That One Time That Fender Made A Synth...

In 1984, Fender put out a synthesizer - the Chroma Polaris.
This short film explains why and how that happened.
With thanks:
Paul DeRocco (original designer and ARP and CBS employee)
Mary Lock (original ARP and CBS employee)
The Alan R Pearlman Foundation alanrpearlmanf...
Richard @ retrosynthads.b...
Marc Brassé www.brassee.com/
Midera: • Chroma Polaris various...
www.rhodeschrom...
www.muzines.co.uk/
Nathan @ synthchaser.com/
…and the owner of the featured Polaris II.
Social:
Facebook.com/AlexBallMusic
alexballmusic
Nerdy details (from left to right)
Sequencer:
Play, record, stop buttons, although a tempo tap footswitch is also required to operate it.
The polyphonic sequencer can store up to 12 sequences and a total of 650 notes, although the sequencer memory is shared with the patch memory.
Keyboard:
Stack, unison and split modes, plus range selection.
Oscillators:
6 voice polyphony with CEM3374 dual VCOs.
Each oscillator has "saws" (as described in the video) and a pulse wave with manual width and bi-polar width modulation of both shapes. In fact, there's no mixer section and so to lose an oscillator you set a pulse's duty cycle to 0% so that you can't hear it.
VCO 1 has a ring modulator and VCO 2 can be phase synched to oscillator one.
There is a discrete transpose button for each oscillator. You select it and then press a key on the keyboard to do this.
Sweep:
LFO with sine or square waves with a continuous rate. There's one per voice and the sine waves are always free running and different for each voice allowing for LFO modulation with different phase.
Filter:
4-pole CEM3372 with cutoff, resonance, bi-polar sweep depth, bi-polar envelope depth and bi-polar keyboard tracking depth.
Noise on/off is also found in the filter section.
Filter Envelope:
Attack, decay, sustain, sustain decay and release. Touch sensitivity on/off.
Volume (Amp) Envelope:
Attack, decay and release. Touch sensitivity on/off.
Assignable Control:
Modulation section that is uni-polar on the left and bi-polar on the right.
As well as five external pedal or switch parameters, there's (monophonic) glide, volume, mod lever and bend lever ranges, vibrato delay, VCO 1 and 2 vibrato amounts, envelope modulation of oscillator 2 and detune.
Bank select / Program select:
Here you'll find 132 memory slots (A - K and 1 - 12), advanced sequencer commands, external sync settings, midi channel setting and cassette backup utilities.
Midi:
In + Out / Thru
Good midi implementation with control of parameters via CC, although some weren't available at the time of the mkI (e.g. program bank selections and NRPNs).
Chroma Interface:
Parallel port for a proprietary system.
Connectivity:
Headphone out
Audio out low / high
Sync in / out
Pedal in
Sus footswitch in (this also allows you to freeze a note and then use the bend lever to create pedal steel-like effects)
Cassette din
Metronome footswitch in
Processor:
16-bit CPU Intel 80186.
Release:
1984

[@AlexBallMusic]

Polaris I vs Polaris II As a lot of a people are asking the same question, here's the answer from its designer: _"There were some tweaks and mods to the circuitry, but no functional changes._ _They probably have later firmware, but the latest firmware can be used in the old units as well."_

[@BOORCHESS]

Proud owner here, the diagram in the top right is different on the version 1.

[@MIDERA]

@@BOORCHESS my V1 doesn’t have anything written there - does yours? Also, I’ve read that the V1 had midi speeds that were 2X, but they thought that the V2 may have dropped this for cost savings. Found the spot, might not be true, considering you spoke with the designer. www.gearslutz.com/board/showpost.php?p=13533095&postcount=17

[@leepshin]

That digital sound starting at 04:23 ...... I've heard that somewhere before on some sci-fi soundtrack or cartoon possibly Ulysses 31.

[@AlexBallMusic]

It's making use of the ring modulator which was a staple of the 70s and early 80s. Used on the opening of the 80s version of the Dr Who theme. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pomYpZh3i6x-oqc

[@BOORCHESS]

@@MIDERA nothing

[@Doctormix]

Hahahahaha!!!! I love you man!!! Awesome video!!!

