Newsletter August 2026
If the three voices and many features of the SID chip seem like overindulgeance then the Commodore Plus/4 can make sweet music in the right hands with just two square-wave channels. If that's still too much for you then Andy Jenkinson has given a talk about how to generate polyphony using a single beeper speaker.
If the theremin is your bag then there's something for all budgets ranging from a very cheap DIY project to a premium product made even more premium in the way that only Love Hulten can.
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So without further ado, read on for more musical news, views and reviews.
Contents
My world
MIDIPan enhancements and purple special edition
MIDIPan has gained extra touch pads, used for starting / stopping the looper. At the end of recording a loop, timing is critical and a touch pad on the surface is important. Previously, the 12 o'clock pad was commandeered for this purpose, reducing the number of notes available.
A less obvious enhancement is that the centre pad is now a separate note. It was tied to one of the others, simply because the capacitive touch chip I use has 12 inputs. Being able to configure the centre pad to be a lower note than the root was a common request.
Achieving both of these goals has involved adding a second capacitive touch chip to the pan. On a whim I made the initial short run of those in purple and I love that look. In this video I discuss all of this and demonstrate the 'special edition' purple (almost all gone, but may return as a regular option).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MU1alV0K7w
Designing a bowed glass sound using the MIDISID control surface
The popularity of the MIDISID control surface took me by surprise. It was a pleasant surprise but it did mean that I was very busy for a few weeks. That storm has now passed and I'm in the happy position of having it as a regular stock item.
I had planned to use it myself to develop new preset sounds for MIDISID's mono modes and here's the start of that process, which also serves as a tutorial, or an introduction to the surface if you haven't seen it before.
I found a nice 'glass armonica' or bowed glass sound while trying to do something else, and here's how it's built up.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeV4wZ3rvQM
MIDI Inbox
The Commodore 64 Synthesiser
Some years ago, Doctor Mix worked with other Youtubers on a project to turn a real Commodore 64 into a synth. Sam (Look Mum No Computer) made a control panel that outputs the control signals as MIDI, and in conjunction with the Cynthcart (software synth for C64) and Mssiah (MIDI interface) Dr Mix had his synth.
In the meantime he has built a wooden enclosure and in this video he builds a nicer one, demonstrates the synth and then demonstrates some vibe coding he's been doing, culminating in an emulator of his setup that you can download for free.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QkRIOt2D3o
Subharchord
Hainbach has visited the Elektro-Akustische Studio at ADK Berlin in order to play a rare electronic instrument.
The Subharchord has a special feature which is a row of subharmonic generators, based on the MEL scale, a series related to the way that we perceive sound.
The device is only partially working but making music from glitchiness is Hainbach's stock in trade.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjuXhhiMUTs
How does a Hammond organ make a sound?
Uri Tuchman has built a beautiful little tonewheel organ. Does it sound nice? No, but along the way he learned (and teaches us) how a tonewheel organ works.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0jEQ5Vdg3E
Esp32Theremin - an easy 2-antenna theremin
This is a theremin that you can build yourself. It uses traditional capacitance-sensing with minimal circuitry. It uses an ESP32's built-in capacitive sensing, which is sensitive enough to detect the short distance between your hand and the antennae.
www.instructables.com...Easy-2-Antenna-Theremin
Let's make a clear retro music sequencer
3DSage has made a sequencer with rudimentary synth within the form factor of a wristwatch.
He's gone for the Y2K transparent aesthetic. Again, it uses an ESP32 and he has learned many interesting things along the way, such as how to make a snap bracelet. The AAA-looking battery is actually a modern rechargeable 3.7V battery.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrWw1gm3UEo
Sound chips and retrocomputing
Album of music played using Commodore Plus/4
The Commodore Plus/4 had very limited sound capability - just two square wave voices.
Anders Persson has written a music player in BASIC with automatic bass and drums playing on one channel based on the notes the musician plays on the other.
boray.bandcamp.com/album/commodore-plus-4-compact-basic-music-player
1-Bit Music on the ZX Spectrum
With a beeper speaker that you can toggle on and off, you can only make single tones, right? And if your CPU is tied up toggling the speaker then the computer can't do anything else at the same time, right?
Andy Jenkinson gave this talk at EMF camp in July in which he explained techniques that can be used to generate multiple tones on such a computer and even get some keyboard input at the same time.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFL1ad90M2k
External MIDI Amiga Synth?
Only 40 years after Aegis Sonix V2 was released, Jeremy has discovered that he can use an external keyboard to play the software synthesiser. Yes, MIDI interfaces have always existed but Sonix didn't document that it could accept keyboard input.
He also connects the Amiga to his modern DAW, again via the MIDI interface. Latency is an issue, but he still manages to produce a groove that has that very distinctive Amiga sound.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw4ePSMKRl8
cozyMIDI v0.9 for Mac Plus
1 Bit Fever Dreams has written a MIDI player for classic Mac Plus with external MIDI module called cozyMIDI. It features this lovely 1-bit rendition of a living room with animated speaker and fishtank, which he drew in Mac Paint.
In another video, recorded during a live stream, he stress tests the playlist function - that's more than four hours of classic MIDI goodness.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCay0zxrqfU
Why the Amiga needed a low pass filter (and why you turn it off)
Amigas have a switchable low-pass filter built in, which makes the music sound less good. Why would they do that?
The answer is more interesting than you'd think and involves aliasing - extra unwanted frequencies introduced if your sample rate is not high enough.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5FD7HeXV1o
Products and reviews
Imago audio player: ethical AI music creation
Imago claims to be an ethical way to make music using AI. The device responds to user input and learns about their preferences to create music without using any scraped data.
www.dezeen.com...imago-audio-player-ai-music
Review and Demo: Lekholm DM48X - digital harmonica
In this video, Liam Ward demonstrates Eric Lehome's DM48X Digital Harmonica.
It's a MIDI controller, it has wireless, it allows bending, key changes and polyphony.
It's expensive but Liam finds it an amazing achievement and is a fan.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vurtE0_XHKk
The Spinner 1: a motor-based instrument prototype
In this video, Rich demonstrates the prototype of his product, the Spinner 1. It produces surprising rhythmic sounds using a pickup on an electric motor spinning a plastic bulb.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu6xjDcQr1s
Performances
Traditional and acoustic instruments
Huaca
This curious contraption is a huaca. It's similar to an ocarina but with multiple chambers. Played to great effect here by Veronika.
www.youtube.com/shorts/7mcSHtHmq4U
The Wayunki: a powerful overtone modulation instrument
The wayunki is a percussive instrument that you can modulate with your mouth. It produces a meditative sound and they're available in major and minor keys.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0VQ9lmjsBA
But is it art...?
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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