A short history of the Omnichord
The Omnichord is an electronic instrument made by the Japanese company Suzuki. The idea is simple: press a chord button with one hand, sweep the other across a touch-sensitive strip, and the chord ripples out like a harp. You don't need to read music or learn finger positions to sound good.
1981: the OM-27
The first Omnichord, the OM-27, arrived in 1981. It had 27 chord buttons, covering major, minor, and 7th chords in nine keys, plus a touch strip Suzuki called the Sonic Strings and a simple drum machine. It was pitched as an easy instrument for home players, a kind of electronic autoharp.
1984: the OM-36 and OM-84
In 1984 Suzuki released two new models, the OM-36 and the deluxe OM-84. Both had three rows of soft rubber buttons covering all twelve keys, arranged around the circle of fifths from D♭ to F♯. Pressing two or three buttons together unlocked major 7th, minor 7th, augmented, and diminished chords, for 84 chords in all. With its color-coded controls and warm analog sound, the OM-84 became one of the most popular Omnichords ever made.
Later models
Through the late 1980s and 1990s Suzuki kept refining the design with the OM-100 and OM-200M, then the OM-150 and OM-250M, and finally the OM-300 in 1996. These moved from analog circuits to sampled sounds and added extras like more strum plate voices and a chord sequencer. The classic line ended with the OM-300, and Suzuki followed it with a related instrument, the Q-Chord, in 1999.
A cult following
Once production stopped, the Omnichord's dreamy, slightly lo-fi sound found a second life. Artists including Eurythmics, Björk, and David Bowie used one, and Damon Albarn is reported to have used an Omnichord preset on the Gorillaz song "Clint Eastwood." Secondhand prices climbed as more musicians went looking for their own.
2024: the OM-108
Suzuki brought the Omnichord back in 2024 with the OM-108. It keeps the familiar button grid and strum plate, recreates the classic OM-84 sounds with analog circuits, and adds sus4 and add9 chords for 108 in total. It also adds a keyboard mode for playing melodies, new voices and rhythms, and MIDI out.
Try one in your browser
Llamachord is a free, independent instrument inspired by the Omnichord. It runs in any browser, on your phone or computer, with nothing to install.