Farfisa Manual

[Channing Arther]

Didyou ever know there was a "manualpedalboard", 13 black keys, with the plug to connect it to the pedalboardplug on the "Duo" ? Don't remember if it ever went into production.Also I remember many problems in developing the amp/speaker box for the Duo. ...the Professional started as a "non cost limit" project, and I ...wanted a structural study using "aeronautical technology" to reducethickness and weight (at first it was all aluminum, reinforced with complicatedbrackets with large holes, for weight, then cost was too high and a compromisewas taken, but the metal structure remained). A few months were spent instudying the behavior of FET's (new devices at the time) for percussion. I amstill not satisfied with the result, but at the time couldn't do better. Flutefilter came from playing Lowrey's (Farfisa was cooperating with Lowrey for theCordvox, and also met some of Lowrey's people...), and completely revising thefilter architecture.

"The clarinet (sharp) footages really have awild sound in the lower register... very poly-synth like, almost like a Prophet.Absolutely wild. The percussion section is its own wild animal, capable, withthe three decay times, of a sputtering synth like spit on the shortest setting,almost a wow... very weird and unique. It takes work to get Hammond sounds outof it ..., unlike the YC-45d, but it definitely has its own unique character, asunique as, say, the Gibson (while sounding *nothing* like the Gibson at all!).The sustain voices work on both keyboards, the percussion only on the top, andthe cancel switches are handy to quickly change registrations or tones (aboutthe only way you have of doing it quickly, actually.) The switches are exactlythat; switches; they don't have the four position or the endless variety of theYC-series, but you have a good selection of footages and between the sharps andthe flutes can get a lot of variety using just switches. Probably make itslightly easier live to get to a given registration; that probably was thethought behind it.

"Built like a tank, weighing a ton (a tadlighter than the YC-45D but not much), rock steady with the stand, I'll be usingthis thing a lot. The slalom is fantastic, a perfect octave up or down(depending on where you start) and everything in between, and it's smooth.There's also an on-off switch on the pedal board to turn the darn thing off(handy live when you go for the volume pedal, hit the slalom right next to it bymistake and the whole organ goes out of tune!!!)

"Oh, the PEDALS!!!! Let me tell you about thePEDALS!!!! I first hooked this thing up downstairs to check it out and ran itinto my little tube Ampeg amp. When I got it upstairs and plugged it into theYamaha RA200, WOW!!! Does this thing have bass!!! The bottom "C" ofthe pedal is a 32' stop, not a 16' stop as labeled. In fact, all the bass pedalsare an octave down from where they are listed... oh, wait a minute, no, the slalomwas set high... I have to try out the pedals with slalom... dang, they might godown all the way to a 64' stop (completely subsonic!!!) And beef, the wholeorgan is much bassier than the YC-45d, and the sharps take on a slightlydifferent character than with a small amp, but WOW. None of the other organs Ihave have the pedals hooked up, and with this thing permanently hooked up (tohave access to the slalom pedal) now I don't *need* any of the other pedals Ihave (never was able to get the YC pedals to work right above a certain note).Oh, also there is no function for playing the pedal tones on the top keyboard,but since both keyboards have the extra octave and 16' stops, (not to mentiondropping the pitch an octave with slalom) Farfisa probably figured why bother?

"Also it's like we assumed; the sharps are moreof the original Farfisa combo sound, while the flutes are more like the Hammond.It would take a lot of work to make this sound like a Hammond though, and that,in my opinion, is a good thing (having three of the things already and theYC-45d being able to emulate 'em in a pinch)!!"

Compared with other CIEPs (Cheap Italian Electronic Pianos), like the Univox Compac Piano, and even the Vox Piano, the Professional Piano has a goodly array of features and sounds.I believe Kraftwerk used a Professional Piano Controls:

piano1solo.mp3 This is the piano tabonly on the treble clef (upper section) selected to ON, while everything else isoff. There is no keyboard splitting set in this clip. The first decay mode isset (corresponding to the bank which piano tab is under, the isosceles trianglesetting (top))

piano_harpclavichordSplit.mp3This file demonstrates the keyboard splitting function, with the lower clef setto harp and clavichord, and the upper clef set to piano. Both are set to theupper decay setting (isosceles triangle for long decay)

SpecialeffectPianoClavichordsolo.mp3This file shows the special effect decay mode being used, which, unlike theother two, does not taper off but rather holds out the note like an organ would.It has a rather heavy bottom end when using this feature with the lower keys, asyou will hear...Kind of sounds like an electrified harmonium if such a sound canbe conjured.

