The Performer is a polyphonic analog Strings and Brass machine produced at the end of the 1970's by the Italian synth company. It is slightly compact with just 49 keys. But it is fully polyphonic - you can play all 49 notes simultaneously! 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. A simple 3-band equalizer with high, mid and low sliders can be used to give the strings shimmering sparkle or moody dark timbres. The Strings section uses two oscillators per voice with 8' and 16' settings. Simple Attack and Sustain sliders give you some control of your string's envelope settings.

The Brass section is less exciting. It uses a single oscillator with just a square wave to generate a weak Brass sound. It has a low-pass voltage-controlled filter with resonance, but it too is pretty weak. Simple Attack and Decay sliders control its limited envelope settings too.

The LFO is pretty nice, with delay length, rate and depth control. It can modulate both Brass and String sections and can be routed either to the VCF or pitch. There are three outputs on the back: main output, brass output and signal output (for external processing) as well as CV and Gate connections. It has been used by Duran Duran.

nordmusic

November 13, 2011 @ 5:41 am

Ignacio - Tuning the Crumar Performer
Turn simply that knob, and use a digital tuner or a diapason.
All the best,

Ignacio

September 28, 2011 @ 11:10 am

Hello, my Crumar Performer is at 455 A, it's high pitched, almost a semitone
I guess there is a way to put it at 440??
Does anyone know how? I can see an small knob (very thing and large) on the rear but I don't know if that's the knob to TUNE it to the A 440 pitch.
Help needed! Thanks!

Bbangser

June 14, 2011 @ 1:22 pm

@rhodesdurran - I have a working Crumar Performer in pretty good physical condition and would be willing to sell it for $500 if anyone is interested. Feel free to PM me.

Johannes

June 3, 2011 @ 1:03 am

Of the four vintage string synths I have owned over the last year this little charmer would come in fourth place every time. Not that I didn't like it... How you could NOT like something like this! It has that early Duran Duran sound nailed! I liked to run mine through a small stone pedal for extra movement... And the Brass section was not as laughable as some have suggested... The Strings were nice... But not Trident or Lambda nice. The LFO too is also a gas!!! Mine had a cooling fan inside of it that sounded like an old propeller aeroplane. :) Cool look, cheaply built though.

jensomatic

December 19, 2010 @ 3:16 pm

Not listed here but very similar is the Multiman-S. It is the cheapest looking synth I've ever seen, hilarious buttons, but the stringsection 0_0
Truly amazing and addictive fatness with a nice portion of 70's cheese melted on top!

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