At the end of our last #synthdiy YouTube video (link in bio), I teased this instrument that we’re working on. It’s inspired by the #trautonium, which means it has floating bars with continuous pitch and volume control. It lets you play expressive emotional melodies. Please subscribe here to stay in the loop, or watch the YouTube video to learn more about the inspirations that led to it. #synthesizers
New YouTube video! I turned my #Otamatone into a #Trautonium !
Has Otamatone science gone too far? Check the link in bio to see our #synthdiy project improving on the Otamatone using a flexure and Hall effect sensors to add volume expression. We also go into some expressive synth history and discuss our personal motivations.
our Bumpy #LinnStrument Surface makes it easier to play by feel instead of by sight. We’ve shipped over 150 surfaces for LinnStrument 128, and preorders are now open for LinnStrumenf 200. Shipping in Feb 2026. Order before Dec 8 for a 15% discount. Link in Bio.
Our tactile #LinnStrument surface makes it easier to play by feel instead of by sight. Each row is shaped like a speed bump that helps you stay on track during glissandi. The grooves are positioned over the center of the note so it’s easy to stay on the semitone.
Here is @flo.tela playing it. He said the surface made it easier to play in tune, for a second he almost thought that the autotune was on.
Roger helped set us up with the same vendor, silicone, pigment, and low friction coating as the factory surface. We also created a black option. A black paint layer is added to the top surface and protected by the urethane coating.
The 128 surface is shipping now at soundwork.shop , the 200 surface will be available in 3-6 months. Please join the waiting list on the website to be notified.
We finished shipping 35/35 Quord preorders! The original lead time estimate was about 3.5 months but it ended up taking 7 months. We worked through polishing some features, adding a band pass filter, and fixing lots of bugs that arose once we started building at (modest) quantities.
We would love to see what you do with your units. Please upload your jams and tag us.
Join the waitlist on the #quord product page to know when units are for sale again. We expect to make a small number of units near team, and also iterate on the design to make production more efficient and bring up a contract manufacturer.
Big thank you to our preorder customers for their support and patience.
Analog design by @decapod_devices
#Quord repair and failure analysis
I wanted to share an anecdote about the type of problems that only crop up when you build more than a handful of units.
So far, I’ve built up 25 Quord PCBs, and recently 3 of those had an issue where the bottom end of the saw/sine LFO was flat. Turns out the gain in one of the buffer stages was a bit too high, causing it to clip.
Here’s a video showing how to repair one of the PCBs by swapping a resistor to reduce the gain of the LFO buffer stage from 4.5 to 4. This tiny 0402 components are very tricky to rework. Next time around I’ll use 0603 by default and only resort to 0402 when necessary.
The music is provided by one of the first customers to receive their Quord! @zut.flux made this with just a Quord and a Planetarium by @neon.egg . They sent this over after just having Quord for one day.
Still churning through preorders and bumping into things like this. Big thank you to the preorder customers for their trust and patience.
6 more #Quord units went out the door today. So far, we are 3 months behind our original ship date of late April. We’ve been working through a crash course in analog circuit design, fixing bugs and polishing features like the pitch sliders and filter resonance. The good news is we’ve locked on a shipping recipe and 30 more circuit boards arrive next week. Thank you for your patience.
Airloom - a drone instrument made from slide flutes and computer fans
For now it’s an experiment. Long term I’d love to make it a DIY kit or maybe even a product. But near term Quord and Wiggler are top priority.
I learned from this video that it really distorts the mics on my phone, maybe the droning notes set up standing waves in the room that get pretty strong. It sounds more lovely without the distortion, will need to work on my filming methods to capture it correctly.
First I called in Pneumaphone, which was occupied, so I changed the name to Pneumatone. Those names had the right etymology but felt frumpy compared to the airy quality of the sound. I love the name Airloom though! Because you use it to “weave” harmonies 😉😉😉
#synthdiy #airloom
#Quord Open Face Jam
I’m learning that working in analog involves a lot of poking at a circuit board and listening. I had to get good at playing Quord without knobs or a front panel.
I’m looking forward to switching back to digital. It provides much faster iteration flexibility that leads to a better product overall, especially for expressive synths.
At least for Quord, analog is somewhat justified because Quord a simple recipe that benefits from high quality ingredients, like a tomato pasta.
In this video the LFO starts as sine>filter then I flip it to saw>mixer bias. A bit of reverb. #synthesizers
Airloom - acoustic instrument experiment with slide flutes and computer fans. (Changed the name away from Pneumatone to compliment the light sound)
I’m sorry that the end of the video ends on a harsh anti resolution. That’s what happened during the take, and let’s just say we’re leaving it in there to represent the fact that the first iteration has some bugs.
The biggest bug is tone instability. You can hear the middle flute give up right at the most satisfying part of the progression. I think it will come down to improving the way the air flows into the flute fipple. It makes me wonder if I should just absorb the flutes into some 3d printed part instead of buying 3x $30 flutes.
Quord and Wiggler are still top of mind but I got distracted for a few days by this. It would be nice is Pneumatone could become a DIY plan that teaches you how to order your own parts.
