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The Optigan (a portmanteau of optical organ) is an electronic keyboard instrument designed for the consumer market. The name stems from the instrument's reliance on pre-recorded optical soundtracks to reproduce sound. Later versions (built under license and aimed at the professional market) were sold under the name Orchestron. (2025). 9781574417760, University of North Texas Press. ISBN 9781574417760
Thirty-seven tracks were sustained or repeatedly percussive notes in the timbre of a particular instrument and were played through a standard three-octave piano-style musical keyboard with the right hand; twenty-one were of a live band or soloist playing chords in different keys arranged per the circle of fifths, specifically B-flat, F, C, G, D, A and E Major chord, Minor chord, and diminished triad and were played with the left hand in much the style of a chord organ or accordion. The remaining five were assigned to rocker switches above the chord buttons and featured (depending on the disc in question) percussion, , introductions, vamps, and endings synchronized with the chord buttons. Pushing upward on the rocker switches locked them in place for use with percussion; pushing downward allowed momentary use for vamps, introductions and endings.
Not all of the chord buttons had their own track assignments, the result being only fifty-seven sounds on sixty-three buttons, keys and switches. There was also an optical metronome incorporated into the discs which showed as a red flashing light for the downbeat and white for the upbeats inside the Optigan badge above the keyboard. The advantages of this unique optical playback system were that the Optigan's range of timbres was infinitely expandable and that there was no limit on the duration of a note as there was on the Optigan's professional-grade counterpart, the magnetic tape-based Chamberlin or its successor the Mellotron. The disadvantage was that notes could have neither attack nor decay, as the tracks had no specific beginning or end.
The "Starter Set" sold with the Optigan contained discs with fairly self-explanatory titles: "Big Organ & Drums", "Pop Piano Plus Guitar", "Latin Fever", and "Guitar in 3/4 Time". More modern styles were represented by titles such as "Movin'!", which was a rhythm and blues disc and "Hear and Now", with a sound clearly based on the hit single "Sweet Seasons" by Carole King (and cover art evocative of that of her Tapestry (1971) album). Other discs were marketed individually and packaged much like long-playing phonograph records. These individual titles were also bundled in much the same way as the "Starter Set" and sold as six-disc "Entertainment Folios". Some discs were available only as part of a two-disc "Style Pak" with titles such as "The Joyous Sounds of Christmas", "Country Style Pak", "Polka" and "Songs of Praise", these last two being produced towards the end of production and in very low quantities. Music books of various styles and even arrangements intended for individual disks were also available and sometimes packaged with the different bundles.
The initial run of musical tracks were recorded by Southern California studio musicians in Hollywood and Torrance. However, a musicians' union strike meant that some of the later discs were recorded in Germany. The instrumental tracks for one disc, "Bluegrass Banjo", were recorded by members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. The Vox Humana disc keyboard sound was used for the "Vocal Choir" Orchestron disc.
For the benefit of those unable to read music, the notes in the books were numbered in correspondence to a numbered and color-coded foil strip above the keyboard. The Optigan's songbooks were written and arranged by Optigan Corporation's music director, Johnny Largo. Largo, an accordionist and session musician, was a contemporary of Johnny Marks, a composer best known for his popular mid-20th century Christmas melodies. As such, many of the songs in the Christmas books were Marks compositions.
The disc could be sped up or slowed down using a thumbwheel next to the chord buttons to cause a corresponding change in tempo and pitch; however, higher speeds tended to roll-off the lower frequencies, lower speeds rolled off the highs, and moderate to slow tempo lent a slightly muddy quality overall. Natural imperfections on the acetate discs, as well as dust and dirt, came through as scratches, clicks and pops, much like a worn phonograph record. Furthermore, the pitch change brought on by the tempo adjustment made session work with live musicians a difficult proposition, especially since the pitch varied greatly from disc to disc.
Even though the technology of the day was more than sophisticated enough to avoid them, there were numerous mechanical problems with the disc's motor drive due to its having been engineered to be as affordable as possible. Changes in environment, which had a physical effect on the photocells, frequently led to crosstalk between tracks. One common example involves the F at the upper end of the keyboard: press this key, step on the volume control pedal, and the C-diminished/A-diminished chord can often be heard in the background.
These same diminished chords intentionally found their way onto the row of major chords. As pointed out earlier in this article, not all of the chord buttons had their own track assignments. In a very unusual move, A-major utilizes the same soundtrack as B-flat-diminished, G-diminished, and E-diminished, while E-major shares space with F-diminished and D-diminished, thereby making it impossible to play in the keys of A or E, at least with left-hand accompaniment. Apparently, this was done to save space on the disc, further explaining the lack of dominant seventh chords or any chords in the keys of E-flat, A-flat, D-flat, B and F-sharp.
Since the instrument was aimed at amateur players, the majority of the songs in the Optigan's music books are written in the much simpler keys of F, C and G.
The earliest recording that used an Optigan was an album by electronic music pioneer Bruce Haack. On his 1973 release Captain Entropy, Haack extensively used the Optigan, utilizing several Optigan disks such as "Nashville Country" for the track "Army Ants" and "Singing Rhythm" for the track "Walking Eagle". The album was recorded in his bedroom studio and released on his own Dimension 5 Records, a label releasing children's records from 1962 through 1977.
Another early recording that used the Optigan was an album by European dance music pioneer Alan Steward. On his 1976 live album Just Listen, Alan made extensive use of the Optigan. Six of the nine tracks on the album, including the title track, feature the Optigan. Alan also extensively used the "breakbeats" and the samples of the Hammond organ that were part of the backing tracks found on many of the soul- and R&B-oriented Optigan discs. The European distributor of the Optigan used Alan Steward's album for promotion and in-store demos.
Steve Hackett has also frequently used the Optigan. Hackett's 1980 album, Defector, features an unusual number called "Sentimental Institution", recorded with a solo Optigan spinning the "Big Band Beat" disc behind singer Peter Hicks' vocals. Hackett made use of all five of that disc's vamps and its ending; that particular disc featured no percussion tracks. On his (2001), featuring a performance from 1979, he plays a surrealistically silly interlude on the instrument (introducing it as "the most tasteless thing I could possibly do"). His 2003 release, To Watch the Storms, features sonically expanded samples of the Opsonar "Champagne Music" disc on the track "Circus of Becoming".
Film director and sound designer David Lynch sampled "Big Band Beat" as part of his soundscape The Air is On Fire, produced as ambience for a 2007 art exhibition. He reused the song, redubbed "Slow 30s Room", in the eighth episode of television series Twin Peaks third season, broadcast in June 2017.
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