| Solina String ensemble |
Description : Polyphonic ( 16 voice ) string synthesizer
Used by : Air, The Eagles, Massive attack, Shylock, David Bowie, Brian Eno, The Cure, Joy Division, Tangerine Dream, Japan, and New Order
Keys : 49
Production period : 1974 - 1981
The Solina string ensemble is probably the most used string-machine of the seventies....There are very little variations on the sounds with only four presets ( Violin, Viola, Trumpet and Horn ) in the upper harmonics and two ( Bass and Cello ) on the lower. You can set the attack time ( called crescendo ) which kind of gives it a reverse feel to it and the release ( sustain ). It is kind of a one trick pony. It is basically a string emulator and at first it isn't impressive…The whole trick is the modulation button placed on the left of the keyboard which is one of the best choruses around. This is a very slick and lush keyboard and if you have listened a lot to Air or David Bowies Low you would recognize the sound instantly. It is very good if you want to add some high end to a keyboard arrangement or just sweetening Mellotron strings. Björn Norén ( from the Emi-studio in Stockholm ) told me once that he and Bengt Palmers used to try out string arrangements on the Solina first but on more than one occasion they just kept the Solina Sketch in the mix.
Another interesting detail is how common it was in the seventies to mix Mellotron strings with the Solina. One of the most apparent was is italian progband PFM who released their albums in borth Italian and english versions. On the Italian versions the Mellotron is " clean " but on the English versions it is very often blended with string machines ( might be Solina ) which gives the whole production a smoother " profile " ?. I have used this trick with Brigheye Brison and Ludvig Andersson.
I have had my bouts with the Solina. With Geller we tried it on almost every song but usually when it came to mixing we took it out because it felt too slick and nice. We always preferred the Logan because of it´s harshness which made it sound more " german " ( which is obviously a good thing ) to our ears. Also our Logan had some ground-hum problem which made sound even more submarine-y if that´s possible. But if you are going for that smooth seventies synth string sound there is nothing that can beat the Solina.
In the Roth Händle studio I have two Solina String ensembles. One that is the original and one that is made by Arp. The story as I have been told was that Arp was developing a string synth and tried to emulate the Solina but realized it would be simpler to buy the rights to the synth and start manufacturing it under the Arp name. Oddly enough the two sound different. The original is harsher and the Arp version is slicker ( more HiFi perhaps ? )
Solina