Back in 2023, Argentinian developers Martin Grieco and Rocío Gal shared a video showcasing a pastel-coloured prototype instrument named Nopia. That video went astronomically and unexpectedly viral, racking up almost 3m views in just over a week.
Two years on, and the team behind Nopia has unveiled Nopia MK1, a production-ready version of this MIDI harmony generator and synthesizer that's currently in an "exhaustive" testing stage after development was completed in mid-2025.
No release date or price has yet been announced, but you can see and hear Nopia MK1 in the vibey, ASMR-esque teaser video embedded below – it's even more aesthetically pleasing than its prototype. (My colleague described its playful look as something like a "music technology gadget from a Wes Anderson movie", and I can't think of a better way to put it.)
A semi-modular chord generator and synthesizer, Nopia is described by its creators as an instrument designed to "tap into the mysterious phenomena of how our ears intuitively experience the language of harmony".
To that end, its one-octave keyboard (the "chord builder") can be used in conjunction with a set of 12 keyboard-style buttons (the "tonal selector") to play chords and create sequences that follow the principles of tonal harmony. The chord builder generates chords from the key signature determined by the tonal selector, based on the note or scale degree that's played. A dial above the keyboard can be used to change chord types and add extensions.
Nopia's chord builder then feeds this information to several distinct modules (Bass, Keys, Arp and Pad) that draw on the instrument's internal sound engine, a synth capable of both sample-based and virtual analogue sound generation. Along with the keyboard, Nopia MK1 has been equipped with a capacitive touch sensors for strumming chords and introducing chromatic and microtonal pitch-bend.
Nopia now has an OLED display to show you what chords you're playing and display parameter values, and the makers have added a dedicated TRS MIDI output for each of its modules, something that could make Nopia a powerful way to spread chords and progressions across multiple instruments in your set-up via a single intuitive interface.
Nopia is pitched as both a performance-ready instrument and a compositional tool, offering an accessible route towards harnessing the creative potential of tonal harmony for those unfamiliar with its complexities. "You don't need to know theory; Nopia takes care of that," reads a statement on Nopia's website.
"We encourage you to compose, improvise, and have more tools to weave harmony, and train your perception! Of course, if you're familiar with functional harmony, we think you’ll get a lot out of it too."
Though the concept behind Nopia seemed relatively novel back in 2023, Tame Impala's instrument-making outfit Telepathic Instruments came out with something pretty similar earlier this year, Orchid. Nopia looks like it may be a little more versatile, though – we'll have to wait and see.
To stay updated on Nopia's progress, join the waitlist on the official website.
Check out the original demo video from 2023 below.
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