3 ms·

Minichord: A pocket-sized musical instrument

47 points by surprisetalk 9mo ago

Hackbraten 9mo ago
Context: this seems to be an hommage to, or inspired by, the Omnichord. [0] [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnichord https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnichord
- BeniBoy 9mo ago
  I can confirm that it is :) Though I never had one (they are rare in France), it became sort of a pop culture icon. For me it was through the work of Rebecca Sugar on Adventure Time. I always liked to play silly made up songs, so I made a silly instrument to go along with it! If you want to listen to a true musician using it, I recommand Hijaq's work on YouTube[1]. He uses many other pocket instruments if that is an interest of yours! [1]:https://www.youtube.com/@hijaqmusic/videos https://www.youtube.com/@hijaqmusic/videos
tom2948329494 9mo ago
Super cool! I wanted to click on the device buttons on the landing page and expected to get video or sounds. Maybe include the youtube video there?
- HelloUsername 9mo ago
  On the Github link there is a youtube video, if you tap on the first picture. It was posted a year ago too, but no activity: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42250979 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42250979
ApertureAndroid 9mo ago
Wow, this seem great. I know pretty much nothing about making music, but I've wanted something that I can stim with that's nice and tactile, but also makes sound depending on how it's touched. I looked at Glo, The Polyphonic Whale, but never got one. I have an Otamatone, but don't like how I can't do more than one note at the same time (no chording). This plus headphones seems like a fun time!
unwind 9mo ago
Meta: This is a very messy title, it should just be "The minichord: a pocket-sized musical instrument" or something like that. We have the github info in the auto-generated blurb right after the title, after all. Thanks.
dgellow 9mo ago
Beautiful project. I will definitely add that to my collection! Congrats
- dgellow 9mo ago
  Just got it! Looks splendid!
austinjp 9mo ago
Link to video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=66Gu4NNnHgA https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=66Gu4NNnHgA
tianqi 9mo ago
Very interesting! It seems to be a great way to combine chords with scales within chords, something no traditional instrument can do. I see the key positions on the left is similar to a computer keyboard, perhaps it could be directly mapped onto a keyboard? That way it could be played even when without that hardware.
bossyTeacher 9mo ago
I understand that notes are arranged in fifths but why start with f rather than with c? Anyway, amazing product!

47 points by surprisetalk 9mo ago

Context: this seems to be an hommage to, or inspired by, the Omnichord. [0] [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnichord https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnichord

BeniBoy 9mo ago
I can confirm that it is :) Though I never had one (they are rare in France), it became sort of a pop culture icon. For me it was through the work of Rebecca Sugar on Adventure Time. I always liked to play silly made up songs, so I made a silly instrument to go along with it! If you want to listen to a true musician using it, I recommand Hijaq's work on YouTube[1]. He uses many other pocket instruments if that is an interest of yours! [1]:https://www.youtube.com/@hijaqmusic/videos https://www.youtube.com/@hijaqmusic/videos

tom2948329494 9mo ago

Super cool! I wanted to click on the device buttons on the landing page and expected to get video or sounds. Maybe include the youtube video there?

HelloUsername 9mo ago
On the Github link there is a youtube video, if you tap on the first picture. It was posted a year ago too, but no activity: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42250979 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42250979

ApertureAndroid 9mo ago

Wow, this seem great. I know pretty much nothing about making music, but I've wanted something that I can stim with that's nice and tactile, but also makes sound depending on how it's touched. I looked at Glo, The Polyphonic Whale, but never got one. I have an Otamatone, but don't like how I can't do more than one note at the same time (no chording). This plus headphones seems like a fun time!

unwind 9mo ago

Meta: This is a very messy title, it should just be "The minichord: a pocket-sized musical instrument" or something like that. We have the github info in the auto-generated blurb right after the title, after all. Thanks.

dgellow 9mo ago

Beautiful project. I will definitely add that to my collection! Congrats

dgellow 9mo ago
Just got it! Looks splendid!

austinjp 9mo ago

Link to video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=66Gu4NNnHgA https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=66Gu4NNnHgA

tianqi 9mo ago

Very interesting! It seems to be a great way to combine chords with scales within chords, something no traditional instrument can do. I see the key positions on the left is similar to a computer keyboard, perhaps it could be directly mapped onto a keyboard? That way it could be played even when without that hardware.

bossyTeacher 9mo ago

I understand that notes are arranged in fifths but why start with f rather than with c? Anyway, amazing product!