[@AlexBallMusic]

👊

[@matthewdeward1984]

hey your the shit too love your channel, I knew i should have started a channel, I have the studio and music, and equipment, congrats on new studio havent seen yet but knowing you its proper Jolly

[@blubfishuwaaa]

HI DOC

[@tranceemerson8325]

cameo drop from Dr. Mix!

[@corezone4250]

Nice

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Mega-fat analog sound... check; plenty of sliders.... check; look that belongs in the sequel to "Logan's Run".... check; phenomenal presentation of the synth... check; stellar job as ever, Alex!!!

[@AlexBallMusic]

Cheers Paolo. An interesting one for sure. Hopefully covering some more oddballs soon. 🙂

[@matthewdeward1984]

word this guy is genious

[@leehagen7925]

Good story... I bought mine back in '86 when Fender saw they were no longer desired and bombed them out for $500. I brought it home and immediately realized it didn't sound right. Had a weird faint distortion that I figured shouldn't be there. I lived in Orange, CA at the time and took it to Fender's main service center in Brea. Now, these had been out for some time but they'd never heard of my complaint and after an extended listening test the service guy thought I was being picky, but to appease me said they'd order some new oscillator and filter chips to try. A week later they called to say the chips had come in and for me to pick it up. I walked in to see mine (with the new chips installed) sitting next to another new unit. This time there were two engineers there and they said 'you need to hear this'. We played them side by side and the difference was night and day. Mine now was alive and sounded like it should. Their other new one (their factory reference) sounded like crap. I was quite surprised of their willingness to do that demo. The problem was with the Curtis CEM3372 filter chips. Turns out they had a bad batch that went in lots and lots of Polaris's. The new filters had a "D" designation. I even called and spoke to Doug Curtis about it and he gave me the lowdown on the issue and sent me a bunch of spec sheets on all their chips. Nice guy. Whenever I see one of these for sale, I always wonder how many of them out there have the bad chips in them and how few of them, if any, were updated.

[@JeremySeitz]

I owned one of these in the late 1990s. Given to me by a customer in NY because he didn't want it any more. I gave it to a musician a few years later, thinking it was not worth anything. OH MAN I regret that.

[@AlexBallMusic]

It's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all* *I'm lying

[@NathanHassall]

Thats amazing man! I love that story! I was given 3 of these synths! I used one as a backup and played on the other one and gave the 3rd one to the mailman. To my surprise, on one special afternoon the mailman arrived with 5 more Chroma Polaris that were given to me.

[@martinheath5947]

@@NathanHassall Some people are too lucky. Have you found that your nose gets injured if you turn round too quickly without checking first? 😳

[@NathanHassall]

@Igor Kravitz There are no idiots in this comment thread...only good people who like synths man.

[@tomblaze2]

That synth is actually super impressive sounding -

[@tomblaze2]

Only 1.250- 10,000 + USD online - YIKES

[@AlexBallMusic]

I think so, yeah. They're worth about £1,700 / $2,200 in this kind of condition with everything in working order. Not seen any advertised for $10,000?!

[@honeysucklecat]

tomblaze2 dang, I think I paid $120 for mine used in 88 or so.

[@squeebbb]

@@tomblaze2 You think that's bad? A CS-80 is around 22 grand in moderate working condition. Some sold even have issues with wiring or hardware components.

[@shadowflash705]

@@squeebbb it's not a CS-80 though. It's not worth 10k, not even close to that price range.

[@Garflips]

I have one - had to get new membrane switches recently. This is the synth that Behringer should copy. I moved the backup battery to the outside. All synthesizer manufacturers should have or should start to have the back up memory batteries accessible through a little door like it's done for standard battery operated devices.

[@AlexBallMusic]

That's a good call, that does make me nervous. I've heard horror stories of Korg Polysixs leaking and stuffing whole boards of components. A friend had the battery in his LinnDrum leak through its case and just miss the 808 and 909 below due to the angle of the stand. Too close 😬

[@DarkSideofSynth]

Yes! I haven't bought a few vintage machines precisely for the difficulty of changing the battery, and all the related horror stories.

[@honeysucklecat]

I had the batteries drain on mine, causing it to revert to default sound, which was either very high or very low, I don’t recall, either way, I couldn’t hear anything. Was so sad. Then, after a few months of occasionally turning it on, and seeing if I could get sound out of it again, I tried changing the base tuning, and BANG! It was back. But I still had to reload all the presets, which was a major pain.

