Farfisa V

Compact organ echoes.

The essence of ’60s go-go and ’80s new wave, nothing sounds quite like the Farfisa combo organ.

The Farfisa hit the pop stage several years before synthesizers. Portable and polyphonic, its reedy voice was heard everywhere.

Thanks to Farfisa V, it never really went away. Our TAE® analog modeling technology recreates every nuance of the Farfisa Compact DeLuxe. How far did we turn up the microscope? To the level of how the vintage circuits passed electrons around, which gets way more realistic than even the best samples. Whether you’re after a retro-cool infusion or something completely different, Farfisa V is an instant inspiration generator.

Electric Surfboard

Click a few tabs and grab the sunny sound of Sam the Sham’s surf-rock classic “Wooly Bully.” Click a few more and you’re in the ’80s with Blondie, the B-52s, and Talking Heads.

All the Sound

All the Farfisa’s tone generators and controls plus modeled FX make for a production-ready retro organ sound all inside the plug-in.

Keep It Simple — Or Not

Work only with the controls of the original, or open up the Advanced panel and a galaxy of new sonic possibilities including additive synthesis. (Yes, you read that right.)

Make It Yours

The Farfisa’s wide tonal range rose above stereotypes and impressed music fans across styles. With Farfisa V, so will your productions.

The Italian
Stallion

When Farfisa started producing combo organs in 1964, they knew who their customers were: mods and rockers who didn’t want to lug living room furniture to the gig. Their aggressive but cheerful sound perfectly fit the spirit of the era, and it’s every bit as evocative today.

That sound came from transistor circuits that were relatively inexpensive to manufacture, not to mention lightweight. Farfisas looked cooler than living room organs, too, and projected a sense of the now and the future. Play that sound today, and you’re not just playing “retro.” You’re playing what retro musicians thought the future would sound like. Guess that means they were right!

Discover the history of Farfisa

To save on weight and cost, the Farfisa used one transistor-based square wave generator for each note in the top octave. Then, divide-down circuits converted that waveform into lower octaves, which was pretty simple to do using analog components.

The versatility of the more full-featured models (such as the Compact DeLuxe we modeled for Farfisa V) attracted bands like the Beach Boys on one hand, Pink Floyd on the other, and electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk on yet another. This is partly owed to features that synthesizers would later make familiar, including a rudimentary envelope and the ability to split the keyboard with a bass part in the left hand.

Farfisa’s main competitor was Vox, whose Continental series of combo organs is forever associated with The Doors. Vox actually got an earlier start, but Farfisa enjoyed better promotion in the USA. Fast forward to the late ’70s and early ’80s, when post-punk experimenters such as Blondie, Devo, The B-52s, and Talking Heads were in search of interesting sounds. Polyphonic synths and orchestra/ensemble keyboards were a known quantity by then, which made the Farfisa an enticing outlier. What may well have begun as an ironic statement became an unironic staple of New Wave.

Its decidedly different character than either the Vox or the hallowed Hamond helped it migrate into disco, dub, reggae, and even electronica. Wherever a balance of whimsy and attitude is called for, the Farfisa fits. That’s why we took such great pains to give you a modeled version that reproduces the original with uncanny accuracy, yet also includes synthesis features that can make it the only keyboard virtual instrument you need on some tracks.

Time
Capsule

Everything but the smell of dust on hot electronics.

Farfisa V reproduces all the controls of the Compact DeLuxe, then adds retro-tastic FX and amp simulation.

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01. Find Your Voice

Choose from the beige tabs in the main voice section, the core of the Compact DeLuxe tone.

02. Green Machine

The green Multi-Tone Booster tabs add an alternative set of voices for even more goodness.

03. Home Bass

Play an independent, adjustable bass voice from either the bottom octave or bottom two octaves of the keyboard.

04. Animation Station

Where we’re going, we don’t need rotary — thanks to Farfisa V’s wonderfully woozy vibrato and tempo-syncable tremolo.

05. Leverage

Farfisas had a lever that players could move with their knees. You can make it intensify the Multi-Tone Booster or bring in a wah effect, then work it with a MIDI controller.

06. Stompbox Heaven

Expand Farfisa V’s sound and your musical mind with 5 pedal effects plus an in-your-face combo amp. We model them like we do our instruments: with crazy perfectionism.

Wait, this is
an organ plug-in?

First, we obsessed over authenticity and realism. Then we sort of went full mad scientist.

The Farfisa had just enough proto-synth features to make players wish for more. Using the modeling power of TAE®, we realized our vision for what could have happened if its designers had anything like today’s resources.

  • Catch Your Wave

    Move the sliders to build custom waveforms from 48 additive harmonics, or just draw a waveform on the sliders. But really, use the additive synthesis. Additive. Synthesis.

  • Control Bass

    Select synth waves for the bass section, with adjustable cutoff and resonance.

