Newsletter October 2026
I think this month it's a case of quality over quantity. The stories that really stirred me include the world tour of game music played by a 25-piece orchestra, a deep dive into drone music, an intriguing touch-sensitive synth that has been released for free and can be built for very little, a walkaround and interviews at Synthfest 2026 and some amazing sounds from a room strung with string and paper cups.
If, like me, you're a big fan of the musical box, there are a couple of treats this month. Ben has an even deeper review of the Murobox and in an unexpected twist, I noticed that the merch for an 8-bit symphony-style series of concerts includes a musical box which plays a theme from Undertale. The Undertale concert tour is itself a remarkable achievement.
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So without further ado, read on for more musical news, views, reviews and nonsense.
Contents
My world
New phase of MIDI IN
The big news as far as my own life is concerned is a realisation that my chosen career path has become more challenging and that a change of direction is needed.
I've sketched out some new plans and launching a Patreon page has been one of the steps.
The most important parts of this aren't financial but having a place where I can reveal more about what I'm doing and receive encouragement, feedback and input from those who want to buy into that, while still revealing new things to the public.
Another important aspect of the Patreon page is the distribution of this newsletter. I was surprised and very happy that the newsletter appears at the top of the list of things that people hope to get out of joining. Indeed, sending by Mailchimp isn't sustainable because of their ridiculous costs as the mailing list grows. Patreon will allow people to join for free and be notified about the newsletter and other things. In time I can dispense with Mailchimp.
I'm linking to the public video in which I talk about the challenges I've faced and the new plans.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUfTq0EyLJM
Music for falling asleep: The seventh planet
The new plans also include a return to something that I used to do much more regularly which is music-making.
This latest piece is part of my 'falling asleep' series, which I hope to eventually build into an album. I chose not to name this planet. The giggly schoolgirls and schoolboys within us know very well what it's called.
I'll shortly make a behind-the-scenes breakdown of the track for patrons to demonstrate the instruments I used and the choices I made.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBQTWaac9Mk
MIDI Inbox
1960s Farfisa Compact organ
Emma has taken on the repair of this Farfisa Compact Organ.
It was designed to be light and portable for gigging musicians but is probably not light or portable by today's standards.
Emma had to hone her electronic repair skills and we learn together about the way this machine is built.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJLUQTjURv4
The Stylophone DS-2
"You can make drones on any instrument, all you've got to do is hold down a note and believe in yourself", says William.
He took the proffered Stylophone DS-2 intending to use it for anything but drones but a large portion of this video is about his journey along the Dunning Kruger curve as he understands and embraces this "whole new world of music".
www.youtube.com/watch?v=risslkGqfX4
Drum Machina Go! as a new music tool for the Game Boy
Drum Machina Go! is a new music creation tool for the Game Boy. It combines a step sequencer with effects, filters and more.
Its secret weapon is the 'mangling mode' which allows you to mash your patterns into new rhythms and melodies.
You can download this now for free and run it on an emulator or a real Game Boy with flash cart. You can link it to another Game Boy or other hardware with a custom cable.
hackaday.com...a-new-music-tool-for-the-game-boy
DIY budget polyphonic synthesizer : the TYPE-2
Is the coolest thing about this synth the interface / layout or is it the fact that the developer has released it for free?
You can build it at minimal cost and (it's claimed) minimal difficulty. You can choose between making it on a breadboard or using the supplied gerbers for a studio-ready instrument.
It has audio and USB out.
www.instructables.com...Polyphonic-Synthesizer-the-TYPE-2
DSP Bricks Optigan plugin to spice up your track
Earlier in the year we learned that the Optigan discs are being manufactured and there's a modern device that can play them.
The original organ used optical discs with recordings of music in various styles.
There's now a plugin which works standalone or with your DAW. It contains all 40 original discs and some unreleased prototype discs in all their scratchy lofi glory.
My main link goes to a demonstration of using this plugin to spice up a 'boring' track. Along the way we get a chance to hear a few of the discs and how they sound when incorporated into your work-in-progress track.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FBTOeQ_gXo
SynthFest 2026
Robin interviewed some of the exhibitors and their weird and wonderful creations at SynthFest 2026 in Sheffield on 24 October.
The interviews are separate videos in this playlist, which starts with his walkaround.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dXj2ehoDW0&list=PLbEqJMI0POEA
Pink Trombone
I'm grateful to Kevin for posting about this because I hadn't seen it either.
He said "I really don't know what I was expecting when I clicked on the site called "pink trombone". But I'm pretty sure it wasn't this..."
