For the final major project of my MA, with the help of some collaborators, I designed and built my own synthesiser - Synthia - that is inspired by the process of play. Synthia is a subtractive synthesiser that uses an EMG detector to read electrical surface conductivity from whatever the electrodes are placed on, which is used to generate pitch and rhythmic triggers. Synthia was built to create a music making experience that focused more upon listening to and shaping new sounds, rather than worrying if something sounds ‘good’ or ‘bad’, as at the end of the day, when your pitches and rhythms are created by a plant or a table, it's less daunting than having to come up with them yourself! The main inspiration and motivation behind this project was to build a toy that would have excited and inspired myself as a child to understand and explore synthesis.
The process of designing and building Synthia relied on much collaboration and reflection - listening to people about their experiences learning music technology (or lack of) and working with them to build an instrument that helps them to explore sounds and feeds into their musical curiosities.