The Special Effects can be mixed with the Flutes. Flute Cancel killsthe flute voices. The Presets are NOT user-programmable

Coupler is used to play piano sounds on the lower manual. Special Coupler isused to have piano sounds on both manuals.

The Pedal voices (16', 8') are just straight flute voices. Pedal to LMallows you to play those voices on the 1st octave of the lower manual (convertsthat octave to bass-only, doesn't add the bass voices to the regular organvoices)

Percussion Long lengthens the attack of the percussion. Special Attackadds a keyclick.

Repeat does the Percussion attack repetitively, at a rate set by the RepeatSpeed slider. It's a multi-triggering effect, adding the percussive soundfor every key pressed.

Electric Bass is a synth-type sound with a short decay, and does not sound muchlike an electric bass.

And some additional thoughts from Valerio: "Asa final note I can tell you that the Pro 110 is not a typical combo organ likethe Compact. It's a Hammond clone and a very good one. The tone is bright andopen and very convincing. The "pedal to l.m." feature gives you thepossibility to play very effective bass lines on the lower manual compensatingthe lack of 16' harmonic on the lower manual. The vibrato is pretty goodand you have also the leslie controls (9 pins)."

We have some great sounds coming out of it right off the bat, but can anyone point me towards a manual for operating it, or some tips like how to get the built-in rhythms to play, etc? It's a little complex without some direction (switches galore).

The swell pedal has two small switches, placed at the right and left sides, which you can toggle using your foot. One of them will trigger a "fill" of the rythem played, the second slides one note down, if the Slide register (right most one) is pushed down. This organ has a very nice built in Phaser effect and a great leslie effect (not mechanical though). Enjoy !

I haven't figured out how to get the switches to change the sound consistently (flutes, pianos, guitar presets), but I'm getting closer. A couple switches are a little screwy, you have to hold them down to get them to register.

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There are also three orange Compact-like tabs to alter thepercussion. One controls long/short, and the other two are uppermanual p/f, and lower manual p/f (that is, soft or loud). Thelower manual has a separate volume knob.

Farfisa (Fabbriche Riunite di Fisarmoniche) is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy, founded in 1946. The company manufactured a series of compact electronic organs in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Compact, FAST, Professional and VIP ranges, and later, a series of other keyboard instruments. They were used by a number of popular musicians including Sam the Sham, Country Joe and the Fish, Pink Floyd, Sly Stone, Blondie, and the B-52s.

The company was formed after three Italian accordion manufacturers combined to form a single company. They began to produce electronic instruments in the late 1950s, and combo organs were introduced in response to similar instruments such as the Vox Continental. The relatively inexpensive Italian labour allowed Farfisa to sell their products cheaper than the competition, which led to their commercial success. Popular models included the Compact series introduced in 1964, the Professional in 1967, the FAST in 1968 and the VIP in 1970. The success of Farfisa organs declined with the increased popularity of the Hammond organ in rock groups during the 1970s, and in response the company produced models that could emulate a Hammond, and introduced electronic pianos and synthesisers. The Farfisa brand name saw a brief revival in the late 1970s as part of the new wave movement, and the final models were produced in the early 1980s. The company has survived, and Farfisa is now a consumer electronics manufacturer.

During the 1950s, Farfisa began to diversify its range of instruments after sales of accordions began to decline, including radios, televisions and musical instruments. The Microrgan, a portable reed organ, was released in 1958; it used an electric fan to blow air across the reeds. Two years later, the company developed the Cordovox accordion with Lowrey, which combined accordion reeds with electronically generated sounds.[3]

Following the introduction of the Vox Continental combo organ in 1962, Farfisa decided to quickly build a competing instrument using the technical expertise they had gained from working with Lowrey. The first model, the Combo Compact, was introduced in 1964. Production was moved to a factory in Aspio Terme.[4] The relatively cheap labour in Italy, compared to the UK and US meant that Farfisa were able to produce a greater quantity of combo organs at a cheaper cost, and consequently, they were picked up by many amateur and semi-professional groups.[5] For example, the list price of a Farfisa Mini Compact in 1966 was $495, compared to $995 of the Vox Continental a year before.[6] Distribution in the U.S. was handled by the Chicago Musical Instruments Company, which also owned Gibson, and the instruments were originally known as CMI organs when introduced there.[7] This design was copied for later combo organs such as the Gibson G-101.[7] The organs also had a flip-down modesty panel displaying the brand name.[4]

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