The Abacusynth

The Abacusynth . I guess it’s primarily a drone machine.

To me this has the zeitgeist of a Theremin. I know we’ll get the standard posts here, “I’m not hearing this.” There i saved you the time.

The creator, Elias Jarzombek, is setting the hardware version of the Abacusynth up as a DIY project.

There is an on-line version of this tool, as well as a plug-in for Ableton Live

https://abacusynth.eliasjarzombek.com

Hit Randomize after this page loads. Doesn’t seem to run well on my phone, but is fine elsewhere.

Expect more good things from Elias.

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I would think the spinners might sustain their rotation better if the axis of rotation was vertical (most actual historical abaci I’ve seen are designed to lie flat on a tabletop, though, yes, it doesn’t quite look like an abacus if my suggestion is followed). I am reminded of the upscale wooden toys that were marketed when my children were young, more as display objects for the parents than for actual use by kids.

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Here’s it done with colors.

I think there are bearings so it probably spins a long time with a natural decay.

Anyone addicted to fidget spinners ?

Didnt look into it, curious though, any puns about additive/subtractive synthesis?

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