[@Michael_Smith-Red_No.5]

100% behind this. If modern keyboards can have wifi, the backup battery should be user accessible.

[@danadams8649]

awwwwwwww man that would be sweet!

[@robocelot]

The Polaris has one of the best MIDI-specs of a vintage analog. It responds to polyphonic aftertouch over MIDI (not even the Xpander does that). The proprietary Chroma port is designed to hook up to a custom Apple ][ interface but can also be used to control the Chroma (and in fact could be used as a MIDI to Chroma interface, albiet a very expensive one!). Pitch bend works opposite to most other synths, oddly (pull the lever towards you to raise pitch).

[@synth4ever]

One of the most characterful and powerful sounding synths I've tried. Filter can get very growly and aggressive, but also sweet. Lovely hi-fi tone and the Arp sound and influence is unmistakeable. Thanks for shining some light on this underrated classic Alex!

[@AlexBallMusic]

Yeah, it's like an ARP that's not an ARP. Both in terms of sound and in terms of its designers. But then mixed with the whole Curtis thing, which gives it another twist. Very cool.

[@jrsivmusicltd]

Although I've been a guitarist for decades I love drums, bass and all manner of keys. I've learned so much from Alex's videos and this was yet another complete mind-blower. I never knew that CBS/Fender made a synth, especially one with the lineage and unique properties this has. Outstanding brother, really dig your channel.

[@geertvanschlanger8057]

I usched one of thesche on Romansching the Bone in 1985.

[@matthewmoore2839]

I like the part where the key tracking swings both ways!

[@wingflanagan]

didn't you also score Oh God! Oh God! Oh God - zilla?

[@chrishopkins209]

I thought you first used it on The First Thrush of Youth

[@Xaero188]

Rather arousing, dare I say.

[@Denver_Risley]

There's only two kinds of people I hate in this world. Those who are intolerant of other cultures....and the DUTCH!

[@distrumental]

the 80's were so crazy, even Fender went synth*

[@AlexBallMusic]

Coffee machine, microwave, car, hoover, blender, toilet roll - all had built in synths in the 80s.

[@SeverityOne]

If it were any fatter, it would generate its own gravitational field.

[@noahnipperus7320]

8:25 Mick Jones is a hater. I'm sure all of the synths designed in the Autumn of 1984 were far superior when they were finally made available in dismal winters of 1985

[@ewwitsantonio]

YMO vibes with that closing track. :)

[@DaveG207]

Huh, I’ve known of the Chroma Polaris for years, but never knew if was Fender!

[@AlexBallMusic]

Indeed it is. Quite a unique moment in synth history.

[@cheesandwichfactory]

I bought one of these from a Salvation Army in Chicago about four years ago for $400 (plus the nasty Chicago sales tax). I'd never heard of it before, but after some quick web research decided it was a good buy. One side of the membrane panels was non-functional, so I had them replaced by a pro who also loaded the original voice programs. I'm primarily a guitar player who loves synths and ended up selling it early this year for $1200 because I really needed the money, but it definitely sounded great and was a lot of fun to build sounds on.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Glad you salvaged it and restored it and ultimately got some money back for your services. Yeah, interesting poly. Underrated.

[@tonyr.4778]

Memories. I bought this the first month it was released and took her on the road for years. Having a midi keyboard with the ability to split the keyboard and have a programmable sequencer all playing simultaneously was years ahead of anything else at the time. And dynamically allocating the oscillators basically allowed it to function as 2 synths. I still have the custom road case in storage. Lol.

[@AdamBorseti]

I always wanted one of these! It was like a polished, (meaning we added membrane buttons and sleek panel graphics) 80s version of the Rhodes Chroma. You never hear anyone crediting a Chroma Polaris on any liner notes or see them on many stages. It seems like a synth that would have been huge if it was released just 3 or 4 years earlier, but 84 was post DX-revolution, so I guess it was just one of those synths that got rolled over in favor of digital. Fantastic video, as usual, though I feel this goes without saying.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Yes, has aged well sound-wise, but wasn't widely used at the time by the looks of it. A shame as it's got some unusual functions that are very clever.

