A recent video showcasing a new device called the Minichord has sparked excitement among the music-making community. At first glance, it resembles a pocket-sized version of the Omnichord—a distinctive instrument created by Suzuki in the 1980s. The Omnichord gained fame, in part, thanks to Damon Albarn of Gorillaz, who revealed that one of its presets served as the foundation for their hit song Clint Eastwood.

What’s it all about?

But back to the Minichord and while details are still scarce, it seems to share a similar concept with the Omnichord. It allows users to create instant chords and progressions by pressing single keys. Additionally, a touch-sensitive, comb-like panel to the right of the keys enables the generation of melodic patterns, strums, and arpeggios. Based on the demos in the promotional video, crafting flawless melodic sketches—with every note perfectly in key—appears effortless. This device has the potential to revolutionize rapid music creation, with an intuitive interface that lets your ears guide you instead of requiring extensive knowledge of music theory.

A Unique Sound

While the intuitive functionality of this instrument makes foolproof chord progressions and melodic accompaniment effortless, it’s the ethereal, dream-like sound that has truly captured people’s attention. If the woodland folk and fairies from the bottom of the garden collaborated to create an electronic instrument, it would probably sound like this! Whimsical synth chords blend seamlessly with bell-like melodic tones, delivering a lo-fi nirvana.

According to the video, the Minichord boasts a fully-featured subtractive synthesis engine with 12 user-editable presets. Modifying and saving these presets requires connecting the unit to a dedicated web page via USB—A process that feels fairly antiquated but I guess adds to the old-school aesthetic and charm of this unit. Presets can then be shared with the wider minichord community via the webpage – which is nice.

DIY For Now

Before you get too excited, it’s worth noting that a full production model isn’t available just yet. However, the Minichord is open-source, and for those with the technical know-how and enthusiasm, you can order the necessary parts from the Minichord website and build your own. If you’re handy with a soldering iron and eager for a creative project, you could become an early adopter of this fascinating instrument.

If like most you wont relish such a challenge this project has been entered into this months seed studio monthly campaign. If it wins then there is a chance it could go into production. Judging from the videos comments there is definitely a demand for a unit such as this so if you too would like one of these in your pocket show your support by liking and sharing the video.

If you’re not up for the challenge of building your own, there’s still hope—this project has been entered into this month’s Seeed Studio monthly campaign. If it wins, there’s a chance it could go into production. Judging by the enthusiastic comments on the video, there’s clearly a demand for a device like this. So, if you too would like one of these in your pocket show your support by voting in the campaign as well as liking and sharing the video.

Click here to visit the Minichord site.

Vote here for the minichord in the Seeed Monthly campaign

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