You can thank me later
ARP synthesizers were featured in the blockbuster sci-fi movies Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (both 1977). With their spectacular range of sound effects, EMS synthesizers were favorites among European art and progressive rock bands. They were used famously by Brian Eno and Pink Floyd.
retrozone
close encounters
of the ARP kind
ARP 2500 MODULAR ANALOGUE SYNTHESIS SYSTEM
The ARP 2500 is so rare that most of the existing examples are in private collections. Though few of us will ever get to play with one, the story of this modular monster remains fascinating. Lucky 2500 owner ROBERT ALEXANDER relates the tale...
Probably best known for its brief 1977 appearance calling to the alien spaceship in the Steven Spielberg sci-fi classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the ARP 2500 dates from a time when synthesis was an art form which nevertheless required you to have a degree in physics to stand any chance of comprehending what was going on! Because they are so rare, very few people have ever had the chance to see a 2500, so unfortunately it is not often listed among the 'classic' synthesizers -- that accolade usually goes to the smaller, much simpler ARP 2600. Total production numbers of the 2500 were probably as low as 100 worldwide, and maybe no more than 12 were sold in the UK, making it an exceptionally rare instrument. Rarest of all are examples with so-called 'wings', additional cabinets at the side of the main instrument which make the overall synthesizer truly enormous in size.
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