Synthesia

The Synthesia platform is a project whose purpose is to create an open analog modeling musical synthesizer – a synthesizer implemented using both analog and digital components that intends to emulate the sounds of traditional analog synthesizers, controllable through Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI).

The synthesizer platform exists upon it’s own standalone hardware, and may be controlled using a variety of existing MIDI-capable instruments, including keyboards, guitars and drums.

Additionally, the unit features it’s own innovative touch-screen interface which intends to provide simple-and-intuitive control of the system, but with an unprecedented ability to customize and control synthesizer parameters and sound generation.

Special attention has been placed upon the usability of the synthesizer, particularly within the realms of it being played by musicians in a live environment.

The unit’s MIDI capabilities also mean that it is easily combined with professional studio equipment and sequencing software such as Cubase VST.

Details on the project are available here. The site is still under construction – but it looks like this could turn into a new open platform for synth development.

A free video game for Mac & Windows, Synthesia, is generating a lot of buzz as a sort of Guitar Hero for keyboard players.

Synthesia loosely follows the Guitar Hero format — music tracks appear visually on screen, and your challenge is to play the correct notes on a keyboard. Unlike Guitar Hero, however, Synthesia actually helps you learn how to play music using a real MIDI keyboard and MIDI song files. Several MIDI songs are included, including popular themes from video games. More are available from various sites on the Internet.

You can practice left-handed and right-handed parts separately and slow songs down if you’re having trouble with particular parts. There’s also a scoring component that judges you on accuracy and speed.

Once you’ve loaded in the MIDI track you want to play, you tell Synthesia which instrument or instruments you want to play, then click on the Play Song button, and the game begins.

The game is actually a bit more Mario Teaches Typing than Guitar Hero, but it’s free and it’s for keyboardist so give it a try and if you like it consider giving the author a bit of PayPal love.