[@floppydisk921]

Not to mention the 1983 ensoniq esq 1 filling the same role but smaller and cheaper

[@kgbinfo]

@@floppydisk921 ESQ-1 came out in 86

[@sellison9070]

Missing Persons Keyboardist was using one live in some clips I've seen, probably what they recorded with too.!

[@floppydisk921]

@@kgbinfo Yeah youre right. I even own one and forgot

[@jamiemorgan4146]

Sounds awful to me.. 😫😫😫😫😫 No wonder it failed. It actually hurts my ears. It’s bone grinding…😖😖😖😖😖

[@rootvalue]

6:18 is one the prettiest things I’ve ever heard. Reminds me of Disasterpiece’s FEZ video game score.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Yeah, never played a synth that does that. I play those "selective" bends on guitar, so was nice to try them on a keyboard instrument.

[@theh0r5e90]

Instantly put on the list of synthesizers I want but can never afford or get

[@drwhiteguru]

Cool video yeah I bought one of these for $50.00, 20 years ago and I still have it and it still works, some of the buttons have failed so I guess I need to replace the membrane. It must be a number one because it just says Chroma Polaris on it. It came with the original owners manual.I found it leaning against the wall in a building where I rented a recording studio space the guys that owned it were video producers they didn’t know what it was nor did they care. I didn’t know what it was either I just knew it looked like an analog synthesizer that had a midi port. I have used it on many albums but I think I’m going to get rid of it. Downsizing.

[@dhapi335]

Once, I had one, and liked it very much. I also had SCI prophet-5, Roland Jupiter-6, but..., I believe Polaris was the best polyphonic synth ever made in the world, superior to prophet-5.

[@ReubenSound]

Some say that Alex is still sat there revealing the Polaris' digital side. Ps God I need those pitch sliders on the side!!

[@AlexBallMusic]

Cool isn't it! Makes me really want to try the original Rhodes Chroma.

[@matthewdeward1984]

dude you are the shit ( in usa that means your the cats meow bro) cooler than the other side of the pillow seen? anyway bred Ive been very enthused by your vids, Im somewhat of a synth head Iself. I only Currently have the TD3 ( tb303 clone), the Crave (mother 32 Clone, damn good one i might add),. A Behringer Cat, a Behringer Pro One ( love both) and I was gonna euro Rack them but I ended up throwing a 4ms, Spherical Wavetable navigator in there as the first mod,. Second was the BASTL CIAO!, third was the Spectral Multi band Processor ( i cant believe no one has thought to use these two their like twins but ones white and ones black, they look and function amazing together as they both have Just about every music scale included, and SWN is literally a standalone synth.) and Yes I have a Synth thats NOT behringer, I was Looking for a Moog like sub Phatty anything under a Grand Really when I saw the Minilogue...Oscilliscope, built in sequncer, 4 lanes of automation, Multiple modes of operation, Mono, Poly, Unison, Delay Arp. etc. and Honestly this thing can do just about everything outside of aftertouch. I have been thoroughly even lately impressed with this machine. I feel Korg hit the nail on the head with the Minilogue as they made like four more after, Like ''Come on you bought that one, this one Has more....''' lol I personally like the all Analogue original, First and only Synth i Know with 100 banks of storable patches, POLY, analogue, Oscilliscope GREAT FOR LEARNING AND TEACHING SYNTHESIS. and The designer won the Red Dot award in Germany for precision in engineering, if you notice you kind of see that synth the GREY one every frikkin where,. I wouldnt trade mine for a moog model d. I love its metalic sound, It doesnt even remotely try to sound woody or over driven,. It is ITS OWN synth, and I have a feeling one that is going to be undoubtedly a classic as time goes.

[@sounddroid]

I know this is a Chroma video but… hot damn that Prophet T8 sounds just FILTHY

[@inversion66]

The reverse keyboard trick was something you could do with the ARP 2600. Joe Zawinul had a pair onstage at some point, and he'd play the tune "Black Market" with one set normally, and the other with a reversed keyboard.

