monome at 20: memories of the grid, in pictures

Kelli Cain and Brian Crabtree are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their monome company and project this week. For anyone moved by their creations over the years, there will be no escape from the feels in this gallery — and, of course, I couldn’t resist adding some extra memories from that era.

Daedelus and Takuma Matsui talk Tinge, a painterly color wheel arpeggiator

There’s no grid, no harsh colors. Tinge swells and sways like a windchime, coming to life in spinning color wheels. It’s probably nothing like any arpeggiator you’ve seen before — or maybe it’s a “note agitator.” Co-creators Daedelus (Alfred Darlington) and Takuma Matsui (Rainbow Circuit) take us inside the process of how they created and thought about this new generative, responsive, playable melodic delight.

Peter Kirn - September 13, 2025

Delaydelus 2 is a patchable sampler/delay from Daedelus, Dr. Bleep

Delaydelus 2 is a devilishly clever box that’s really two devices in one – it’s a sampler, and it’s a pitch-able delay with feedback. And the whole thing is patchable. Meet the latest from Daedelus and Dr. Bleep.

Peter Kirn - June 21, 2019