Farfisa V

The music of each decade of the 20th century has its specific sound. When we refer to the later decades, these particularities can be partly attributed to the technological evolution of electronic music instruments. The 1970s saw the rise of the analog synthesizer, while in the 1980s digital synths took over, and the 1990s had their samplers. But in the 1960s, synths were still a novelty and certainly not as popular as the electric organs.

The Hammond, the Vox Continental, and the Farfisa are among the iconic organs that helped shape the sounds of the '60s. Today we’re going to focus a bit on the latter, by taking a look at an emulation called Farfisa V.

For this particular instrument, Arturia has used its True Analog Emulation technology to recreate both the Farfisa Compact Deluxe and the Compact Duo. The result is a bright sounding organ with plenty of added features. While it may sound a bit tame at first, tweaking various parameters will change that. For starters, you should hit those switches above the keyboard, on the rightmost side. Though they won’t sound exactly like strings, a flute, or an oboe, they will add plenty of harmonic richness to the notes you play.

You can continue by adjusting settings for bass and tremolo, tweaking the amp and adding up to five effect units to your organ. Opening the advanced panel enables you to tweak each note, mix sine wave harmonics via additive synthesis, adjust your envelopes, or draw your waveform from scratch.

While the other electric organs I’ve mentioned in this article are associated with the more serious rock songs of the 1960s, the Farfisa is credited to shaping the more “bubblegum” pop-rock songs of the decade (although it was notably used by Pink Floyd on their first albums). And since this particular emulation sounds great, you can surely find creative ways to include the Farfisa V in your compositions.