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Farfisa is a manufacturer of electronics based in Italy. The Farfisa brand name is commonly associated with a series of compact electronic organ, and later, a series of multi-timbral synthesizer. An electronic organ is an Electronic keyboard instrument originally designed to imitate the sound of a Pipe organ. At the height of their production Farfisa operated 3 factories to produce instruments, in Ancona in the Marche region of Italy. Ancona (Ankon is a city and a seaport in the Marche, a region of central Italy, population 101909 (2005 The Marche (plural originally from le marche de Ancona, referring to the March of Ancona) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. Farfisa also made radios, televisions, and other electronic items. Radio is the transmission of signals by Modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible Light. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic Today the Farfisa brand mainly produces intercom and video conference systems. An intercom (intercommunication device is an electronic communications system intended for limited or private dialogue direction collaboration or announcements A videoconference (also known as a videoteleconference) is a set of interactive Telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to interact


Contents

History

Early use in rock and roll

With several compact, easily-portable and inexpensive models available, and their distinctive sound, Farfisa organs became popular among rock bands and other combos during the 1960s.

Arguably, one of the first rock organists to play and spotlight the Farfisa, was Domingo Samudio, better known as "Sam the Sham," who with his group The Pharaohs, scored big in the summer of 1965, with their first hit, "Wooly Bully. Sam the Sham is the stage name of rock 'n' roll singer Domingo “Sam” Samudio from Dallas Texas. Sam the Sham is the stage name of rock 'n' roll singer Domingo “Sam” Samudio from Dallas Texas. Sam the Sham is the stage name of rock 'n' roll singer Domingo “Sam” Samudio from Dallas Texas. " Wooly Bully " is a song based on the 12 bar blues progression made famous by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs first recorded as " Hully Gully " In 1966, a Farfisa was prominently heard at the beginning, the middle, and at the end of "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)" the only hit from a South Carolina-based group The Swingin' Medallions. The Swingin' Medallions are an American Beach music group from Greenwood, South Carolina.

Many prominent keyboard sounds commonly attributed to the Farfisa were actually from the similar sounding Vox Continental e. The Vox Continental is a Transistor -based Combo organ that was introduced in 1962 g. the Mysterians on "96 Tears", their best-known work. Rod Argent of The Zombies was pictured using a Farfisa on stage during the band's later years (although it seems the Farfisa never made it onto any Zombies recordings). Rod Argent (born Rodney Terence Argent, 14 June 1945, St Albans, Hertfordshire, England) was a founding member of Likewise Doug Rhodes of the Music Machine on the mid 60's "Talk Talk" recording by Sean Bonniwell and The Music Machine, is clearly playing a Vox in early video, the same is the case with the keyboard on "Incense and Peppermints" by Strawberry Alarm Clock. Thomas Harvey "Sean" Bonniwell (born August 16 1940, San Jose CA) Guitarist, Vocalist, Songwriter, is most The Music Machine (1965–1969 was an American Garage rock and Psychedelic (sometimes referred to as garage punk) band from the late 1960s headed by singer-songwriter " Incense and Peppermints " is a song and album by Strawberry Alarm Clock. Strawberry Alarm Clock was a Psychedelic rock band from Los Angeles, known for their 1967 hit " Incense and Peppermints " On the recording itself, the shrill high pitched tones towards the end of the song (accompanying the vocal "Sha-La-La" refrain) are nothing that a Farfisa could produce and are distinctly characteristic of the Vox instrument. The Vox on Iron Butterfly's "In-a-Gadda-da-Vida" is also sometimes mistakenly attributed to a Farfisa.

The instrument was integral to the sound of Pink Floyd's early albums, from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (almost all songs) through Dark Side of the Moon (example: Time). Pink Floyd are The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is Pink Floyd 's debut album and the only one made under Syd Barrett 's leadership although he made some contributions to The Dark Side of the Moon (titled Dark Side of the Moon in the 1993 CD edition is a Concept album by the British Progressive Rick Wright still uses this organ, for example on David Gilmour's 2006 Tour. Richard William "Rick" Wright (28 July 1943 &ndash 15 September 2008 was a pianist and Keyboardist best known for his career with Pink Floyd

John Paul Jones of the Jeff Beck Group and later Led Zeppelin used a Farfisa on "Dancing Days" from Houses of the Holy, as well as occasionally using a VIP-255 or a professional model onstage. Led Zeppelin were Another famous recording is the 1970 A Tribute to Jack Johnson by Miles Davis where Herbie Hancock plays some great spontaneous licks on a broken Farfisa. A Tribute to Jack Johnson is a Studio album by Jazz musician Miles Davis, released in 1971 in the United States and in 1970 in Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26 1926 &ndash September 28 1991 was an American Jazz Trumpeter, Bandleader, and Composer. Herbert Jeffrey Hancock ("Herbie" born April 12 1940 is a Jazz Pianist and Composer.