[@nuNWO]

@5:16 i now want to go and play defender

[@2dcat]

Probably going to start seeing even fewer of these in the future. Can some components on mine fail and the parts are now obsolete. Ended up doing a one-for-many replacement with major PCB mods as well... Doubt any others will have the time or knowhow to do the same. Kind of sad imo

[@jeffjfindley4802]

I had a chance to buy one for $100 when I worked in retail in the mid 90s. It would've paired well with the Roland Space Echo that I also could've bought for $100. Lol

[@dyscotopia]

I love seeing these forgotten monster synths from unexpected places. I think the Teisco one was based on ARP tech, or was that kawaii subbrand? Sounds I will never own alas...

[@Mick-Ozz]

there was one of these sat in the old huge Musical Exchanges store Birmingham, UK for years.. I must have gone past it a dozen times... gave it curious glances and thought WTF is that.. but it was visually unappealing in that era, it looks so cool and retro now but at the time it seemed strange and intimidating. I guess the marketing screwed up quite badly with the Monotone design instead of going with a warm colourful design which worked so well on the Roland synths.

[@jhowe5571]

This is one cool synth! Now, I think that if Fender could do an updated reissue version of this like many other companies have been doing, they could capture some of the market's interest in some of these synths! :-)

[@MACRONOne]

Baffles me why we haven't seen a digital emulation, in VST format, of this beautiful synth...;)

[@yobooboy5591]

Probably because there are 207348 VSTs that sound identical already.

[@Esrom_music]

Yo. That opening chord progression was just gorgeous. Wow.

[@josephwright5921]

It sounds amazing amazing, especially in your hands! I hope you get to keep it! Is the filter a standard ARP filter?

[@tschak909]

You didn't mention that the Polaris was multi-timbral :)

[@liudas5377]

Very thorough, excellent production quality, great sounding synth. Thanks

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thanks!

[@MachineCityAudio]

I look forward to your videos and I loved the arp video as well great job!

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thanks very much.

[@skandal6703]

Damn it, been trying to get my hands on one of these for ages. Looks like my search just got a lot harder(and more expensive)

[@珍宝イカ太郎]

9:12 original song? amazing♪

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thank you. Yes, all the music is original.

[@OscillatorCollective]

Very cool little oddball of a synth…so many membrane buttons…🥴😥

[@misophoniq]

@5:15 Sounds exactly like a Commodore SID chip! :-D

[@AlexBallMusic]

Just a big fat pulse. You can get them at your local supermarket.

[@MIDERA]

Alright - I finished watching the vid - very awesome! Here's a follow up of my notes regarding the Polaris: 1) The PWM of the saw wave is highly underrated - it's what gives you the most beefy and MASSIVE sounds I've ever heard in a synth. It's just glorious. 2) The manual is insanely thick and all of those parameters on the right side of the synth should be touched on. There are two buttons on the synth, such as Lower Function and Upper Function. There are words written above and below many of the buttons. Lower functions activate the item written on the bottom when you press "Lower Function" and the Upper does the same to the top words. So, for saving a patch, you would press "Upper Function" then button 1. Then you'd press either A-K for the bank (or don't press it if you're on the bank you want) and then press 1-12 to save it. You use these functions to tune your synth (Lower function). 3) On to tuning your synth, I personally have to do this every time I turn the synth on, BUT, I've come to realize now that I own the Moog Matriarch that I've been tuning the synth while it's cold, so it goes out of tune once it warms up. I probably just need to leave the synth on till it warms up. But the unique thing here is that the tuning also checks the voices. If there's an issue, it stops and I believe, deactivates that chip. In the above item, you use the Upper functions to deactivate voices too. 4) Following up on #3, you can deactivate 5 voices so that you can get a monosynth! I often do that for some of my tracks. 5) People sometimes complain about the envelopes cutting off abruptly - this is fixable. Read the manual and you will learn how to adjust the envelopes so they decay naturally. 6) If you hear a click every time you press a button, you can turn that off too! It's in the manual (sorry, I can't look up where at the moment, but it IS adjustable). 7) The sequencer sucks. I've never figured it out. Avoid. 8) You can set up up to 8 parts multitimbral. I've never done it... but you can if you want to. 9) I HAVE linked two parts. This is fairly simple to do and interesting in its approach. Unlike the DSI P08 and REV2 whereby creating split patches halves the voices, the Polaris has the voices dynamically linked. All 6 voices are available for both parts, similar to how the Analog Four/Keys does things. So you could hold a 5 note chord on one part in the lower octaves if you split the parts, and then a lead voice on the top (though if you only hold 4 voices at the bottom, you'll hear up to 2 voices on the top portion). I've done this trying to make a massive 3-voice part, but haven't found it to sound great (gets a bit too muddy for me). But if you want to set this up, it's not very difficult and can be interesting. 10) Ring mod and sync can be used to great effect, transpose one or both voices in strange ways to get sounds you never thought possible. 11) There is no oscillator mix section, turn off a voice if you wish by throwing one oscillator into pulse wave and putting PW to zero or 100%. Oscillator is now silent. 12) Sadly, there is no random LFO - I use this almost as much as I use a sine wave, so that's a bummer. Shame on you Fender, lol. Someone online once mentioned how you can get a pseudo random LFO, I've never gotten it to work. I could be dense. 13) Square wave LFO, sync, and ring mod go together in an interesting way. Try it. 14) The synth uses 4 D cell batteries for storing memory. Nice. 15) The synth is HEAVY HEAVY HEAVY. Word on the interwebs is that this was because there was a metal case version and a plastic case version designed, and they sent the design for the plastic case that was never made instead of the metal design and it was manufactured with metal and much thicker walls than it was supposed to. Could be hearsay, but that's what I heard, maybe someone from the original team can chime in some day! That's it... that's all I have to say. I appreciate the time and effort put into making the video here Alex!

