kalimba-like acoustic synthesizer produces sounds by touching, plucking or strumming it

Phase8 kalimba-like acoustic synthesizer by korg

Korg’s phase8 acoustic synthesizer resembles a kalimba with the lifted resonators that users can touch, pluck, strum, and tap to produce sounds. It doubles as an interactive sound sculpture because instead of just tapping buttons and rotating knobs to make music, users physically engage with the device with the tools available to them.

By that it means they can scratch a rock over the resonator or use a pencil as a drumstick, and Korg’s phase8 acoustic synthesizer still produces layered sounds. There’s also a slider that boosts or softens the acoustic response so that the sounds coming out of the device can be modulated when the users touch it.

all images courtesy of Korg

Steel resonators produce sounds by touching them

The brand describes the device as an eight-voice acoustic synthesizer, allowing producers to use envelope shaping, sequencing, analog wavefolding, and pitch-dependent modulation. It even vibrates as users interact with the device, a subtle reference to the kalimba, where players have to thumb through the resonators. In fact, these eight independent electromechanical voices with steel resonators form the heart of Korg’s phase8 acoustic synthesizer.  Alongside, the instrument features 13 chromatically tuned resonators, with 8 of the user’s choice that can be installed at any one time. Using the envelope control, these resonators can produce short or long percussive sounds as well as long, drawn-out sustained notes. 

The design of Korg’s phase8 acoustic synthesizer lets producers easily swap and tune these steel resonators, so they can customize the scale and personality of their device. On the sides, there are MIDI/USB-MIDI and CV that can be used to externally control the knob parameters, and external MIDI devices can also be connected to trigger the notes in Korg’s phase8 acoustic synthesizer. A shift knob is present too, so users can add delayed triggers to the sounds, relative to the selected or matched tempo. The brand adds that all controls on the instrument’s panel are able to be automated over a sequence using the record function.

the steel resonators have different shapes and designs, too

there’s a delay knob to add triggered delays to the sounds

an intuitive sequence supports programmed and live recordings

side profile of the device

users strum, tap, and pluck the resonators to make music, too

project info:

name: phase8 Acoustic Synthesizer

brand: Korg | @korgofficial

The post kalimba-like acoustic synthesizer produces sounds by touching, plucking or strumming it appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.