Losing yourself to the nostalgic iTunes visualizer serves as an excellent pastime. There is nothing to accompany music as well as swirling hues and patterns, but progression is always good to see. With the future in mind, design-forward audiovisual artist and craftsman Love Hultén has collaborated with New York-based artist LIŔONA to crank out an impeccable gadget in both physical and digital form. They call him synth#boi, and he blows that old iTunes visualizer out the water.
Labeled as a “Phygital Purchase” by the high-end NFT marketplace Dissrup, this joint effort from the two state-of-the-art designers serves as an interactive synthesizer with a bevy of futurist bells and whistles. Embedded in a 15″ monitor module is a circular display, where users can find an illuminated figure that reacts to whichever key they press on an attached 25-key MIDI keyboard. Though this figure looks rather alien, it goes hand-in-hand with such an avant-garde concept from the Swedish tastemaker Love Hultén. Beneath the screen is a base that houses an S-Engine MkII sound module and NUC i5 computer, both of which come together to bring this retrofuturistic machine to life. Finished off with a sleek stone gray color, the synth#boi is as fascinating to watch as it seems it is to play.
Limited to 10 pieces, the synth#boi sold out in a flash this morning, but it remains an interesting piece of technology to take a look at regardless.
