A hackable, playable drum synth not afraid to sound digital: count us in.
If you liked last week’s Dam-Drum 2.0, here’s yet another grungy beauty with four triggers and knobs. The frauAngelico also features nicely-low-fidelity drum samples, performance controls, and a built-in sequencer, just like Dam-Drum 2.0. It has some tricks up its own sleeve, though, with built-in MIDI capabilities (promised for a future drum synth from Bleep), some very cool effects and performance controls, and an open source, Arduino-derived foundation for easy hacking.
(The software is open source, as is the Arduino-style basis; the hardware itself appears not to be documented to the extent that it’s open source.)
The frauAngelico is packed with features, and it’s a bargain at €80 (kit) or €130 (assembled). In fact, to me, the only real flaw in this sort of design is that it does make for something a bit fragile – maybe it needs a carry-case, if someone wants to get on that.
- 6-voice polyphonic sample playback.
- Eight sounds.
- MIDI, sequencer triggering.
- Adjust loop length, shift speed, start, cut – up to “microsample”-short sample playback.
- Effects: bitCrusher, pitchDown, softVolume
- Sample rate knob.
- Step sequencer with record feature, tap tempo, pattern length and shuffle.
- Performance controls for the sequencer: jump, mute, preset storage, 32-step storage.
- Metronome
- Samples from the TR-808, 8-BIT, BASIC.
- MIDI input. (A special cable can provide thru.)
- Handmade silk-screened box, and inside a poster with instructions, and badge.
Video demo shows what’s up:
frauAngelico demo from standuino on Vimeo.
The instrument comes as part of the Standuino project, the team that has been inspired by Czech innovator Standa Filip, and the mission of spreading his ideas in this post-Cold War world. We hope to see them on tour soon and find out more about their latest.
More good times — SoundCloud samples, and a music video that makes me want to get a battery-powered rig ready for the summer:
Láčes u rybníka from standuino on Vimeo.