EMEAPP Institute Project:
Features and Development History of the Crumar Spirit
Description: One of the more exceptional monophonic synthesizers in the EMEAPP Collection is the Crumar Spirit, a monosynth created by a special collaboration between Robert Moog, the inventor of the Moog Synthesizer; Tom Rhea, electronic music historian and synthesis expert; and Jim Scott, former Moog Music engineer. The Spirit was released in 1983 at the tail end of the golden era of analog synthesizers, and despite its exceptionally useful and unusual features, unfortunately did not fare well in the marketplace. Today, however, the Spirit is highly prized, and those that remain are rarely sold. The EMEAPP Institute has established a long-term project to fully characterize and understand the Spirit’s origin, features, and sound, in order to preserve this knowledge for posterity, and to assist owners of this rare and not very well understood instrument as well. We encourage the reader to help make us aware of any additional information that may help in creating a more comprehensive and accurate account.
Project Leader: Ben Luce (EMEAPP Institute)
Additional Participants: EMEAPP Staff, Tom Rhea, Jim Scott, the Moog Foundation.
Project Status: An initial study of the Crumar Spirit has been completed, the results from which will be presented in articles and sound samples set in MODULATIONS (the Emeapp online journal), expected summer 2021.