At the end of 2023 we ran a contest among community members. The challenge was to design a touch-controlled synth using the Daisy Seed and MPR121 sensor. Here are the final results
WINNERS
Soundscpr by Jon Waterschoot
Jon worked with Plugdata to create a soundscape instrument that has both an input for external recordings and an internal synth voice with built in effects. This is the first iteration on a bigger project Jon is developing. You should definitely check out his Notion page to see the bigger picture.
Modular Touch Synth by Sam Knight
Sam took a super complex challenge on himself - designing a patchable FM synth using touch pads! The instrument incorporates three oscillators that can be patched into each other, an effects chain with chorus and delay as well as a 16 step sequencer. Yep, that makes for quite a UX challenge as well, which he tackled with the switches to shift between editing and playing modes. Check out the video below to see how the instrument operates and download the code to give it a try yourself!
Chord Buffer by Filip Forsström
Filip created an ambient machine, inspired by analog shift registers. Chord Buffer stores the last 8 notes played and triggers them using touch, Midi, or the built in sequencer. There’s also a random pitch slider that will randomize the pitch based on probability. Check out the video performance below - it’s really musical and quite exceptional! Download the code here.
HONORABLY MENTIONED
Dattopan by Alexander Chalikiopoulos
Alexander designed a handpan-inspired instrument. The program is written in Puredata and includes 8 voices with vibrato, a percussive hit and a low pass filter. Check out the project docs and video below.
Bow Box by Holland Sersen
Holland designed a polyphonic violin synth, writing his own custom algorithm using waveguides and modal synthesis to create the voice sound. He also designed a custom interface, inspired by gaming controllers which is super intuitive. Using buttons to trigger the notes, and touch pads to control the note volume. Check out the complete documentation here and the video below.
txtul8er by Erik Baxstrom
Erik modified the Synthux 3X Simple looper to create a granular effects processor that can be sequenced, played, and played back. Based on a multi-tap delay line. Check out the projects docs and video below.
Touch Function Generator by Erez Levanon Erez created a digital function generator that can create all sorts of waveforms in an intuitive manner, using touch pads. Function generators can be used in all sorts of ways. For instance, as waveforms for oscillators generating sound, or as waveforms for LFOs patched into other components such as filters, or as functions for arpeggiators or sequencers. Check out the project docs and video below.
Daisy OmniChord by Daniel Lawler
Daniel designed an Omnichord on the Daisy! Omnichords sound beautiful, and this clone is no exception. It’s built using the DaisySP library, which makes it a great starter project for any beginner out there who might want to get their hands dirty for the first time. Check out the project docs and video below.