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Morphonium

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Submitted By: Claude Woodward

Elevator Pitch

Morphonium

A trio of MIDI controllers with an intuitive keyboard-like wheel design used together to endlessly shape and layer sound in realtime and notate the results.

Product Description

How It’s Innovative

Using wheels (rather than knobs) and arranging them in a keyboard-like layout means it’s possible to have a large number of controls in a relatively small space and have a familiar memory aide for mapping. Add to that the unique gestural controls on the Delta keyboard gives the Morphonium the most complete control of electronic sound.

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Most Inspiring Use Cases

For me, being able to ‘play’ the timbre of the sound with the same speed & dexterity as playing the notes on the keyboard opens up a whole new world on the synthesizer – something Stockhausen imagined way back at the dawn of electronic music technology.

Expansion Plans

With the Morphonium community, we will encourage people to add to the versatility and functionally including upgrading to MIDI 2, building instruments with larger arrays of wheels and adding inputs for other gestural controls. Because of it’s tactile nature, it seems like a good fit for the vision impaired community as well.

Commercialization

We plan to make this system open-source making the code, laser & 3d printer files available to all. We have registered www.morphonium.org to build a community of like-minded people to learn and exchange ideas.
We’re working on a new easier to build model for the Alpha possibly as a DIY kit.
We are also currently developing a ‘Delta kit’ which will have the Vibe Bar the other gestural controls to use on any keyboard. For those who aren’t able to build themselves, we will encourage makers around the world to build for others. We can supply the circuit boards and other parts giving them an income and allowing them to use local materials, cutting down on costs & environmental impact of freight. And with laser cutters & 3D printers being fairly common, makers can fashion their own enclosures & other cosmetic details to diversify the design much like guitar makers do.

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