Synthesist Sam Battle (LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER) shared this preview of a new version of the rare Elektor Formant modular synthesizer that Erica Synths plans to release as a set of DIY projects.
The Elektor Formant is an analog modular synthesizer, designed by C. Chapman, that was published starting in 1977 as a series of articles in the European magazine Elektor.
Erica Synths plans to release the Elektor Formant DIY Kit on August 14th, 2025.
The above video offers an overview of the project, and the following video documents Battle’s 24-hour solder-a-thon with Erica Synths:
Watch the videos and share your thoughts on the project in the comments!
Developer Nick Yulma shared this preview of Bricolo, a mechanical music system that’s designed to let musicians, composers and DJs to incorporate musical robotics into their performance and recording setups.
Here’s what Yulma has to say about it:
“Bricolo emphasizes flexibility, allowing users to experiment with different sounds on the fly and make the physical manipulation of objects part of their performances. It invites digital musicians to look up from their screens and view everything around them as a potential sound to utilize. It encourages playful experimentation with physical materials and translates the control and precision of musical sequencing programs into the world of objects.”
The kit consists of a variety of mechanical modules that you can to acoustic instruments or any physical object. A control box connects these modules to a computer or MIDI instrument, so you can integrate robotically controlled instruments into your system.
The basic set include mechanisms for striking, tapping and shaking objects. The Bricolo “Thing Synth” turns physical objects into tunable oscillators, allowing users to play melodies with them. No custom construction or programming is required, just plug in the modules, attach them to objects and start making music.
Developer Andrew Stroev shared this preview of Synchrotron, a live audio engine built in Python.
“Synchrotron is an audio engine I’ve been building from scratch over the past year,” notes Stroev. “Finally I have something semi-presentable to show the world!”
Synchrotron is all of the following:
