(click to enlarge)

The 2500 was the first big synthesizer from newcomers ARP, back in 1970. It was designed in direct competition with the first modular Moog synths that were gathering most of the attention at the time. The 2500 is a great big modular synth that's great for both educational and studio work. The ARP 2500 uses 10 x 10 Matrix Switches to accomplish patching, as seen above and below the center row of modules. Module inputs and outputs are represented by vertical switches, and the horizontal busses represent a patch cord. This matrix system allows for a very flexible and customized signal flow without the mess of patch-cords. The 2500 allows you to create plenty of excellent sounds with its great filters and other very tweakable parameters.

It also featured a remote 61 note keyboard and Studio Wing Expansion Cabinets as pictured above. The 2500 was also known for having very stable tuning, a precious commodity among these classic early synths. However its applications as a modular music machine (especially for electro/techno) were soon challenged by ARP's far superior 2600. Still a 2500 is a prized piece of kit for any studio, but since only about 100 were ever made, they are very rare. It has been used by Meat Beat Manifesto, Pete Townshend, Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis, Jimmy Edgar, Vince Clarke, filmcomposer Jerry Goldsmith on 'Logan's Run', and communicating with the aliens in Speilberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

15 VISITOR COMMENTS

sawcloud

October 6, 2011 @ 5:08 pm

Indeed a sad thing to not mention Eliane Radigue here.......!

Jack Floyd

June 30, 2011 @ 9:20 am

My favourite synthesizer ever.
The ARP 2500 is a complex machine to program and almost unconceivable to move around, and yet, is extremely rewarding and able to do things nobody has ever heard before or since due to it's almost endless matrix possibilities. Definitely not for the faint-hearted.
Some interesting features were lost for the ARP 2600, and while I understand it's a much easier machine to mess around with, I requires a much bigger struggle to be as interesting and complex as it's predecessor.

phil chance

June 23, 2011 @ 6:18 pm

strange no one mentions roger powell and his "cosmic furnace" album. powell was the first rep for ARP and did the album as a sort of demo. the 2500 does all the fx stuff and some complex filtering (not available on the much more famous 2600).

cocacolabaron

June 9, 2011 @ 12:18 pm

No one mentions Eliane Radigue's amazing 2500 work? For shame.

ohama

May 8, 2011 @ 12:07 am

Cantos Keyboard Museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada has an ARP 2500 on display.

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