Say „Ketron" and you think live one-man-band accompaniment and the solo-performer stage. This Italian company from Ancona, founded in 1981, started out modestly — with a portable organ. But when the organ market collapsed in 1985, Ketron made a bold pivot: instead of chasing the competition, it committed to arranger keyboards with built-in sequencers and automatic accompaniment. That's when the cult Programmer 24 was born, jokingly nicknamed the „Italo Disco Machine" for its distinctive analog bass and drum-machine sound — an instrument that's now a collector's item among vintage-synth enthusiasts.
The real technological leap, though, came with the Audya series. As one of the first manufacturers on the market, Ketron built it around Real Audio Loops technology — streaming professionally recorded, studio-quality loops performed by real musicians, instead of classic MIDI synthesis. As a result, accompaniment styles (from jazz to Balkan and Oriental music) sounded closer to a live band than anything Japanese competitors offered at the time. Today the flagship Event series carries that philosophy forward: thousands of realistic sounds, „full audio" styles, Live FX functions and multi-channel stage outputs, while the compact EVM Plus module lets you take all that technology to a gig without hauling a full-size keyboard.
At Wired Tunes we carry the full Ketron lineup — from sound modules to flagship workstations in the Event and Globe series. It's the choice for solo performers, piano-bar musicians and touring professionals who need the sound of a full rhythm section and orchestra from a single unit — reliable on stage in Rome, Vienna or Warsaw.
KETRON
