And didn’t buy a C-Thru when they were still in business?

Well, Lumatone is still in business. $3995 for a keyboard with blinky LEDS. Yes, it does microtonal and other scales.

No updates for 2 years, because apart from Look Mum No Computer, Gieskes, Love Hulten, and a few other folks we have covered here in the past, there has not been any “really unusual” new instruments or controllers released to the public. That we know of. Covid followed by a recession and all that?

Prove me wrong and post something. (Other than the CHOMPI, please.)

neither have i…..and not sure i would want something with hundreds of trimpots on the back…..

https://microtonal.miraheze.org/wiki/Motorola_Scalatron

Microtonal Mathematics by Motorola

Clever and beautifully made. Although I can’t help thinking it would be better if the teeth did not “clunk” quite so loudly when opening and closing.

https://www.engadget.com/love-hulten-voc-25-vocal-synth-with-teeth-202749144.html

https://sensel.com/

First product is (finally!) a 3-axis tablet controller with changeable graphic overlays for various uses. The overlays appear to have buttons/sliders molded into the surface. V nice esp for software use. Output is USB MIDI or good-luck-making-it-work Bluetooth. The control/assignment app only works on Windows 10 and MacOS. Draw your own controller layout if you don’t like what they offer. Can even use it as a typing keyboard.

It doesn’t seem to be heavily promoted or I would have noticed it earlier. So buy one.

(And if you find a USB host converter that will output at least 3 CVs plus a trigger, tell us. The ability to control analog would be a biiig plus. Also beg them to make a bigger control surface.)

Agnew Analog normally focuses on the repair and use of vintage record-cutting lathes. But today, they have a “synthesizer” of a kind, using a wet electro-chemical cell to generate a pitch. He even wrote a “nerd humor” application note.

We've just converted an FDA approved Kegal exercise device into a MIDI instrument. The first prototype of Vagina Chorus by Althea Kanae Rosé, proudly hacked by Don Undeen of Georgetown Maker Hub, with sound by yours truly #vChorus #ableton #cycling74 pic.twitter.com/d0WFp0Uvzq

— Yoko K Sen (@yokoksen) October 27, 2019

Thank/blame Brian Comnes for this one…

Has anyone seen an interesting original idea for controllers recently, or anything else? Drawing a blank, thus no updates….

And sells them on her Etsy. Like Ciat-Lonbarde she is deliberately making PC boards with demented irregular layouts. Cool.

God damn you to hell

Dmitry Morozov (previously) does another crazy thing. “It took 18 months for Morozov to collect all 4.5 liters (almost eight pints) of the blood necessary to power the installation, which went through a preservation process and was diluted to seven liters. When brought into contact with the aluminum and copper in the battery, the electrolytes in the blood generate a small electrical current.”

His website blogs the numerous devices and installations he’s done in recent years, and lists older devices under “Instruments”. He really cranks out the ideas.

Mentioned in an incoherent Matrixsynth post in 2009 and almost ignored since then. As far as we can find, it was made in 1958 and uses twelve Tesla bench audio oscillators to generate an octave (FYI the Tesla company was the largest electronics manufacturer in Czechoslovakia in the Communist era); with unspecified top-octave dividers to do the lower pitches. Might be all-tube as far as we can tell. It appears to have primitive pitch and other controls for each key. Thus is more like an electronic organ with expansions than anything else. “Synthesizer” is really pushing it. Three whole octaves!

Anyone wanting to learn more will have to physically go to the Czech Museum of Music and ask intrusive questions. Only one was built and it’s kept in a sealed glass case.

https://roli.com/products/blocks/seaboard-block

And the worst part: people post it on social media and snipey little nobodies start attacking it for being “too expensive” and “oh I heard the keys were wrong or too close together or something” or “it doesn’t work with suchandsuch gear”, whine whine whine. Have a look at this Facebook thread for a perfect example. (Warning: you must be a member of the “Synthesizers and Drum Machines” FB group to see it.)

Nowhere else online can I find negative comments or reviews of Roli controllers — the tech and music blogs who covered it had good things to say. And NO ONE screamed that $299 was “too expensive”.

Facebook is a haven for petty attacks. For all I know the people on that thread were employed by competitors and being paid to knock down any innovative product. Seen it happen on Wikipedia over and over and Facebook is perfect for this kind of “carpet bombing”.

Clever touch-panel device. Calling it a “synth” is a real stretch as it doesn’t seem to have much/any signal processing capabilities. But just as an alternative controller, it justifies itself.

Of course there’s a Kickstarter.

Keith McMillen is running a Kickstarter for a keyboard controller–that looks amazingly like a Haken keyboard. They even got Jordan Rudess to fiddle with the prototype. Presumably it’s a completely different design.

https://playairjamz.com/

Too big to actually use as a guitar pick. Probably eats batteries.

Remappable keyboards

“Because Fuck You, that’s why. There have been a few proud hardware synths and a plethora of soft synths that can handle alternative tunings. While that’s cool for sequencing, playing in a tuning that doesn’t consist of 12 notes on a keyboard that does sucks.” Has a point although there’s zero tactile feedback.

http://www.engadget.com/2016/06/08/dato-duo-synthesizer/

Inevitably the result of a Kickstarter. Because no corporation has the guts to make such a simple thing.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/datomusic/dato-duo?ref=project_tweet

But I can’t find any proof that it is actually shipping…..
http://www.acpad.com/

Evidently the Zivix “Jamstik” isn’t the big hit they thought it would be, because today old stock is being blown out at 40% off. In case you didn’t see it before, the Jamstik is a “guitar” that was aimed at the iPhone world. I assume they thought only Apple fans would pay $300 for a gizmo that was “useless” without an iPhone or iPad. And has only five frets.

At least, that was how they started out; Android support is being waved around, although not ready yet(?). It has a USB MIDI-data output, so presumably it will work with any desktop or laptop apps capable of accepting generic MIDI controller data. So they claim anyway. Good luck with compatibility issues.

Also, it’s “made in America”. Uh huh, suuuure.