The Rhodes Chroma is one of the great polyphonic analog synthesizers. It’s also, unfortunately, very rare.
The Chroma offers 16 VCO’s, multimode filters, a weighted keyboard with optional aftertouch and more.
This series of videos by Eric Frampton of The Keyboardist Blog, takes a look inside the classic and rare, Rhodes Chroma. Frampton also demos the original Rhodes Chroma presets.
If you’ve used the Chroma, leave a comment and let us know what you think of it!
Played in a band in the 90’s where we used a Chroma as a bass rig. At one point, we even sequenced bass parts and played with everyone else live (the drummer had click in cans). The Chroma was a lovely synth all around.The bass tones were great.
I owned and played a Chroma for many years, including with my live band RedShift. It was an incredibly powerful and expressive instrument. At one point, I added a Polaris and the Apple II computer, a multitimbral sequencing powerhouse! My Chroma was stolen while in a repair shop…
I have a Rhodes Chroma polaris II SUPER SUPER RARE analog synth. All the keys work and sliders , but some buttons don’t work. It is in super good condition. I can send pics. a d l e y e a s t r i d g e @ g m a i l . C o m if you’re interested. I can send pics.
You cant compare the Polaris with the Chroma. Totally different beastd from the inside and outside.
I have a Chroma that I purchased new in 1982. It was a great great workhorse being able to play two different sounds at a time with a split and could even swap locations during the performance! I have stored it for the last 18 years and decided to downsize my equipment so I plan to sell it. I set it up and turned it on, but it will not power up. I sounds like it is trying to power up. Does anyone know about what voltage should be coming out of the power supply? Or any other ideas on what could be causing this? After seeing the video,I was afraid it was the batteries, but they were not too bad. Thanks for any comments.