Who said simple couldn’t be fun?
The Bullfrogis an educational modular synth, and we’ll get to the ‘modular’ part in a bit.
“[…]Definitely a change of pace from something like piano lessons!”
Erica Synths
This is really something newit looks like a semi-modular, but it’s not.
You have to patch it to make sounds.
Then there is the ‘envelope,’ which controls the volume of a sound over time.
Erica Synths
Does it appear quickly, like a drum hit or a plucked string?
Fade in, like a violin?
Then there’s the filter, which shaves off high and/or low frequencies.
A young musician making music with a synth.Techivation / Unsplash
These parts must be connectedor patchedtogether for you to hear them.
They can be pre-patched, like in a regular synth.
You are rewarded for putting the cables in the ‘wrong’ holes.
What could be more appealing to a kid?
This means that you could patch anything into anything, and the result may end up interesting.
“This is really something newit looks like a semi-modular, but it’s not.
You have to patch it to make sounds,” electronic music writerPeter Kirn says on his CDM blog.
Even calling those voice cards is a little misleadingit’s almost like a game cartridge for musical connections."
But that’s bread and butter for this kind of thing.
Techivation / Unsplash
Erica Synths has alsopublished a tonof great learning material online.
Theinstruction manualis more of an introduction to synthesis in general.
But what makes it super compelling are those voice cards mentioned by Kirn.
The Bullfrog, which will be available this fallprice yet to be announcedlooks awesome.
It shows that you don’t have to dumb stuff down to appeal to kids.
It also demonstrates that adults might often benefit from something simple yet open.
