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The Mystical Italian Classic Reimagined
Crumar Spirit by Cherry Audio is a meticulously crafted virtual recreation that captures the unique and captivating features of the exceptional analog monosynth from 1983, originally designed by some of the most legendary figures in the synth industry. In collaboration with Crumar, Cherry Audio has reopened a time capsule to revive this Italian cult classic and thoughtfully elevated it with their signature style.
Crumar, based in Castelfidardo, Italy, was a prominent manufacturer of musical instruments during the 1970s, specializing in home organs and digital keyboards for the U.S. market. Sante Crucianelli, the owner's son, became the driving force behind Crumar's design and strategic direction. The company was known for its open lab culture, which allowed competitors to test their instruments, a rare practice at the time. This fostered a collaboration with synthesizer pioneer Bob Moog, leading to the creation of Crumar's Spirit analog monophonic synthesizer.
Other key contributors to the Spirit project included Moog engineer Jim Scott and Moog clinician and electronic music historian Tom Rhea. The project began around 1980 and integrated elements from earlier work done by Scott and Moog. Rhea played a c rucial role in defining the Spirit's key features, including its keyboard scanning setup, functional architecture, and technical documentation. The Spirit entered production and Crumar released it in late 1983. But despite its advanced features, the Spirit faced challenges due to market shifts toward digital instruments and had limited production. Crumar ultimately closed down in 1986 amid industry difficulties.
In 2008, an Italian company revived the Crumar brand and resumed the production of musical instruments. In 2023, they celebrated this legacy by reissuing the Spirit synthesizer in a limited run of 100 units. This new version preserved the original analog design while adding MIDI functionality and improved features. When Cherry Audio expressed interest in creating a virtual emulation of this classic synthesizer and approached Crumar for collaboration, the proposal was met with great enthusiasm.
Cherry Audio's reenvisioning of the Crumar Spirit synthesizer includes all the innovations and deep sound capabilities of the original hardware while enhancing it with modern design elements tailored for today's musicians and sound designers. Cherry Audio has increased its polyphony and added special multi-voice modes, along with expanding its already extensive modulation capabilities. Spirit's unique arpeggiator has been replicated and enhanced with swing, chance, and feel. Additionally, they have integrated dual chains of studio-grade effects, made the synthesizer more expressive with velocity and aftertouch ( including polyphonic aftertouch), and provided over 430 presets created by six professional sound designers.
Spirit is a gateway to sonic experimentation, whether you are after wild, unpredictable timbres or warm, analog tones. It is not a polite instrument. Nor is it clean, safe, or obvious. However, twist a few knobs and it will reward you with some of the most colorful sounds you have ever heard from a virtual analog software synthesizer.
Features
- Based on the original synthesizer and circuit designs of Robert A. Moog, Tom Rhea, Jim Scott, and Crumar's Sante Crucianelli
- Spirit has been significantly enhanced with expanded functionality and modulation options
- Monophonic, unison, polyphonic (4, 8, or 16 voices), and cycle voice modes
- Multi-voice modes for unison, poly, and cycle that add per-note variation by adding three additional "mini synth" panels, each with their own pitch, pan, filter frequency, VCA Envelope Attack, and VCA Envelope Release settings
- Quick-access multi-voice panel presets such as Hard Panned, Slightly Detuned, Well Worn, and more to simulate subtle or extreme variations between voices
- Over 430 professionally designed presets in a dozen categories
- Two oscillators with master tune, octave, waveshape, and oscillator sync
- Oscillator B features modes to create a fixed frequency in two ranges – Bass and Wide – for drones, audio-rate modulation, or an additional LFO
- Dedicated Upper low pass filter and multimode Lower filter
- Flexible filter section with keyboard tracking, a fixed formant option for the Lower filter (to add vocal-like color), and low-pass slope options
- Two ADSR envelopes with velocity for filter and amp
- Extensive modulation options in Mod X and Shaper Y sections, each routable to dedicated mod wheels
- Mod X modulation sources: Triangle, Square, Random (Sample & Hold), Shaper Y, Red Noise, Oscillator B. Sync or retrig
- Mod X destinations: Oscillator A + B, Oscillator A, Oscillator A rectangular width modulation (RWM), Filter Upper + Lower, Upper Filter
- Shaper Y modes: Free Run (extra LFO), KB Hold, Run, Reset (Envelope and Filter Effects). Sync or loop.
- Shaper Y destinations: Oscillator A + B, Oscillator B, Oscillator B RWM, LFO Rate, Lower Filter
- Cherry Audio's "Matrix Z" four-slot mod matrix with four independent pathways to send modulation from one of 25 sources to any of 45 destinations, each with its own amount knob
- Multiple gate options for ADSRs allow for complex triggering
- Two independent mixers and signal paths for Shaper Y and Filter/ADSR with independent outputs
- Glide and pitch bend controls
- Dynamic arpeggiator with three modes – Ripple, Arp, and Leap – with Swing, Chance, and Feel to add degrees of randomness to arpeggiated patterns
- Two independent chains of studio-quality integrated effects with a global effect modulator:
- Filter/ADSR Effects: Distortion, Flanger & Chorus, Echo, and Reverb
- Shaper Y Effects: Envelope Filter, Dual Phaser, Flanger & Chorus, and Echo
- Standalone virtual instrument and plug-in versions included
- Super accurate DAW sync
- User-adjustable oversampling control
- Complete MIDI control and DAW automation for all controls, with easy-to-use MIDI learn and mapping (Preset and Global)
- Cherry Audio's popular Focus zoom-in feature, as well as standard UI zoom and resize via drag
- Complete documentation available directly online from the instrument or in downloadable PDF format
