Nashville Omnichord Supply Co.'s Ross Collier
Editor’s note: In our occasional series we call Gearing Up, we profile some of the people around town who make, repair or sell the instruments and other equipment that musicians use. Check out our previous installments on Hi Tech Service; Paradise MIDI; luthiers Marty Lanham and Manuel Delgado and vintage drum dealer Bryson Nelson; and RudeTech.
Never heard of a Suzuki Omnichord? No problem. Novice or expert, Ross Collier has got you. The multi-instrumentalist who sometimes turns local punk-folk trio Styrofoam Winos into a quartet is so enamored with the instrument that he’s built a small business around it: Nashville Omnichord Supply Co. in Madison.
When Collier Zooms with me to demystify the Omnichord, he explains that in layman’s terms, it’s an electronic autoharp — a unique synthesizer that you play with a combination of buttons and a ribbon controller you can tap or strum. The first model, released in 1981, “seemed to be marketed in the same way a home organ might’ve been,” the 28-year-old musician says. He first heard one in action in 2012 via his friend Zeke Bandy, a native Nashvillian now living in Jackson, Miss. “We were close musical friends, goofing off with whatever gear we could find at the time,” Collier remembers.
The Omnichord had staying power for Collier. “Compositionally, it’s phenomenal,” he says. “You can make chord jumps, experiment with modulations, [create chord] changes you wouldn’t otherwise.” Even if the Omnichord’s plastic sorta-rounded-trapezoid body isn’t familiar to you, you’ve probably heard one. Songs by some high-profile players that include its unique sound are Parquet Courts’ “Before the Water Gets Too High,” Tame Impala’s “Why Won’t They Talk to Me?” and Wilco’s “War on War.” If you’re craving a showcase that puts the Omnichord front-and-center — including the built-in drum machines found on some models — check out Collier and Bandy’s multivolume A Very Omnichord Christmas collection on Bandcamp. Collier also points to producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois as enthusiasts of the instrument in the recording studio.
“You can use it in an ambient way, but can also put a guitar pedal on it and it’ll roll,” says Collier. “Run it through a [Roland] Jazz Chorus, make it a moody indie thing. Or put it through a Marshall and make it a giant wall of distortion. It’s very versatile.”
Collier started Nashville Omnichord Supply on a lark out of a shared workspace off Neely’s Bend Road. Despite insisting he isn’t a gearhead — “It was really just a lot of trial and error, buying broken Omnichords on eBay and fucking around with the insides” — he continued to acquire Omnichords in various states of disrepair, successfully fix them and turn the business into a legit enterprise. As it turns out, he has also been building a museum.
“We salvaged these crazy shelves from a railcar that felt like God descended from the heavens and gave us shelves with the perfect length and width to fit all the Omnichords,” Collier says. “When you are in the shop, you are in the presence of more Omnichords than anywhere else in the world. It’s a little sanctuary.”
A mint-condition Omnichord retails for roughly $600. Collier understands that’s a definite try-before-you-buy-level figure. Committed to keeping his inventory in circulation locally, he encourages curious parties just to check out his website, call him up and book an appointment to come over, nerd out and maybe find a match in his collection. All that said, if you feel that finding a bargain is either a necessity or simply part of the fun, don’t think that there’s no Omnichord out there for you.
“It’s absolutely still possible to happen upon one in good condition in a thrift store or at an estate sale for $50. They are still out there. Do not lose hope!”
