Synth Design Podcast

Designing over 300 instruments will teach you a thing or two about user experience, interface design and ergonomics. In this interview, Girts Ozolins from Erica Synths, discusses the details that make an electronic instrument interactive and performable.

We talk about the research that goes into synth design - first, figuring out the user experience, and then the electronics to make it work. An approach that helps make design decisions efficiently and professionally.

Instruments we cover include Joystick II, Black Sequencer, Zen Delay and the Fusion Eurorack series. But we also touch on Girts' favourite mouse.

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Designing an open-ended instrument is a complex challenge. Open ended means flexible, and the more flexible an instrument is, the more complex it can become. It's a designer's role to strike the perfect balance. To deliver an inspiring instrument that allows creative expression, and at the same time make it easy enough to learn and memorize.

In this deep dive conversation Sébastien Rochard, senior product manager at Arturia, shares his design process. Analyzing various sketches and prototypes of the Microfreak and Minibrute II, and even revealing a cardboard prototype

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Meng Qi has been designing instruments for over 10 years. In this interview, we discuss the creative process behind the Wing Pinger. Inspired by Rob Hordijk's Blippoo Box, the Wing Pinger opens a world of sound design, performance and composition - exploring the boundaries of filter pinging.

In designing the Wing Pinger, Meng Qi aimed for an intuitive, performative, instrument. The large chickenhead knobs allow for one finger swings that take the sound from beautiful melodies to complete chaos, and the touch keyboard encourages melodic performance.

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Oxi One is an outstanding example of innovation. It is an extensive controller both for midi and analogue devices. What I find most striking is the fact it was envisioned and realized single-handedly by Manuel Vázquez, from his home in Nigrán, Spain. In this extensive interview, Manuel explains the process and challenges both on the technical and conceptual levels. This is how an instrument is realized - from an idea to a Max For Live device all the way to a hyper-successful crowdfunding campaign.

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How do you design an interface for true randomness? How many controls would you offer the user? What constraints should you define? In this conversation with Michelangelo from Clatters Machines, I try to understand the design decisions behind the Garden Listener. A Eurorack synth module that taps into nature, captures data from living beings, and translates it to true generative control voltage.

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Daan is a digital product designer. His dream is to get to MIT and work on world-changing projects. I am his coach, and in this first episode, we're getting to know the challenges he's been going through. 

Getting to MIT, that's the goal. How to get there? We're not sure, but that's what makes this journey so exciting, and interesting to follow! Daan is a former student of mine, and we talk about the challenges a creative might be facing in the process