simonbeck wrote:analogika wrote:BuckW wrote:Mellotrons sound a little creepy period. But it was all the strings you had back in the seventies.
The Solina String Ensemble (used on Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" album and Jarre's "Oxygene" and "Equinoxe", among others) came out in 1974.
But before that, you're right — it was basically either real strings or a Mellotron.
And of course a few artists like Stevie Wonder, Keith Emerson and ABBA had access to early polysynths like the Yamaha GX-1, which probably produced the most realistic analogue string sounds at the time.
GX1 came after the ARP/Solina string ensemble (as did a slew of other string machines and poly-synths). (And Mellotrons, of course, date back to the 60s, and their Chamberlin brethren went back even further, though were not as widely used).