  • Push the Envelope

    Create textures that are even more synth-like by adjustin the attack-release envelope and Offset (filter brightness) knob.

  • Fine Tune It

    Tuning screws for each note’s generator let you dial in the Goldilocks amount of vintage-borne misbehavior for a totally authentic vibe.

  • What’s Happening

    Choose from a buffet of classic spring and plate reverbs to set Farfisa V in just the right space.

  • Bend the Knee

    Trigger the Knee Lever via pitch-bend, aftertouch, or a different MIDI CC, and select its function here.

Hear it
in action

Take a trip through time with these sound demos that show just how convincing Farfisa V is in the context of a mix. Allons-y!

Between our accuracy obsession and our make-it-better obsession, our sound designers had a monster job coming up with Presets that showcase how Farfisa V can sound both precisely historical and entirely new. Here are just a handful. Try them all when you download our free demo!

Artistscorner

Included in
V collection

Legendary Keyboards Reinvented

This instrument is also part of the V Collection -your complete dream line-up of the legendary synths, organs, pianos and more that made keyboard history. They’re modeled with the most advanced technologies for authentic realism, and enhanced with new creative options. Whether you use it as DAW plugins in the studio or standalone at gigs, V Collection puts the greatest keys of all time at your fingertips for instant inspiration.

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The features
you need

  • In-App Tutorials

    Integrated in-app tutorials guide you through every aspect of the instrument, from individual parameters to tips from our sound designers, so you can focus on the creative stuff. It shouldn't be this easy, but it is!

  • ASC

    Arturia Software Center lets you download, organize, and update all of your Arturia software titles in one place, as well as manage all of your licenses across multiple devices. Keep it simple.

  • DAW ready

    Our virtual instruments and plugins are designed to fit right into your setup without hassle. Whatever your style, you can explore sound while enjoying full compatibility with major DAWS, on both Windows and MacOS.

  • Preset browser

    Instantly find the sound that’s in your head with intelligent & streamlined preset browsing. Search with keywords, explore by instrument type, musical style, and more - you can even save your favorites to quickly recall later.

  • Resizable GUI

    Whether you want the full visual immersion of our classic instrument emulations, or to save precious screen real estate, the interfaces for all of your Arturia virtual instruments can be resized to a scale that suits you.

  • Perfect integration

    Instruments come seamlessly mapped for the Arturia KeyLab range - but they’ll place nice with other MIDI controllers too. Instant sound tweaking macros, easy DAW integration, and standalone operation.

TAE® Powered

The exclusive analog modeling technology that makes our emulations indistinguishable from the originals.

By accurately mimicking the characteristics of analog oscillators, filters, and soft clipping, we can provide astonishing component-accurate detail and authentic analog charm in equal measure.

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Gallery

Main Features

Physical modeling of the dual-manual Farfisa Compact Deluxe plus pedals

Upper manual, lower manual and bass pedal sections

Selectable bass key range to cover 1 or 2 octaves

Bass Sharp/Soft control to change tone of bass section from Flute to Strings

Percussion section with adjustable decay times

Includes classic stompbox-type modeled effects

Simple drag-and-drop to change FX order

Guitar amp simulator output for vintage live sound

Convolution reverb with custom classic spring reverbs

Sync – allows tremolo to match host computer tempo

Repeat Sync – allows Repeater to match host computer tempo

Individual voice tuning

ToneDraw: Additive/wave draw sliders

Selectable bass waveform with 4-pole resonant filter

User waveform with additive synthesis and wavedrawing modes

Upper Attack and release envelopes

‘Knee lever’ for tone / wah control via expression pedal, mod wheel or aftertouch

Polyphonic or Paraphonic operation

Supports MIDI splits or independe

Platform specifications

Windows

  • Win 10+ (64bit)
  • 4 GB RAM
  • 4 cores CPU, 3.4 GHz (4.0 GHz Turbo-boost)
  • 3GB free hard disk space
  • OpenGL 2.0 compatible GPU
  • ARM processors not supported on Windows

Required configuration

  • Works in Standalone, VST, AAX, Audio Unit, NKS (64-bit DAWs only).

Apple

  • Mac OS 11+
  • 4 GB RAM
  • 4 cores CPU, 3.4 GHz (4.0 GHz Turbo-boost) or M1 CPU
  • 3GB free hard disk space
  • OpenGL 2.0 compatible GPU

Work with ASC

  • An elegant and simple solution to help you install, activate, and update your Arturia software instruments.

All manufacturer and product names mentioned on this page are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or affiliated with Arturia. The trademarks of other manufacturers are used solely to identify the products of those manufacturers whose features and sound were studied during the development. All names of equipment, inventors, and manufacturers have been included for illustrative and educational purposes only, and do not suggest any affiliation or endorsement by any equipment inventor or manufacturer.