Crumar was an Italian electronic musical instrument manufacturer established by Mario Crucianelli in the late 1960s, which manufactured synthesizers and keyboards during the '70s and '80s. Its name stands for "CRUcianelli and MARchetti", the names of Crucianelli and business partner Marchetti. The company appears to have grown out of the Crucianelli accordion company and also continued to manufacture accordions under both names.
History and products
Crumar started out manufacturing electronic pianos and string synthesizers, such as the Compac-piano, Compac-string, Pianoman and Stringman, the functions of which were combined in 1975 with the Multiman, and in 1977 with the Multiman-S. The company was also known for "clonewheel" organs made in the 70's and 80's, such as the Organizer, Organizer T1 and T1/C, T2, and T3. In 1978, Crumar released their first full-fledged synthesizer, the DS-2, which had one of the earliest digitally controlled oscillators. Crumar synthesizers are comparable and contemporaneous to Moog synthesizers and other analog synthesizers; in fact, the Crumar Spirit synthesizer was designed by Bob Moog himself, along with Minimoog co-designer Jim Scott and Tom Rhea. In 1984, Crumar began producing polyphonic synthesizers utilizing DCOs under the Bit name . The Performer is a polyphonic analog Strings and Brass machine produced at the end of the 1970s and is slightly compact with just 49 keys and is fully polyphonic. Programming is simple and clearly laid-out with just 15 sliders and a few buttons. A solid black chassis and wood end-cheeks round out this classic and often overlooked string machine. The Performer is best remembered for its Strings more so than its Brass and was used by Duran Duran. In the early 1980s, Crumar formed a design/distribution collaborative with New York-based Music Technology in an effort to commercialize the Bell Labs Digital Synthesizer. Crumar and the MT designers worked in conjunction with some respected names in electronic music to produce the Crumar GDS in 1980, and the Digital keyboards Synergy in 1981. These synthesizers, which used additive synthesis technology and phase modulation, were bulky and cumbersome, but were state-of-the-art at the time. The complexity of this project, along with Japanese competition contributed to the company's eventual downfall. Crumar ceased trading in 1987, just as they were about to launch a high-quality sampler at the lower end of the market. In 2008 the Crumar brand was acquired by a new Italian company that soon began producing new keyboards under the Crumar name, including the Baby Grand piano, Bassman bass synth, and Mojo clonewheel organ. In 2018 a digital electric piano called Seven was introduced. It featured modern day technology in a wooden vintage 1970's style case.
Composer Wendy Carlos used the GDS on the soundtrack of the film Tron, where it was employed to augment badly recorded orchestra cues. She also used both it and its sister keyboard, the Synergy, on her album Digital Moonscapes, programming all of the sounds used on it. Those sounds were later offered for the Synergy.
A Crumarwas used in Latin Music, particularly in "grupero" bands of the 1970s, '80s, and '90s, like that of the Regional Mexican band Grupo Bronco which used the Crumar "Multi-Man" Orchestrator.
Russian rock-band Alpha used Crumar in 1980 - early 1990. It can be seen in the many concert videos and photos.
Soviet-russian keabordist Pyotr Podgorodetsky used Crumar Performer used in late 1970′s- early 1980′s during that time when was in rock-band Mashina Vremeni