Later use

With the advent of synthesizers, organs such as the classic Farfisa seemed to be headed for obsolescence, but time proved otherwise. In the late 1970s, with older models going cheap, numerous punk rock and New Wave bands (especially those influenced by 1960's garage rock and psychedelia), such as Blondie, The B-52's, Suicide, Squeeze , Human Switchboard and Talking Heads embraced Farfisas as substitutes for more sophisticated keyboards. The B-52's originated as a New Wave Rock band formed in Athens Georgia, United States, in 1976 Suicide is an American Rock music group intermittently active since 1971 and composed of Alan Vega ( Vocals) and Martin Rev ( Synthesizers Squeeze are an English band that came to prominence in the United Kingdom during the New Wave period of the late 1970s and continued recording successfully ' The Human Switchboard' The Human Switchboard formed in 1977 when Bob Pfeifer met Myrna Marcarian at Syracuse University Talking head Talking Heads was an American New Wave band formed in 1974 in New York City and active until 1991 Their classic sound, in turn, became a staple on multitimbral instruments, first synthesized, then sampled from the originals. An electronic musical instrument may be multitimbral, which means it can produce two or more Timbres ' (also called sounds or patches) at the same time Nothing, it seems, could match the unique sound of the Farfisa Combo.

The Farfisa sound is today used to impart a stereotypical 1960s-retro essence to music, and has appeared recently on albums by artists such as The Mummies, Dengue Fever, Electrelane, Green Day, Screeching Weasel, Krist Novoselic, Jonathan Fire*Eater, Death Cab for Cutie, The Blood Brothers, Smash Mouth, Apse, Stereolab, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The American Analog Set, Cadallaca, Spiritualized Tom Waits, Yo La Tengo,The Defectors, Neptune Towers, and The Murder City Devils. The Mummies were an American Garage punk band formed by Trent Ruane (organ vocals Maz Kattuah (bass Larry Winther (guitar and Russell Quan Dengue Fever is a six-member band from Los Angeles who combine Cambodian Pop music and lyrics with psychedelic rock. Electrelane were a British Alternative rock band formed in Brighton, England in 1998 by Verity Susman and Emma Gaze. Green Day is an American rock trio Screeching Weasel was an American punk band from Chicago, Illinois. Krist Anthony Novoselic II (born May 16, 1965) is an American rock musician best known as the Bassist for Nirvana. Jonathan Fire*Eater was a New York City -based Indie rock band from Washington DC. Death Cab for Cutie is an American Indie rock band formed in Bellingham, The Blood Brothers was an Art punk band formed in the Eastside This article is about the San Jose California band For their eponymous album see Smash Mouth (album. Apse is an American rock band signed to Spanish label Acuarela Discos and the UK label ATP Recordings. Stereolab are an Alternative music band formed in 1990 in London, England The Brian Jonestown Massacre (frequently abbreviated as "BJM" or "The BJM" are a neo-psychedelic rock band founded in San Francisco California The American Analog Set (sometimes referred to as AmAnSet) is an Austin -based Indie rock band Cadallaca is an Indie rock band formed at a party in Portland Oregon in 1997 Spiritualized are an English Space rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby Warwickshire by Jason Pierce (who often goes by the alias J Thomas Alan Waits (born 7 December 1949) is an American Singer-songwriter, Composer, and Actor. Yo La Tengo is an American Indie rock band based in Hoboken, New Jersey. Neptune Towers is an ambient side-project formed in 1993 by Fenriz of Darkthrone. The Murder City Devils was a rock and roll band active between 1996 and 2001 Clint Boon of Manchester band Inspiral Carpets was also famous for using a Farfisa, giving the band its signature sound. Inspiral Carpets are an Indie rock band from Oldham in Greater Manchester, England formed by Graham Lambert and Stephen Holt in 1986 The Farfisa brand name, meanwhile, continues to appear on contemporary MIDI keyboards. MIDI ( Musical Instrument Digital Interface, ˈmɪdi is an industry-standard protocol that enables Electronic musical instruments Computers

