Its funny....what goes around comes around. Ketron (distributed through Solton) pioneered the arranger...and guess what the format was? Modules.

They were originally designed for Accordionists. Google Disco 64 or Solton Polyvox.

According to the details I can find they came out in the early 80s, however some organ manufactures made similar in the 70s, so I wouldn’t say Solton pioneered them. (Primarily a European idea though)

Bill

Hmm. I've seen some pretty amazing old-tech hardware arrangers too. The MTI Auto-Orchestra and Farfisa 7x (later 7x-II) come to mind. Not sure if these were before or after the Polyvox, but these things were arranger modules in every sense. They were quite expensive in their day, but when you consider that they were replacing paid band members, I guess the economics made sense for some!

How many remember the Roland DISCOVER M module?