Hyve Touch Synthesizer Hands-On Demo

Designer Skot Wiedmann shared this video, that captures synthesist Jake Metz, exploring Wiedmann’s Hyve Touch Synthesizer.

The Hyve Touch Synthesizer is a polyphonic analog instrument with 3 axis touch control.

Details are to come, but the Hyve has previously been introduced at DIY workshops, where you could build your own instrument for US $40.

via Edmund Eagan

16 thoughts on “Hyve Touch Synthesizer Hands-On Demo

  1. “…previously been introduced at DIY workshops, where you could build your own instrument for US $40.”

    $40??? Okay, sold. I’ll take 12! 😉

        1. To be fair – this is clearly prefaced (both in the title of the video and in the first sentence spoken) as an “exploration” (specifically of “the timbre of sound”) vs any sort of musical construction or even improvisation. There are plenty of classically (as well as self) trained musicians in our town (largely via the University) who could doubtlessly do something that would traditionally be considered “musical” much better than myself (and may yet in a future video!), but I believe Skot chose to use the video captured during our informal hang out (I had missed checking out the Hyve at a mini-festival we were both part of a few weeks ago) to showcase a different side of the Hyve that was evoked when I saw/played with it for the first time. I suppose I could have spent the whole time with it trying to play “musical songs” but that’s not what initially struck me about the Hyve, and I doubt that it’s what I would personally reach for when I want to play a melody or chord progression (though the isomorphic layout on top was new to me and certainly a fun way to move around scales).

          The notion that only a narrow set of sound (“music” in this case – though of course the definition thereof ranges pretty widely depending on who’s talking) can be interesting or valuable seems arbitrary and close-minded. Of course music (as characterized by rhythm, melody, harmony, form etc) is one of the most valuable human constructs to convey emotion, but I think there’s some room on the fringes (biophony, anthrophony, geophony, and even the translations of other periodic signals to sound – hey, space sounds!) to take inspiration from and explore the range of auditory sensation 😉

  2. If that thing could be built for $40, I would definitely add that to my teetering tower of toys.

    I’d rather just watch a video showing what it does and how it works. The format of that particular unveiling didn’t really grab my attention until the last 8 seconds.

    1. This has been discussed elsewhere, but long story short, it isn’t really possible.

      Each key has 2 or 3 parameters that touch controls and it is polyphonic.

      So 400 something cv outs……

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