Tech
Make Your Own Polysynth From Two Hacked Nintendos
“Mr. Touchy” is created from a handheld console and 3D-printed parts.
If your Nintendo obsession has subsided over the last couple of years, it might be time to turn those old gaming devices lying around the house into a crafty handheld synthesizer and drum machine.
Instrument designer Otem Rellik invented Mr. Touchy, a polyphonic synth that lets you combine your dual infatuations with nerdy gaming and electronic music into one super cool device. What makes Mr. Touchy even cooler is that it’s a modifiable instrument that you can make at home: the synth is made from two Nintendo DS screens and 3D-printed parts that you can print yourself using open-source software.
As you can see in the video below, this little polysynth packs quite a punch. It uses the DS screens as sliding controls for different synth voices and a number of knobs to control extra parameters like tuning, oscillation and resonance. It’s the perfect instrument to compose soundtracks for the games you gave up playing years ago. Visit GitHub to access the open-source code and print parts for your own Mr. Thingy here.
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Read more: Listen to a Zelda OST played on an artillery of analog synths
