Keyboard Instruments

Hammond organ

Keyboard

The Hammond organ is an electromechanical keyboard instrument introduced by Laurens Hammond in 1935. It generates sound with spinning tonewheels and lets players blend harmonics using drawbars; paired with a rotating Leslie speaker, the Hammond (especially the B-3) became central to jazz, gospel, blues, and rock.

ELKA Rhapsody

Synthesizer · Italy

The Elka Rhapsody is a polyphonic string synthesizer made by the Italian company Elka in the 1970s. A popular and roadworthy string machine, it produces violin- and viola-style ensemble sounds and was widely used by touring musicians.

ARP Omni

Synthesizer · United States

The ARP Omni, released in 1975, is a polyphonic synthesizer that combined a popular string-ensemble section with a polyphonic synth and a bass voice. One of ARP's best-selling instruments, its lush strings were widely used in 1970s pop and rock.

Bontempi Memoplay

A portable home electronic keyboard made by Bontempi during its 1980s shift from reed chord organs to electronic keyboards. The Memoplay is one of several inexpensive Bontempi portables collected for their toy-like character.

Alesis Andromeda A6

Synthesizer · United States

The Alesis Andromeda A6, released in 2000, is a sixteen-voice analog synthesizer with two oscillators and dual filters per voice plus extensive digital control and effects. A rare large-scale analog polysynth of its era, it is prized for its deep, powerful sound.

Moog Liberation

Keyboard

The Liberation is a strap-on keyboard synthesizer Moog introduced in 1980, one of the first keytars. Worn like a guitar, it combines monophonic and polyphonic sections with a guitar-style neck controller for pitch bend and modulation, freeing the player from a stationary keyboard.

Bontempi Minstrel

A portable electronic keyboard made by Bontempi, part of the Italian company's range of affordable home keyboards. Like other Bontempi instruments it is valued by samplers for its raw, plasticky sound.

Yamaha SHS-10

Electric guitar

The SHS-10 is a keytar, a keyboard built to be worn on a strap and held like a guitar, released by Yamaha in 1987. It uses FM tone generation, includes built-in rhythms and a MIDI output, and was an affordable, portable instrument popular with younger players.

Korg i3

Keyboard

The i3 is an interactive music workstation keyboard that Korg released in the early 1990s. Built around auto-accompaniment, it provides backing styles that follow the player's chords, making it an arranger keyboard suited to one-person song performance.

Ammer 'Ruckers' Harpsichord

A single-manual harpsichord built by the Ammer brothers' workshop in Eisenberg, Thuringia, Germany, modeled on historical Ruckers instruments and series-produced from the 1930s into the early 1960s. Early Ammer harpsichords were used for Bach recordings by harpsichordist Isolde Ahlgrimm.

Elgam Snoopy

An inexpensive Italian electronic keyboard made by Elgam in the 1970s, offering piano, harpsichord, and spinet voices mixable via faders. Its raw, lo-fi character has made it a cult instrument among electronic musicians.

Ammer Clavichord

A clavichord built by Gebr. Ammer of Eisenberg, Germany, produced both as series instruments and as historically informed reconstructions in collaboration with the Leipzig musical instrument collection.