Ken MacBeth touch keyboard synth revealed

It's a prototype at the moment, but it looks like Ken MacBeth's touch keyboard synth could be a goer.
It's a prototype at the moment, but it looks like Ken MacBeth's touch keyboard synth could be a goer.

It's well-documented that the iPad's multi-touch interface has brought about new ways of playing synths, but now we have a prototype of a hardware instrument with its own touch keyboard built in.

The brain child of modular synthesis maestro Ken MacBeth, the as-yet-unnamed instrument was revealed via Facebook at the weekend.

Of the new design, MacBeth says that it has "four oscillators, two noise generators, one LFO, a dual stage variable filter, four envelope generators, two VCAs (Stereo) and a stereo tape delay".

It seems that this synth is something that Ken has had in mind for a while, too: "It's been a long term development over years," he says. "The micromac series has been designed for those who wish for the vintage 'Moog-like' sound - this is a completely different design!"

No news on when we can expect the synth to come to market, but we'll be monitoring its progress.

Ben Rogerson

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.