Music tech developer creates world’s “smallest and silliest” MIDI synth
The micro creation was invented by Mitxela, who also builds other miniature music gear
A music technology developer by the name Mitxela (real name Tim Alex Jacobs) has created the world’s “smallest and silliest”, fully functional USB-C MIDI Synth.
The miniature creation is made up of a miniature circuit board, a USB-C connector, and a piezoelectric buzzer, and is around the “size of a raspberry”, according to Music Radar.
Jacobs has been creating miniature music gear since 2015, calling his latest project “the smallest MIDI synth yet”, which is in fully working order and creates sounds as small as it looks.
Read this next: New polyphonic synthesiser allows you to make music from everyday objects
The micro synth began as a mini MIDI synthesiser in 2015 before it became a USB synth admitting he “wasn’t content” with the current design. “I seem to have crafted myself a niche, a very small niche, a micro niche,” he told Music Radar.
“A niche where I build the smallest and worst... whatever," he said. "To be clear, no one is competing with me. No one is vying for the title of the smallest and worst MIDI synthesizer. But that's not going to stop me."
Although the mini synth works, it’s said to be “unpractical” and “pointless”, according to Jacobs, with only one ability - monophonic square wave.
Read this next: KORG launches new translucent "crystal" synthesiser for 20th anniversary
“You might be thinking that this is utterly pointless, and you'd be right," he said. “There is no device we could plug this into that doesn’t already have a speaker.”
He added: “There are no USB-C hosts that couldn’t already run a software synthesiser […] The only thing it can do is a monophonic square wave.”
Check out a video of Mitxela’s miniature MIDI synth in action below.
[Via Music Radar]
Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Assistant Editor, follow her on Twitter