LittleBits Synth Kit
LittleBits Synth Kit
Embedded Files
By: Graham Mellon
A Spark of Inspiration!
A Spark of Inspiration!
Initially, I was incredibly intrigued by littleBits. Their light, flexible structure seemed easy for me to constantly adapt and change. In search of what to do with them, I viewed the book that gave me the synthesizer idea. Known as Make: Getting Started with littleBits, the book provided the idea of making a synthesizer. To anyone who's interested in littleBits but might not know where to start, I cannot recommend this book enough.
I am a huge fan of the synth-pop genre of music, and I love the inclusion of synths in the rock, indie, and pop music that I listen to. I love the idea of experimenting with them myself. However, analog synths (pictured left) are large. expensive, and require expertise beyond a book and the internet. This serves as a perfect pre-cursor, a "Baby's First Synthesizer". littleBits understands this appealing premise, marketing the synth kit as flexible and a good first step for interested youth such as myself.
Play Time!
Day I
Day I
I started out very small: with a battery, a connector, and a microsequencer! At first, I had no idea what I was doing, but littleBits are simple to figure out and change.
Day I, Part 2
Day I, Part 2
Adding a keyboard and a speaker enabled me to finally make sound! I learned that setting the "feedback" dial on the filter to its lowest setting allows for cleaner tones. This is still quite basic, however.
IMG_5842.MOVDay II
Day II
I began to experiment with the oscillator. Introducing two oscillators and raising the pitch of one while lowering another leads to a peculiar contrast.
IMG_5840.MOVDay II, Part 2
Day II, Part 2
I re-added a microsequencer and began experimenting with it. Microsequencers provide the rhythm of the synth kit, and they allow me to take my hands off of the keys on the keyboard.
IMG_5867.MOVDay III
Day III
I added a pulse to the end of the synth. This allowed me to control the speed of the rhythm, and upon fiddling with it I created an EDM-sounding beat drop.
IMG_5866.MOVDay IV
Day IV
Finally, I used all I learned from the previous few days, combining the pulse, microsequencer, and oscillators until I found an intriguing sound.
Review
Review
The littleBit SynthKit is a wonderful (if a bit limited) introduction to synthesizers. Complete with a speaker, a keyboard, oscillators, random modules, and instructions to figure out how to use it all, the SynthKit should keep you busy for a long time. Next, I would connect my synthesizer to a guitar and make a fully functional key-tar.
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