[@AlexBallMusic]

That's a great list - thanks. It is a special synth for sure, as well you know!

[@lo-firobotboy7112]

I had a Chroma Polaris early in my synth-collecting days. I didn't understand it well enough to put it to good use so I swapped it for a JUNO-106. Scoff if you must but for me it was good trade. That said, nowadays I'd like to find another one.

[@Lantertronics]

Shoutout to the Apple 2 computer at 7:52!

[@Mouxbar]

Like it! Does Fender reinforce it's copyright shape like the guitars? S-Type, T-Type and now Wedge of Cheese?

[@fjfrancois]

It doesn’t sound like a guitar hmm 🤔

[@florian-anwander]

Thanks for this great description video. You should have mentioned, that the envelopes have some specialities too: If you set the decay parameter to maximum, then ADR envelope becomes an ASR envelope. If you set release to maximum then the actual envelope level is held forever (valid for both envelopes). That way you can let the synth hold a note or a chord and then continue playing normal melodies over it.

[@jessec3767]

It has almost an Oberheimy-ish kind of sound to it.

[@brandonheat4982]

@BEHRINGER should clone this one

[@vileremains3757]

I have one of these and I'm so uneducated on all these controls I worry the damn things broken sometimes

[@TheNAPSince2005]

The common disease of the 80's synths were the membrane switch. DX7, αJUNO-2, CZ-1000, Prophet-600, etc.

[@atarkus8]

The DX doesn't use "true" membrane switches. (where the part that you press is the part that makes contact). Rather it used normal microswitches that were covered by a thin strip, which makes them look like membrane switches. It's actually very reliable because they stop dust from getting in to the switch underneath.

[@TheNAPSince2005]

@@atarkus8 Thank you, Dr. Knowing.

[@MIDERA]

I have heard that the Prophet 600 membrane switches going bad is more difficult to repair than the Polaris (since the Polaris HAS a fix). I could be wrong... I didn't know about the DX7 though, that's interesting.

[@DarkSideofSynth]

Does it come with humbuckers too or only single coils?

[@AlexBallMusic]

I've just realised that it mirrors a guitar by having six-voice polyphony, which is quite fitting.

[@ReadAndReturn]

the flippin pads you can get out of that thing though.... damn.

[@FetzAV]

Thank you for this beautiful and well done tribute to an underrated synth. I was gifted one of these in non-working condition (membrane issue and some other problems to debug) and now it's a cornerstone of my studio! Really in love with it's sound, style and gravitas. It is an unparalleled synth! Paul de Rocco is still manufacturing and selling replacement membranes to keep these beautiful instruments alive. What a great man! Other notable users: Synthwave artist Waveshaper :)

[@oreliomacchiavelli6703]

Idk if it's because of branding but i find it sounding exactly like what i would expect from a guitar manufacturer designing synths : outdated for 84, boring and overly dull prog rockish. "Hey listen to those "lush" organ and electric piano tones, don't forget the tuba patch!!!" For me, there's a bunch of early 70's string machines that sounds 100 time better than this shit... Cool BOC style track at the end anyway!