Series

Compact Series (1965 - 1969)

The Compact series had four models. On the Compact Duo, dual manual organs tone and volume were regulated by controls on the F/AR combination pre-amp reverb and power supply unit. On most other models the tone controls and a bass section volume were located on an indented panel on the rear of the keyboard. Underneath the keyboards a knee-high lever could be actuated for the tone boost feature, turned on by rocker levers on the console. The Pipe organ is played from an area called the console, which holds the manuals pedals and stop controls All models had reverb except for the mini-compact. Optional feature: 13-note bass pedals (not for the mini-compact). Elton John made particular use of this on Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

MINI-COMPACT

Smallest of the Compact Series. Only four octaves, no bass on early models. Later version had a selector switch to choose bass or acute sound in the lowest octave; these models had grey naturals with white sharps in the bass octave. Some of these extended bass models have only 3 voices while transitioning to the later models which had 6 voices.

Used by Mike Mills (REM), Kate Radley of Spiritualized and by Steve Reich in his piece Four Organs. This article is about Mike Mills the REM bassist Other similar sounding articles include the Irish journalist Michael Mills and Mike Mills (director. REM is an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by Michael Stipe ( lead vocals) Peter Buck ( Guitar WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Stephen Michael Reich (born October 3 Four Organs is a work for four Electronic organs and Maraca by Steve Reich.

Early COMPACT (COMBO COMPACT)

Features:

Late COMPACT (COMBO COMPACT I)

Features:

COMPACT DELUXE

Features:

COMPACT DUO

Most renowned of the Compact Series, having been used by Al Kooper (Blues Project), Michael MacNeil (Simple Minds), Rick Wright of Pink Floyd and Clint Boon of the Inspiral Carpets. Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt, February 5 1944, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American Songwriter, Michael "Mick" MacNeil (b20 Jul 1958 Glasgow) was the keyboardist for the Scottish band Simple Minds, best remembered for their UK #7/US #1 hit " Richard William "Rick" Wright (28 July 1943 &ndash 15 September 2008 was a pianist and Keyboardist best known for his career with Pink Floyd

Features:

FAST Series (1968 - 1971)

The FAST (Farfisa All Silicon Transistor) Series models had a metal cabinet covered with a washable skin plate and plastic edges, chrome folding legs, retractable carrying handles, and a removable music rack. This model of Farfisa was used by Philip Glass on some of his early recordings. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Philip Glass (born January 31 This series had the combo organs (FAST 2,3,4,5,Console), and the Professional (Original, Duo, and Pianos)

FAST 3

Features:

FAST 4

Features:

FAST 5

Features, same as FAST 4, plus:

Artists:

Professional Series (1968 - 1972)

These are the top of the line and the last models made by Farfisa - In 1972 Leir Siegler and started producing VIP models, and custom models.

VIP Series

Matador

The Farfisa Matador was produced in the Early to mid 1970s. It is a Compact Organ with a built in speaker, and amplifier. Several models of Matador were produced.

Syntorchestra

The Syntorchestra also has separate outputs for each of its two sections.

Transicord

The Transicord came in two models, a standard model and a "DeLuxe" model. The standard model has one row of tab-stops similar to those found on a Combo Compact organ, and is reported to have a similar sound. The color scheme was grey with light blue and green. The DeLuxe model has two rows of tab-stops and is black in color.

Opening and closing the bellows reportedly engages an effect similar to the "tone boost" on Combo Compact model organs. The Transicord can also be equipped with the same volume pedal used for many other Farfisa organs.

See also

External links

Vox is a musical equipment manufacturer which is most famous for making the Vox AC30 guitar amplifier, the Vox Electric organ, and a series of innovative The Hammond organ is an electric organ which was invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company " Farfisa Beat " was released as a single in Denmark and Germany in 1980 and Switzerland in 1981 Squeeze are an English band that came to prominence in the United Kingdom during the New Wave period of the late 1970s and continued recording successfully
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