CBS Musical Instruments, Rhodes Division. Designed by
ARP Instruments, Inc.
Dates
1982-1984
Price
US$5295, Expander: US$3150
Technical specifications
Polyphony
polyphonic 8 or 16
Timbrality
multitimbral 2 (8 max under computer or MIDI control)
Oscillator
16 (1 or 2 per voice) VCO
LFO
16 (1 or 2 per voice) digitally generated - sine, cosine, offset sine, half sine, saw, square, lag square, 2 x triangles, random and 6 x patterns
Synthesis type
Analog Subtractive
Filter
VCF CEM3350 , 1 or 2 per voice depending on voice mode. Each VCF can be 12db LP or 12 db HP in single 16 voice mode. In 8 voice mode filters can be combined to be 24db LP, HP or 12db BP or 12 db NP or dual 12db LP or dual 12db HP.
Attenuator
32 (2 or 4 per voice) digitally generated ADR envelopes, 16 with delay
The ARP Chroma is a polyphonic, multitimbral, microprocessor controlled, subtractive synthesis analog synthesizer developed in 1979-1980[1] by ARP Instruments, Inc. just before the company's bankruptcy and collapse in 1981.[2]
The design was purchased by
CBS Musical Instruments and put into production by their Rhodes Division in 1982 as the Rhodes Chroma at a list price of US $5295.[3] They also released a keyboard-less version of the Chroma called the Chroma Expander at a list price of US $3150.[3]
The Chroma was one of the early microprocessor-controlled analog synthesizers. It was designed before MIDI and featured a 25-pin D-sub connector computer interface used to slave the Expander to the Chroma. Also, an Apple IIe interface card and sequencing software was available.[4][5]
The Rhodes Chroma and Expander were discontinued in 1984.[6] Somewhere between 1400 and 3000 Chromas and Expanders were built.[7]
^"This section provides information on all of the MIDI kits that are - or have been - available for the Chroma". Conceptually, the Chroma began in the fall of '79. It started into serious development in the latter part of '79 and 1980.
^"The Rise and Fall of ARP Instruments". rhodeschroma.com.
^ ab"Retail Prices". Price History - rhodeschroma.com.
^"This is an excerpt (Appendix O) from the Sequencer Manual related to the Apple II interface card". Hardware Description and Specifications - rhodeschroma.com.
^"...after the Chroma was discontinued (in 1984)". Chroma Cult - rhodeschroma.com.
^"...assuming that there were no gaps, approximately 1400 instruments were produced in all. ...This is still nowhere near the 3000 that Philip Dodds claimed in the Mark Vail Keyboard interview". Instrument Registry - Index of Known Instruments - rhodeschroma.com.
Rhodes Division in 1982 as the RhodesChroma at a list price of US $5295. They also released a keyboard-less version of the Chroma called the Chroma Expander...
for $350,000. The project was completed at CBS R&D, and the renamed RhodesChroma was produced from 1982 to late 1983. The instrument has a flexible voice...
Fender's RhodesChroma, the first computer-controlled keyboard, resulted from ARP's engineers being acquired by Fender in 1979. Its successor, the Chroma Polaris...
Plath. Dodds died from cancer on October 6, 2007, at 56 years of age. RhodesChroma: Interview with Philip Dodds and Tony Williams Randall House Associates...
Sequential Circuits Prophet 5, an EMS Synthi AKS, Oberheim OB-Xa and RhodesChroma, as well as other instruments such as a Roland TR-808 drum machine,...
without the use of patch cords. Examples include the Oberheim Matrix and RhodesChroma, and Moog Voyager. Hybrid synthesizers use hardware and software in...
6:01 Musicians Herbie Hancock – piano, Fairlight CMI Series I & II, RhodesChroma, Macintosh Plus, Yamaha DX1, Yamaha DX7 and DX7IIFD, Kurzweil K250,...
products for guitarists. The EMS VCS3, Synthi A, ARP 2600, Odyssey, RhodesChroma and Yamaha CS-80 synthesizers also featured built-in ring modulators...
Oberheim DSX (Oberheim Parallel Bus) PPG Wave family (PPG Bus) RhodesChroma (Chroma Computer Interface) Roland JSQ-60 (Roland Digital Control Bus (DCB))...
synthesizers and keyboards: Moog, Arp, Oberheim, Roland, Mellotron, Hammond, Rhodes, Chroma, Höhner, Eurorack, etc. Apart from the soundtracks (about 75% of the...
they bought the mismanaged company in 1979. They completed the Fender RhodesChroma, the first computer controlled keyboard. Released in 1981, an Apple...
were making Doctor Who for. Most directors on the show relied heavily on chroma key to get their desired effects, but, owing to the rushed time on studio...
Stripes for his production Chroma, a piece he created for The Royal Ballet in London, England. The orchestral arrangements for Chroma were commissioned by Richard...
tours were available and included demonstrations of technologies, such as Chroma key and teleprompters, as well as visits to viewing galleries overlooking...
infrared light. The name of the element is derived from the Greek word χρῶμα, chrōma, meaning color, because many chromium compounds are intensely colored. Industrial...
Global Information