[@AlexBallMusic]

Fair enough, not everyone's cup of tea. It uses analogue subtractive synthesis, which had obviously been around for a long time by then, but it's got some interesting ideas on it. In terms of sounds I'm probably not doing it justice. Midas has done a serious of demos of it that are far better than what I can do. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z3iZqnpmZcl5r7M

[@darkstatehk]

4:25 OMG that reminded me of Forbidden Planet :D

[@AiMR]

I'd recognize those orange hands anywhere 🤣

[@jawoody9745]

6:00 to 6:05 - I think I wet myself laughing!

[@ChrisSmout]

Thank you for another in-depth look at a piece of synthesiser history Alex. You have really outdone yourself with that original piece to play out the video, absolutely stunning.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Thanks Chris. Was great to get the info from the original people, really helps.

[@robertschmidt327]

There was no MIDI on the original Chroma. It used a fat multi wire parallel interface to the Apple IIC. It could play 16 voices way before any MIDI keyboard could play even 4. In fact, Alan Pearlman lost his bid for a parallel interface for MIDI when all the other companies went for the cheaper serial data feed.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Yep, I mentioned that at 2:38. Although I didn't go into the ex-ARP guy's involvement in the MIDI consultation. Phil Dodds talks about it in his NAMM Oral History interview where he states that it got political and they were asked to remove themselves from the process. Had that not happened the parallel bus might have won out.

[@captmcgravy2669]

THE ENSONIQ MIRAGE HAD CURTIS FILTERS TOO !!!

[@DEADLINETV]

So they actually made 2? Polaris and PolarisII? If so, were there any significant changes between the models?

[@AlexBallMusic]

I've now pinned a comment answering that as several people asked. 🙂

[@amonster8mymother]

I see you can play with 9ne finger.

[@chriswareham]

Sounds very distinctive! Not sure if you'll read this comment Alex, but I tried emailing you through your website a while ago to see if you'd like to borrow a Polymoog from me. I'd love to see what you could come up with on what is quite an odd synth.

[@amonster8mymother]

How about an ashtray? Does it have an ashtray?

[@rachelar]

TBF, there was Rhodes Chroma beforehand, love how the names got longer as in (Fender)ARP Rhodes Chroma then Fender Rhodes Chroma Polaris

[@AlexBallMusic]

Discussed from 1:06 as well as in my ARP documentary. There was only the Rhodes Chroma and the Fender Chroma Polaris, there wasn't a name that contained ARP, Rhodes and Fender. That would have been hilarious though. 😂

[@blood5150]

That Prophet 8.......

[@antoninsebera152]

Synth like this is just good as man who is using it. You need to be real master to get nice sound of synth like this. It is not easy at all.

[@brynhendry2899]

Negative keyboard tracking? Interesting but what use could it have?

[@AlexBallMusic]

It was just a very visual demonstration of the bipolar nature of the Polaris. A reverse keyboard isn't a particularly use for that as you say. But inverse modulation or articulation very much is.

[@carlosserrano3985]

I have a friend of mine that have a Chroma Polaris in the 80'S and I can say is that is a very unique sounding synth, defenetly has ARP soul in there and makes it more special also fits very well in today's music since the 80'S sound is coming back. Another excellent video from no other than Alex Ball. PS: In some point I would like to see a video about the history of SIMMONS drums, I think no one have something about and it's very interesting.

[@ScientistSOL600]

i second the simmons drums suggestion

[@AlexBallMusic]

Well, I did this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gpnahGWsZbBkmdU

[@kpopgirl100]

it seems like japanese poly800 and made in japan

[@TheSunshineGroup]

Damn, saw one of these on Craigslist for a cool $500 a year or so ago. Should've done more research.

[@AlexBallMusic]

There isn't all that much information about them, hence this video. $500 is a great price, unless the panel was broken (among other things) which is entirely possible given the age.

[@vocalpro]

Won't be now. Lol

[@josephwright5921]

I saw it, too.

