A unique organ, most famous of the use by Jean Michel Jarre. Two version were available, a regular version and a theatre version. Technical identical however. The 310 Unique is concidered by many as the first string synth.

At the Frankfurt Musikmesse of 1972, the world's first actual string synthesizer appeared. Utilising quite a different approach to generate its ensemble effect, it was the grandfather of almost all string synths. Yet, despite its importance, it went almost completely unnoticed. This is because it wasn't a 'pro' keyboard at all. Manufactured by the Dutch company Eminent, it was a home organ: the Eminent 310 Unique.

Extended information

Eminent had been founded in 1923 as a small, family-owned shop that sold organs and harmoniums, but in the 1950s and 1960s it experienced tremendous growth, eventually employing over 400 staff. In 1969, the owners decided to start building their own organs under the Eminent and Solina brands, and the 310 was one of these.

As home organs go, the 310 Unique was a very attractive example of the species, with a 42-note upper manual (C-F) and a 44-note lower manual (F-C). The organ tabs provided conventional organ voicing, with traditional stops ranging from 16' to 4' on the upper manual. Likewise, the lower manual (8' and 4') and pedal stops (16' and 8') stops were traditional, while a selection of accented 'Sustain' stops could be directed to both the upper and lower manuals to generate a more percussive type of sound.

To the right of the lower manual there were four sliders: three of these controlled Timbre (a mild low-pass EQ); a fixed-rate Vibrato; and Reverberation, which was supplied by an internal spring reverb tank. The fourth balanced the volumes of the upper and lower manuals. However, that was where the conventional organ technology ended. The other three control panels made the 310 very special indeed.

To the right of the upper manual, there was a panel called Strings Ensemble, featuring eight buttons and a slider. Defeating all the organ tabs and pressing the 8' button on the upper manual produced a deep, lush string ensemble sound. The 4' button produced a thinner version an octave above. Of course, you could use these in unison, but the envelope of the sound was still rather organ-like so there was also a button marked 'SUST'. This duplicated the 8' Ensemble tone but with a polyphonic (ie. every note independent of all the others) extended release. Select all three together, start playing, and... wow!

It's hard to imagine the impact that this sound must have made in 1972, but it was far from the end of the story. Using the upper 8' and/or 4' Ensemble settings defeated the conventional organ tabs for the upper manual, but you could use the sustained strings with the traditional organ stops as you pleased.

(Original source SOS)