Channel Your Inner Replicant with this Tyrell Desktop Synthesizer

Synthesizers and '80s cyberpunk dystopias go together like neon signs and wet streets. The best example of that is probably 1982's Blade Runner. A large part of that film's success was due to the incredible worldbuilding and moody atmosphere. Greek composer Vangelis helped to deepen that atmosphere with a soundtrack that combined musical cues from the film noir genre with contemporary electronic synthesizer tones, evoking imagery of a grimeyfuture. If you found yourself nodding along with this intro paragraph, then you're exactly the type of person that will appreciate John Park's Tyrell Desktop Synthesizer.

In Blade Runner, the iconic replicants were a product developed by Dr. Eldon Tyrell and the Tyrell Corporation. Their headquarters building is a prominent set piece in the film and very distinctive. Park designed the Tyrell Desktop Synthesizer to resemble that building and used its unique form to inspire the control scheme. Copper pads run up the sides of the "building" and the user can interact with those to alter the synthesized tones. The synthesizer code was based on the Eighties Dystopia Python code developed by Tod Kurt, which perfectly encapsulates the cinematic sounds of the decade that spawned Blade Runner.

Park designed and 3D-printed the enclosure as an homage to the Tyrell building. Inside it is an Adafruit QT Py RP2040 and an Adafruit TRRS Jack Breakout Board. The QT Py runs the CircuitPython synthesizer code and audio pumps out through the TRRS (Tip-Ring-Ring-Sleeve) jack. Adhesive copper foil forms the capacitive touch pads. This doesn't require a dedicated capacitive touch module, because the QT Py has enough analog input pins to handle all eight pads. It only needs a few miscellaneous components like resistors and capacitors, and an Adafruit Perma-Proto is a great platform for soldering the circuit.

In theory, playing the Tyrell Desktop Synthesizer is as simple as touching the capacitive copper pads. But the quality of the synthesized music will depend entirely on your talent — don't beat yourself up if you're unable to match the legendary Vangelis.