Dutch startup alter.audio has launched a Kickstarter to fund production of the Timetosser, a new kind of live performance tool that lets you loop and reorder any kind of musical input in real-time.
It can sync to MIDI, tap-tempo or analog gate voltages, and is designed to be used as an interactive performance effect.
Specifications:
- Dimensions: 200mm x 120mm x 25mm
- Weight: 380 grams
- Powder coated aluminum hardtop casing with lasered labels
- 16x full colour LED backlit key switches
- 60 FPS smooth animation feedback CPU
- 180 MHz 32-bit ARM micro controller for real-time audio analysis and smooth visual feedback
- Digital audio: Up to 24-bit / 192 KHz Low noise, high quality codec
- USB connection for use as controller and audio interface
- Dual purpose sync input: Tempo sync to MIDI and analog gear
Video Demo:
Pricing and Availability
Timetosser is being produced via a Kickstarter project and is available to project backers for €295 (about $334 USD).
More studio wizardry in real time !
I see a comment from the staff about thoughts on a video capable version. If that happens, they may define the 20’s.
Is someone going to tell them what the name means in the UK?
Name could do with a rethink. Esp. in UK.
Chrono Wank?
Lol
But “TimeFucker” might get confused with Eventide TimeFactor.
I actually like the name! I am a tosser myself!
What’s this? A stereo desktop effect unit? In [currentYear]? Unbelievable. I love it.
lol – rebrand 😀
it is really cool but a little pricey – I can see it being really fun live since I do a lot of this with audio through ableton and controllers already. for this price point though I would like to have more than just the engine but the quick ability to activate/bypass multiple outs so that you can have a number of inputs to jump to live.
WANK FODDER…ER!
a beat repeater, stutter effect in hardware form? the demos are pretty lame. what can that thing that various plugins and a midi controller can’t do? Rearrange 1/4 to 1/16 stutter loops? the videos are boring and not very meaningful. I would not invest € 400 on something like that. no wonder ritchie hawtin jumps on it. he is master of monotony. lame unit …
Admin: Personal attack deleted.
Keep comments on topic and constructive.
Like Max for Live Buffer Shuffler?
Uhh…What? This already exists. Past 35 years much?
when things don’t make sense to me, i generally assume someone else has a need and intended application for it. but i *really* don’t see how this unit makes sense. in the case of producers working with software. there is no shortage of readily available, cheaper, and more flexible plugins that can do all of this and more. for DJs, most of these functions exist in DJ software, and the Denon players largely have these functions (admittedly, importantly, Pioneer players don’t really). standalone gear doing niche things is always cool and welcome, but I really don’t see how this one adds up. both seemingly too specific and doesn’t do quite enough.
I have been waching this product progress for years as I make live music with midi hardware in realtime without a computer. This “Dawless jamming” segment of the electronic music community is growing fast thanks to the access to cheap devices such as volcas and the like. For myself, something like this allows an approximation of some of the mangling techniques that are now common in DAWs but have relatively few options within the live performance hardware world.
up to now my options have been the KP3 ( which I use but lacks some of the timing nuances here ) and the scatter functions of the boss RC505 ( which again I use but it can only effect the recorded material not the live input )
Naming it something less ideal when it’s not your mother tongue and you don’t fully understand the nuances is… questionable.
People made similar snickering-teenager jokes about the iPad when it was announced. That one did pretty alright with consumers, turns out.
Hm i can do all this on a korg kaoss pad 3 which i can buy used for 150 and have even more control of effect depth.
I think at the price point it would make sense to have different effects available, not just a chopper/stutter/looper. I like those effect but can do it easily with a kaoss pad (as mentioned before), perhaps with a slightly different feel and like 99 more effects. This thing looks like it could be on par with like an Oto Biscuit or something by incorporating a few more effects, albeit minus any knobs. Each bottom row pad could be held while pressing a top row pad (or pads) to trigger other effects like a quick reverb/delay, filter, bit crusher, etc. Why not name it something more like Time Slice or Timechopper (sounds like an 80’s movie about a time traveling helicopter). I don’t want to see it end up a One Trick Time Pony.
We like to think Timetosser is doing things differently than existing gear / software. The focus here lies in the “playability”: you’re not simply enabling a effect, but instead you have full control over how you restructure your beats by playing the unit. There are indeed solutions that offer similar functionality, but they are either non-realtime, in a computer, or don’t offer the same flexibility.
Please check out this video on a better explanation of Timetosser’s functionality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9m9lcoR5e4
Besides the “normal” mode discussed in the video, there will be a looping-mode and a “trick”- mode. There are still under development, videos explaining these modes will follow.