Moon Germs Synth Produces Awesome Sound, Won’t Get You Sick!
As Kenneth Marut describes it, he’s created “A one-handed portable synthesizer from the future.” Given its beautiful cyberpunk-esque…
As Kenneth Marut describes it, he’s created “a one-handed portable synthesizer from the future.” Given its beautiful cyberpunk-esque yellow and gray design, plus 8x8 LED matrix that displays sound information, it’s hard to disagree.
Besides looking awesome, the theremin-like device is meant to be an approachable intro to the world of digital sound synthesis, featuring only for discreet buttons and a pair of analog inputs. The first button activates the two oscillators, while the second button cycles through four preset waveform banks with a corresponding animation displaying on the LED matrix. Octaves can then be shifted with the other two buttons on top, while the analog input on the bottom controls a detune function to change the output from one of the oscillators. Frequency is varied by a sensor on the front which detects how far the musician’s hand (or another object) is from it.
Moon Germs is powered by a Teensy 3.2 board, along with a corresponding audio shield. A desktop app is also available for more advanced audio adjustment, and it’s able to work with the device in real-time.
Whether you’d like to get into electronic music, or just want a cool droning gadget that looks straight out of Snow Crash, this appears to be an excellent platform. If you’d like to build your own, files are available on GitHub.
Engineer, maker of random contraptions, love learning about tech. Write for various publications, including Hackster!