Napkeychord from Napkey Instruments
An Omnichord in essence.
On Kickstarter. Already funded. Also in black.
( thread )
Tape! from Bedtime Company
A digital hardware version of a four track tape recorder / looper.
Preview on Kickstarter, launching soon.
( thread )
Again, successful for Kickstarter means campaign successful funded, NOTHING MORE. Kickstarter does not give a damn after that. It has been been that way for 15+ years I am not sure why people here are still confused about the meaning of “successful” on that platform.
Just a reminder that people are gullible, but not stupid. Or maybe vice versa, I don’t think it really matters because the people won in this battle of wits.
A little bit of an “old news” kind of thing, but in the wake of so many people feeling the burn from various “manufacturers”, it’s nice to know that there is still some hope for humanity and crowdfunding after all.
This is apparently not a joke [Audioweld Synthwatch] - The Lounge / Other Gear - Elektronauts
Audioweld® Synthwatch® world’s first wristwatch synthesizer by Audioweld — Kickstarter (closed)
I’m personally much more interested in seeing the Moog Patch watch born into reality.
But that’s a fairy tale for another day, boys and girls.
SPOKE is a simplified capacitive touch sensor board for interactive computer interfacing. Spoke aims to be the next generation of touchboard controllers, making it easier than ever to create touch-based interfaces for computer interaction. SPOKE will be able to use almost any conductive object or material to control almost any type of computer input! From music making, video game controlling, text-typing, mouse moving, software controlling and probably more we haven’t thought of yet.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tomfox/spoke-touch-sensing-made-simple/description
Visually, that’s such an uncanny valley of plastic. I can’t decide by looks if it’s incredibly luxurious or cheap. Do you have one on the way? Please report back.
I feel bad for them. I imagine this was a wide open, even exciting direction to be slogging towards before Roland did the J-6 out of nowhere. That must have sapped a lot of motivation. Good for them getting it over the finish line.
Nope, I was looking for a self-contained arpeggiator unit like 8 years ago and came across this. I’m kinda shocked that it actually came out, they really did not seem to be very reliable with updates on the project and after a while it sure looked abandoned, but it seems as though they made good on all of the features that they promised (and then some).
At this point in time all of that hollow plastic seems kinda like a critter and guitari answering machine or something along those lines so not exactly sure what to think of it. I’ve probably bought so much gear since then which can do similar stuff that I don’t know if this is for me anymore, but I still like the concept behind it.
A two op FM polyphonic 8 voice synth. Knob per function in a compact design – simple to use but still giving a good range of sounds. Here is a block diagram of the sound generator.
And the KS video.
They completed successfully their earlier crowdfund of The Swarm ( post up thread ).
Seems very likely this one is also Ksoloti based though they aren’t calling that out anywhere i can find. They have a very low funding threshold so looks likely this will fund.
Not earth shattering, but should be attractive with the feature set and the price to a certain group of users.
In a what is likely a strange coincidence there is a separate company Artium Technologies that makes an expensive scientific instrument called a Phased Doppler Interferometer.
Ksoloti based. Honestly, combined with Swarm this is a lot of sound and functionality for a small bugdet. I went for Ksoloti Gills and super happy about that decision!
Open Source Platform
Artium desktop synths use an open source platform known as Axoloti or Ksoloti for development and implementation of its products. Click here for details on the open source platform being used
Saw that but think that was on their website before the Doppler was announced, hence the qualified presumption.
I really like the way Artium configures their synths. The pieces fit together so well.
One encoder with push button, plus another button, and built in LFO.
I thought it might have other controllers like the old Palette Gear, with the magnet and pogo pin connectors, but this is it. Choice of one color only LED color.
It is inexpensive. Not yet funded.
On the plus side, they’ve kept the project simple, and achievable.
This is awesome, I’d definitely get one if I could afford it. Only 8 hours left.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dogpaw/dog-paw/description
Granio
We’re Hervè & Giacomo, founders of AGO and creators of GRANIO, a portal into an uncharted universe of sonic possibilities, designed with a sci-fi aesthetic at its core. Navigate effortlessly with a smooth, ultra responsive joystick, capture and manipulate sounds in real time with the built-in microphone, and unleash your creativity with powerful instruments, versatile sequencers, and onboard speaker. Crafted by producers, musicians, and engineers, GRANIO is for everyone, and much more than just a sampler. It’s a journey that blends intuitiveness, fun, and innovation. We want everyone who uses GRANIO to feel like a kid, with the capabilities of a professional-grade device; because, in the end, rediscovering the child within is the true key to unlocking creativity.
This one looks fun. I like the form factor a lot. Funding is not going very well so far
I just stumbled across this 
the audio examples on their Instagram sound pretty nice. the specsheet ticks a lot of my boxes too. throwing down 850+vat for a Kickstarter is a risk tho. only 100 euro discount for backers. must say I love the look of this but I reckon I’d be waiting till post-kickstarter myself. I wish them the best with it.
their second bullet point on the feature list is “ever expanding firmware.” are there people out there that look at that and see that as a positive and not a clearly veiled way to say “the firmware isnt at 1.0 yet”
its like you dont hear nice people talk about how nice they are, it is just obvious because they are nice. i wouldnt promise tons of firmware updates on a kickstarter begging page, its a weird feature
Yeah this is something that puzzles me a bit with the hardware + software consumer culture in the last decade or so, most people seem to really expect a lot of frequent updates and if the devs aren’t providing that then that’s automatically a negative.
Dev support post-release is a good thing, unforseen issues and opportunities for new features are inevitable. But it’s something that should hopefully and ideally not be needed if they’re aiming to release a finished product…
I don’t particularly want to see ‘Early Access’ spread to hardware, the Torso S-4 is an example of this.
i think the biggest problem is devs see a few really stellar and overachieving devs succeed in this area and then assume that they can do it too. then it takes them six months to patch a firmware filled with bugs and they gulp and pull their collar and say “you guys sure love firmware updates right”
On a Kickstarter page, probably not a good way to phrase it. with all the side inferences that get made there, but on the other side there are products that are ever expanding, or at least you hope they are. I think immediately of the 4MS MetaModule, and a similar KS launched product, the Componental Dubby.
Not sure if this product is in that category – modular expandable systems.
This aspect though is a sort of a whipsaw, for KS start ups. You don’t want be perceived as launching a half done product, but you also don’t want be perceived as shipping and then abandoning your product – there have been a few of those on KS as well.
So how best, do you phrase this ?
i think if the track record isnt there, they kinda need to lay out specifically what they will add and when. they’ve already chosen to put their cards on the table by saying the firmware will expand, so they gotta do it for real or not at all. otherwise it comes off as either visionless, hoping the “community” will design it for them or so far away from their vision that it cant be laid out plainly.
As with everything, the only thing needed is to answer “why?” If you aren’t answering why, you’re either signaling or just speaking to hear your own voice.
In this case, rather than saying “ever expanding firmware” they could say:
“Our firmware is built from the ground up with modularity in mind because we know, the moment this thing hits your hands, you’re going to come up with ideas we never dreamed of. And we want to support that boundless creativity however we can!”
Or: “We have a firm vision for 1.0, but our ideas don’t end there. We have three planned updates that, with the support of your backing, we think we can roll out over the next year.”
Just say why. If you don’t, we have to assume what you’re not saying is the most cynical thing (i.e. your code is half-baked and you don’t know what your product should be).
