Keep going, and eventually, something you like might happen.
That’s kind of the idea behindCritter and Guitari’s 201 synth.
Simple Fun
The 201 has no screen, no menus, and nothing to confuse you.
Critter & Guitari
And up top, it has five knobs.
The first and last are for metronome speed and volume, and the rest are for tweaking the sounds.
And that’s about it.
Critter & Guitari
We typically say that we “play” an instrument, and that’s an excellent description here.
it’s possible for you to’t surf the presets for half an hour because there is no preset menu.
Instead, you tweak the knobs to find a sound you like, sculpting it yourself by ear.
Some will find this freeform nature intimidating, potentially because they’re used to the crutches of the computer.
Others will find it liberating, perhaps for similar reasons.
That’s not to say it’s perfect.
Those keys look really annoying to use, and aesthetically the wood could be polarizing.
I really don’t like it in this case.
And that means that it can be hacked.
And, in fact, its designed for this.
Play
Some of the best electronic instruments encourage play.
It also has many more sounds, sequencers, and effects, but is really built for playful experimentation.
