Cherry Audio Pentaphonic revives the ultra-rare 1981 Gleeman
Cherry Audio recreates the Gleeman Pentaphonic, a 1981 hybrid polysynth built in fewer than 70 units, as a $59 plugin with up to 16 voices.
Cherry Audio has added one of the rarest synthesizers ever made to its line of emulations: the Gleeman Pentaphonic, a hybrid polysynth released in 1981 and built in fewer than 70 units. The Pentaphonic plugin follows its architecture and adds what the original lacked, from extended polyphony to polyphonic aftertouch.
Who it is for
Players chasing the character of early-1980s polysynths who cannot buy the original (it is practically unobtainable anyway), and DAW users who want an instrument loaded with ready-to-play presets. The built-in sequencer and Parameter Animator will appeal to loop-based writers. Plugins come as AU, VST3 or AAX depending on your host: see our Synth plugins section.
Price
- Pentaphonic: $59 (Cherry Audio list price).
- Demo: free 30-day trial.
- Translucent preset pack: 100 extra sounds, sold separately at $9.99.
- Formats: AU, VST, VST3, AAX and standalone; macOS 10.13 or later (native Apple Silicon), Windows 7 or later, 64-bit, 196 MB of disk space. Activation requires an internet connection.
The plugin is available now: View at Thomann
The original synth
The Pentaphonic was designed in a Mountain View garage by brothers Al and Bob Gleeman, one an engineer, the other a musician. The first unit appeared in 1981. According to the history published by Cherry Audio, the instrument offered:
- 5 voices and 15 DCOs (digitally controlled oscillators, which hold their tuning better than analog VCOs);
- a Curtis CEM 3320 4-pole low-pass filter (24 dB per octave);
- two Intel 80186 processors, a 37-note keyboard, a joystick and a 300-note sequencer;
- a price under $3,000, and about $3,400 for the clear acrylic Clear model (100 memories, 600-note sequencer).
Around thirty black units and fewer than twenty Clears were built before production wound down in the mid-1980s.
What the Cherry Audio version adds
| Item | Gleeman (1981) | Cherry Audio (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Polyphony | 5 voices | 2 to 16 voices, detuned unison, mono mode |
| Oscillators | 3 DCOs per voice | 3 DCOs per voice, pulse-width modulation, sync, noise generator |
| Filter | 4-pole low-pass | 4-pole or 2-pole (12 dB/oct), key tracking |
| Modulation | 1 LFO | 2 LFOs |
| Sequencing | 300-note sequencer | Arpeggiator, 16 × 4 polyphonic step sequencer, Parameter Animator |
| Expression | — | Velocity, channel and polyphonic aftertouch |
| Effects | Computer-tuned DCO chorusing | 22 effects, 5 at once |
More than 375 presets in 14 categories are included, among them the original’s 50 factory patches. Polyphonic aftertouch (pressure measured per note rather than across the whole keyboard) can modulate 14 parameters, provided your controller sends it.
What it competes with
- Arturia Prophet-5 V: an emulation of another polysynth from the same era, also built around a Curtis CEM 3320 filter but with analog VCOs. Sold alone or in V Collection.
- u-he Diva: heavier, CPU-hungry circuit modelling that lets you mix oscillators and filters from several classic synths instead of recreating a single one.
The Pentaphonic stands out for its low price, its polyphonic sequencer and its DCO character, cleaner and more stable than VCOs. Owners of other Cherry Audio emulations will find the same workflow and effects rack; everyone else can decide with the 30-day demo. Find more software recreations in our Vintage emulations section.
