Madkids Empire Is Turning Intimidating Synth Gear Into Pure Play
Most musical instruments communicate one thing very clearly before you even touch them: you have to earn this. The arrangement of knobs, the wall of…
synthesizer
PAC-MAN Shrank Into a Tiny $28 Synthesizer and It Actually Works
Some crossovers make obvious sense. Some don’t. The Otamatone Melody PAC-MAN is the rare kind that manages to be both completely absurd and entirely logical…
Love Hultén Built a Pink Floyd Prism Guitar You Can Actually Play
The equilateral triangle is one of the most psychologically loaded forms in Western visual culture. It appears on currency, on occult diagrams, on the cover…
Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker Co-Designed a Synth So Good It’s Now a Collector’s Item
Transparency in tech has followed the classic arc of any design trend: radical, then referential, then mainstream, then meaningful. Nothing made it radical. Dozens of…
Synth Modular Controller Treats Music Making Like Building with Blocks
Modular synthesis has a split personality. There are racks of patch cables that promise infinite sound design but also scare off newcomers who don’t know…
Korg Phase8 Is a Cyberpunk Kalimba for Producers Who Are Bored of Regular Synths
On first glance, Korg’s Phase8 looks like something Love Hultén might have dreamt up after a late night with a kalimba and a soldering iron….
Dad Built a 4-Step Sequencer Synth Simple Enough for Age 3
A father built a portable synthesizer for his daughter’s third birthday, and the result looks almost too polished to be a first electronics project. It’s…
Someone Built a Working Synth From Cardboard and Walnut Keys
Most synthesizers look and feel like appliances. They’re plastic boxes mass-produced in factories, efficient and functional but utterly lacking in personality or warmth. Pianos and…
Ntron Arcade DIY Project Brings Chiptune Synth and Retro Gaming Together
The fascination with 8-bit games and chiptune music continues to inspire makers who want to create their own tools for both play and artistic expression….
Love Hultén’s Extraterrestrial Guitar Thing Is a Sci-Fi Synth for Sonic Explorers
Experimental musical instruments have always occupied a fascinating space between functional tools and artistic statements, but few creators push this boundary as playfully as Love…
HiChord Pocket Synth Makes Music Creation Effortless
Music creation has always felt like an exclusive club with steep entry requirements, demanding years of practice, expensive equipment, and deep theoretical knowledge just to…
Pocket Scion Pocket-sized Biofeedback Instrument Makes Plants Musical
The world of portable music-making devices has exploded with options over the past few years, from pocket synthesizers to mini drum machines that promise studio-quality…