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Crumar Was Founded Twice

Crumar Was Founded Twice

It started out long ago and it seemed to be the beginning of something really good (something which could funnily flash in a grotesque music video 20 years later) but the brand’s history appeared to lack basic but vital commercial success which usually helps you to enter the music hall of fame even if you quit the music market. Anyway Crumar kept on making it through becoming not a true survivor but genuine fighter. Today the company produces fine compact digital organs Mojo and Mojo 61 as well as pedals and consoles competing with such famous manufacturers as Hammond and Studiologic. But the era of the General Development System is gone for good.

Crumar Mojo 61The Italian keyboard maker had enough time to earn fame thanks to its DS-2 as well as Spirit model and polyphonic Bit One a little bit later.

This was also the time when the US-based division of Crumar – Digital Keyboards – created an expensive Synergy ($5 000) getting back to digital oscillators and the idea of their popularization. Synergy was based on the sophisticated and pricey Crumar General Development System ($27 500!).

Anyway Synergy which offered additive synthesis failed to compete with the prices featured by Yamaha or Kurzweil a couple of years later – they put on the market a similar concept though aimed at an average customer and made their instruments 2-3 times cheaper. Many professionals praised Crumar for the excellent unique sound but the combination of the technical solutions and priorities appeared to be fallacious or even perverse. Though Crumar was ready to smash, the audience wasn’t prepared to be surprised: the wrong time and the wrong place – it’s never predetermined. Crumar was cast as the underdog who strikes back in the end of the play (and makes some drama out of the culmination).

Crumar ceased to operate its business in 1986 and was brought back to life by the Italian society called V.M. Connection in 2008. Mojo and Mojo 61 – amazing digital organs with a stunning selection of effects - became the main products of the brand contributing to its popularity and, which is the most important, reviving its presentability.

Crumar is surely unique. The most prominent synthesizer of the brand objectified all the company’s ideas about the music market and made its creator slowly and tragically go to the bottom. In 1987 Crumar shut down the official trade and 21 years after it started to launch new instruments keeping the brand name. Canny Crumar also hits the list of the rarest synthesizers randomly taking any position with any of its models whether it’s Bassman, Toccata or Stratus. The Italian brand didn’t have a chance to become a cult one although it somehow managed to inspire Mark Ronson and to star in his track The Color of Crumar. The Italian synth maker wasn’t scared off by thrilling Prophet 5 – it was confident enough to supply Nick Rhodes with Crumar Performer and be the part of Duran Duran’s early compositions.

Published: 04:09 10.08.2016
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