Freeman string symphonizer

The Freeman String Symphonizer was a 5 octave synthesizer of the mid 1970s. It was manufactured by the Chicago Musical Instrument Co. and was also known as the Cordovox CSS. Its sound was similar to that of the Arp String Ensemble - cool glassy sounding strings. It had multiple oscillators per key, so it had no restrictions on how many notes could be played at once, unlike most synthesizers at the time, which were often monophonic.

The Freeman had a built in spring reverb which gave the synthesizer a deeper sound. One could choose between violins and cellos, and shift the keyboard an octave up or down. There was an after-touch sensor which provided some vibrato, and an adjustable chorus effect. It was a heavy machine - about 70 lbs - and was rather durable.

It was used by The Who, Jan Hammer, Chick Corea, Elton John, and Peter Sinfield.

Recently, it has been emulated in software by GForce, with their Virtual String Machine software.