Sony’s 1982 Chord Machine #synthesizer #boombox

This video by Techmoan is an interesting look at a pretty weird consumer electronic device released in Japan by Sony back in 1982, the Chord Machine CFS-C7 — a combination cassette/radio boombox with a primitive built-in drum machine/tone synthesizer capable of playing chords with different voicings.

While more of a novelty than a musical instrument, the Chord Machine did include a mic and guitar input to round out the “band in a box” concept.

Here’s an example of what it sounds like with the benefit of some outboard effects processing, starting at about three minutes in:


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