One commenter said "I once ran a workshop in a class with 8 people on iPads playing Pink Trombone at the same time - glorious, hilarious cacophony."
dood.al/pinktrombone/
FoMni for the M-VAVE FM-1
The M-VAVE FM-1 has been getting a lot of attention since it's so reasonably-priced and flexible. There are many alternative firmwares (is that the correct plural?) including FoMni by charlesvestal which turns it into a chord harp inspired by the Suzuki Omnichord.
github.com/charlesvestal/fm1-fomni
Sound chips and retrocomputing
Undertale The Determination Symphony World Tour
Undertale is an award-winning and popular RPG from 2015 with 8-bit style graphics and sound.
The game and the music were developed by Toby Fox with help from others on the artwork and characters.
The music, which he composed first, led led the style of each scene.
Anyone who saw the 8-bit symphony in Hull will recognise the format of 8-bit music performed as a live orchestral concert. It's a difficult thing to pull off and perhaps the fact that this is a world tour with a large number of dates speaks to the popularity of Undertale and its music. Each concert engages a local 25-piece orchestra.
Concerts that have already taken place have been sold out.
My main link goes to a news site because it contains plenty of information. The official website for information, merch and tickets is here.
thegauntlet.ca/25-piece-orchestra-brings-indie-video-game-soundtrack...
I made REAL PlayStation music.
The PS1/PSX (or just PlayStation as it was at the time!) bridges two worlds. It is capable of playing back any recorded audio from the game CD and it also has its own sample-based soundchip.
SoundFontGuy has made an album of music inspired by JRPGs of the 90s and 2000s, using contemporary tools and recorded from a real Playstation. It's available on Bandcamp and streaming platforms as well as in PSF format for playing back using various PSF players.
In this video he explains the why and the how.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1rn0YP3OLU
Amiga Sonic finally has sound
One of the most exciting things happening in the Amiga world recently is reassembler's port of Sonic the Hedgehog to the Amiga. They're both 68000-based machines but otherwise the hardware differs considerably, leading to a lot of conversion and optimisation work.
In this fascinating video, he talks about converting the game's 9-channel FM-synthesis music to the Amiga's MOD format which allows four voices of sample playback, with some limitations on those samples. He's used a lot of clever tricks and in fact has almost squeezed the music into just 3 channels so that the fourth can be used for sound effects.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6cRy8RoZsk
Turning a Game Boy Advance into a CV controlled Eurorack voice
In this video, Andy is using a custom cable to connect a Game Boy Advance (technically an Analogue Pocket acting as a GBA) to a Eurorack modular synth.
The Game Boy's internal Programmable Sound Generator (PSG) registers are mapped to modular control voltages (1v/oct pitch, gates and modulation CV).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hya3-_Gx0ko
Products and reviews
Fluxophone (or Electroacoustic Feedback Generator)
Simon has finished his latest crazy creation, the Fluxophone. It consists of a transducer and a piezo which can be used in many different ways.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh4_jXMiESE
Building DataPoint's guitar to MIDI
Thanks to zurowetz for testing this simple and cheap device which does a difficult job quite well, as long as you want to play single notes. The latency is lower than I was expecting.
He tried a microphone, bass guitar and a 6-string guitar with mixed results. As the name of the device suggests, the guitar worked best of all. Overall he found it fun.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTfa2EdQHqE
Traditional and acoustic instruments
Weird Motorised Instrument
This instrument is made almost entirely from found objects including an electric motor.
Aaron has made this track entirely from sounds produced by the instrument. I love the device and I love the track.
The video description contains some details about the instrument and a Q&A. He hopes to release a free sample pack of the sounds.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeNRZd7d1kc
But is it art...?
Development of the TYPE-2
Earlier on in this issue I mentioned the TYPE-2 which is an open-source touch-sensitive synth.
popi1854 has run with the idea and added a 3D-printed case, speaker/amplifier with bakelite-radio aesthetic, power LED and these copper studs which are plumbing supplies.
I've done my best to make a link directly to the "I made this" part of the Instructables page, where you can click the thumbnail for details.
www.instructables.com/DIY-35-Polyphonic-Synthesizer-the-TYPE-2
Stringraphy: how silk strings and paper cups turn a room into an instrument
David visited Stringraphy in Japan which is both a room strung with string and paper cups and an ensemble of musicians skilled in playing the instrument.
They can coax many different sounds out of the strings and make beautiful music. It really has to be heard to be appreciated.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cclo3EIVDpo
All that remains is for me to thank everyone who blogs, vlogs, writes articles or posts pictures on the subjects I'm excited by.
Nor can I do the things I do without your support, so thank you for that.
If you're on the email list then please forward this to anyone who may be interested. If you've received this email from a friend, then please consider joining the list, the sign-up form is below.
It's always good to hear from readers for any reason and I'd particularly like tip-offs about about any relevant stories, video, websites or social media accounts that I should be following.
Happy music-making!
Shiela Dixon - Editor / curator
shiela@peacockmedia.software
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