavinet; 4 CANCELS buttons to mute sounds |
| Outputs | GENERAL and PIANO output sockets; main output jack |
| Audio Output | One instrument audio output on the back |
| Pedal Input | 3-pin socket for sustain pedal |
| Includes | Volume pedal with DIN jacks |
| Special Socket | Multi-pin socket for optional bass keyboard pedal (lower octave trigger) |
| Power Cord | Non detachable power cord |
| Tuning | Adjustable overall tuning |
| Power Supply Voltage | 27vdc and 9vdc (transformer provides ~25vdc and 9vdc) |
Key Features
Split Personality, Literally
The 610 gives you more than extra keys. It gives you control. With a splittable keyboard (2/3 octaves), you can run violoncello in the left hand and strings or piano in the right, each with its own volume slider. Four sliders in total balance the two split zones and the two sound layers independently. That made it a live favorite. Tangerine Dream’s Christopher Franke used it in every concert from 1975 into the early '80s, layering textures on the fly. The 490 has no split and no piano or clavinet sounds. It is simpler, but still handles pure string work.
Chorus That Moves
The double chorus is the soul of the Rhapsody. One modulator runs fast, adding "life" and "ensemble." The other crawls, creating a slow, pulsing "beating" that mimics the natural imperfections of a string section. Early units used an ITT ICA350 delay chip (a round, six-legged module). Most others used the 8-pin ICA350Y, with only six pins active. The chorus is why the Rhapsody doesn’t sound like a flat organ, even on long, sustained notes.
Modular Repairability
Each key has its own voice board - 61 in the 610, each labeled A-Z (with gaps). If a note flubs on clavinet but works elsewhere, you can swap boards. There’s no need to trace a failed transistor or capacitor across a dense PCB. Lift the keybed, unplug the board, and swap it with a spare from a less-used key. The design is labor-intensive to manufacture, but restorers get a lot out of it. The LFO board sits on its own module and is easy to modify, and some units even have added trimmers for fine-tuning modulation depth.
Generation Gap
Collectors split on 1st versus 2nd generation. Units with serial numbers below 5000 (like #3786) are considered "1st Generation." They have colored buttons on the left side and, according to some, a "more raw and rich sound in the harmonics." After 1975, the circuits were repositioned. The modulation boards moved from behind the divider circuits to under the keyboard, and the master oscillator changed from the S2555/S2556 chip combo to the AY-1-0212 (General Instruments). The 1975 version ran at 2 MHz, and later models dropped to 667.527 kHz. Whether this shift degrades the sound is debated, but the consensus leans toward the early models having a slightly more aggressive harmonic character.
Historical Context
Elka were organ builders first, not synth pioneers. The Rhapsody arrived just as the market boomed for keyboards that emulated string instruments, and it became one of the most widely spread string machines of its time, sold by the thousands. It gave Elka a foothold in the professional keyboard market, and the company used its success to fund development of the Synthex. The Rhapsody was the only identifiable keyboard in Tangerine Dream’s onstage rig. Jean-Michel Jarre, Klaus Schulze, Vangelis, and Tony Banks of Genesis all used it, drawn to its deep, growling bass and shimmering highs. Supertramp used it too, and Claudio Simonetti of Goblin put it in horror soundtracks.
Collectibility & Value
The Rhapsody has a cult following, and it sounds tremendous, especially with all four sounds layered. The violoncello has a "deep and gravelly" bass end that delivers a "tremendous 'growl,'" while the strings are lush and haunting. The piano is there. It’s functional and analog, but it won’t replace a stage piano. The clavinet is not as funky as a Hohner D6 or E7, but it suits the mid-70s Tangerine Dream sound on albums like *Encore*. The 1st Generation units are especially prized for their richer harmonic character. The flat F#/Gb in 1975 models is a known tuning flaw.
Maintenance is manageable but needs attention. The non-detachable power cord is a liability, and rewiring may be needed. The volume pedal uses an LDR (B8-731-03 from Phillips) and a bulb, and both can fail over time. The divider chips (ITT SAY110 or SAJ110) are known weak points, and the SAJ210 is a more reliable replacement. The modular voice boards make troubleshooting easier than on most string machines. A Tubbutec MIDI retrofit exists. It adds modern control without gutting the original circuitry.
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