Despite bombing, drone attacks, and sleepless nights, Kyiv continues to support a burgeoning experimentalism in sound, driven by an appetite for noise and engineering. And it’s bringing more people into that community. Here’s a look inside.
First, let’s do some Ukrainian coverage in Ukrainian. Oleksiy H / SITKA just shared a film where he and others in Kyiv talk about why the DIY synth scene matters. (If you’re struggling, Google has you and — there is some English in there, too. But I know we have Ukrainian-speaking readers, so let me not completely take over in English!)
The video comes to us from Kyiv’s NU31 Hackerspace — nu31.space/ https://www.instagram.com/nu31hackerspace/
More artists in this video:
Thanks to folks like Sitka and Sitka Instruments, Kyiv is now ahead of the curve. The box they’re soldering, the upcoming WS-1 Flamingo, is arriving in Ukraine before the rest of the world gets it. It’s a beautiful box: a simple build, USB powered, Arduino for brains, and a really unusual, quirky FM firmware by default — with more firmware to come.
Full description:
WS-1.0 aka Flamingo, a Lo-Fi Programmable DIY Synth Kit.
An easy-to-build kit with all through-hole components – great for beginners. Comes with quirky FM synth firmware. More firmware options are coming, or you can create your own using the Arduino platform and Mozzi library.
Play it standalone using the pitch knob and trigger button, make it drone using a toggle, play or sequence it via MIDI or CV/Gate inputs. Powered by USB for standalone use or by standard Eurorack power when mounted in a rack.
Of course, Sitka can send you the awesome Gravity 6-channel clock and trigger generator. We’ll stay glued here and let you know when this becomes available outside Ukraine.
Oleksiy points us to another project:
I’d also like to give shout out to Konstantin Poveda from Crazy Chicken modular, who’s also a resident of NU31 hackerspace and also conducts kickass diy synth workshops. For example, this drone synth:
And there’s more action coming out of the Kyiv DIY scene, too. The talented Kaximia has become a familiar face, explaining the basics of soldering and synthesis and demoing all the latest-and-greatest modules from Ukrainian maker Happy Nerding and other modules.
Crucially, Kaximia is also producing features in Ukrainian alongside English ones. (Hey, it’s a chance to listen in Ukrainian. Just last week I was having conversations with friends about the importance of them working natively in Arabic.)
Kaximia is also making some gorgeous music, so let’s actually start with that:
Most recently, Kaximia teamed up with Tembra Modular to do a full DIY series —
• DUAL SEQUENCER
• DUAL OSCILLATOR
• DUAL ENVELOPE
• DUAL FILTER
— see also her just-released Ukrainian-language walkthrough of the dual oscillator.
Let’s finish on a banging note, though — that’s great how the Happy Nerding VCF sounds in the demo.
(Or try this nice explanation of clock divisions!)
Plus, they’re doing workshops. Also at NU31, Kaximia and Yehor, the developer of Kyiv-based Tembra Modular modules, have been offering up recent sessions. Tembra’s modules will become available soon to international customers, so if you can’t get to Kyiv, we’ll have details on that soon.
Stay tuned, as I’ll be watching all these projects and how the Kyiv hackerspace grows — and hopefully this spreads elsewhere across Ukraine, too.
I can think of no better time to run this story, too. Just days ago, Ukraine was hit by massive blackouts as Russian airstrikes targeted the country’s energy infrastructure. That raises fears of a harsh winter ahead — one that can literally leave our friends in the cold and dark; see this story just yesterday from Kyiv Independent:
Ukrainians brace for another harsh winter as blackout fears return
But these projects are a chance to restore some personal power and keep building and literally making noise. So all the best to our colleagues on this one — and I hope that we can link up communities as they progress, including Ukrainian diaspora and refugees.