[@richsackett3423]

You have to have your research done before these things turn up. Betcha the guy who bought it knew what it was.

[@TheSunshineGroup]

@@richsackett3423 damn never thought about that thanks man I'm really grateful you sent this comment now I know

[@HANGINGOUTWITHAUDIOPHILES]

The pedal steel bend is tasty

[@joshuasailor2974]

Awesome Alex!! Would you consider doing a doc on Ensoniq? They made KILLER Stuff and I think you would do an EXCELLENT Job ! There isnt too much about the Ensoniq story, so It would be cool to hear!! Cheers!!

[@AlexBallMusic]

Possibly something with a specific Ensoniq synth, but wasn't thinking of a full on documentary. Hopefully I can borrow something relevant at some point, I've never played any of their stuff.

[@joshuasailor2974]

@@AlexBallMusic Nice!!! The ASR 10 would be awesome!!! It's STILL a powerhouse to this day!!! They were pretty instrumental in pushing Sampling to the forefront!

[@VintageMusicGearTV]

Awesome synth better let behringer know!

[@wingflanagan]

Wow. What a COLORFUL sound. Too bad Fender couldn't put a DENT in the market and SATURATE it with synths! I need one, for the ability to create an ambient horror score with one finger, if nothing else...

[@cubdukat]

Wasn't really their strong suit. The only reason Fender's name even ended up on a synth in the first place is because at the time, they owned Rhodes, and Rhodes had just decided to test its footing in the synth market with the Chroma that they bought off of the late ARP Instruments. If they had kept the "Rhodes" name on it, it might have have a better chance.

[@R---66---R]

Nooiiiiicccce....ferreeenicenoise >._.

[@amonster8mymother]

That's a really nice track.

[@ActionlessLoveless]

is it me or "Polaris" to "Roland" is like "Abibas" to "Adidas"? (i mean the logo itself, not series)

[@AlexBallMusic]

I'd not noticed that before, nice spot. It's probably coincidence as they had Fender, CBS, Rhodes and ARP to choose from. So they weren't short of famous logos of their own.

[@DaveG207]

On a different note, is it now quicker to discuss what synths you HAVEN’T played yet?

[@AlexBallMusic]

Oh, there's many I haven't. I'll get through them in the next few weeks. ;)

[@deloreandmc9600]

The movie The Sheriff and the Satellite Kid used some those sounds :)

[@Htheorphanarian]

why can I not find any vst that sounds this good??

[@arthuredens]

Sounds like Boards of Canada

[@MarshalArnold]

5:17 sounds pretty good!

[@AlexBallMusic]

Got some beef if you want it, yeah.

[@midnightsocean2689]

Love all the history you bring into your vids. Great stuff : )

[@vsmi-vintagesynthsmadeinit997]

great job man!! I have one since '90... I think one of the best synth ever made!!

[@gramsci420]

Looks and sounds Vapourwave

[@amonster8mymother]

Does it have a high pass filter?

[@kadsenkalle4663]

If I were a millionaire, I would buy every synthesizer available in the world so you could make a video about it. By the power of Grayskull!

[@AlexBallMusic]

Get working on it then. 🙂

[@kadsenkalle4663]

@@AlexBallMusic I'll do my very best.

[@josephwright5921]

Powerball?

[@joeanderson8839]

I would love to get my hands on one of these.

[@Noiretranquility]

Sounds super big

[@adnanottman6729]

Rubbish synth ,,Sorry

[@adamjacksonmedia]

This magnificent beast was used (along with the Ronald MC202) by Peter-John Vettese to make Jethro Tull’s Broadsword and the Beast, Under Wraps, and Ian Anderson brilliant solo album, Walk Into Light. Stunning instrumental.

[@paullawson4736]

This is a beast.....truss me

[@tobybaker5187]

And a great synth it is too.

[@tranznart1]

Alex do you use Facebook?

[@erikmuller1650]

Great synth way ahead of it's time. They where quite unreliable though. At one point we had 4 in the studio. 1 working and 3 broken donors which you could pick up for nearly nothing,

[@AlexBallMusic]

Four of them! I imagine they were cheap at the time?

[@42726emu]

@@AlexBallMusic cheapish I would say, a broken one could be picked up in Germany for 3 to 400 marks . Oh ze days :)