Handmade Synths & Noise Boxes in Tins and Toys

An upright glossy purple box photographed face on. Two clear lights sit side by side at the top, two black push buttons below them, and a large clear knob with a numbered skirt in the middle. Under the knob are two toggles with cv lettered between them over a small jack, and the popo is hand-lettered across the bottom in pink and purple.

The Popo - Boutique

My Siren and Police Lights boards in one purple 125B: a 555 cop-car siren that literally sounds like a police siren, two flashing lights, and a CV jack. One of a kind.

$80

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An upright glossy blue box photographed face on, OCTAVE hand-lettered in pale green across the top and AVALANCHE running down the right edge. Two light blue knobs with numbered skirts, lettered TONE and VOLUME, sit one above the other on the left, seven chrome toggle switches run down the right, and at the bottom there is a toggle on the left and a small round bezel on the right.

Octave Avalanche - Boutique

My Octave Avalanche in a blue 125B: seven square waves an octave apart, each on its own toggle, with my Clean Boost inside for gain. It sounds like a soundtrack being played backwards. One of a kind.

$80

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A clear plastic box seen face on, so everything inside shows through. Squawk is hand-lettered across the top in orange and yellow. Two clear knobs sit side by side on the lid with their pots and a small piece of perfboard underneath, blue and green wires loop between them, a small toggle sits at the left edge, and a green 9V battery fills the bottom of the box.

Squawk - Boutique

an Atari Punk Console in a clear 125B, two 555s with two knobs and a toggle, the 9V battery on show behind the lid and a speaker on the back. The cheapest thing in the shop and it squawks.

$35

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Solo Duet - an upright black box with a round mesh-faced photocell window either side of an unlit LED at the top, OPTO hand-lettered in yellow-green above a large black fluted knob, DUET lettered below it and a small chrome toggle near the bottom, on a chroma green tile

Solo Duet - Self-Contained Optical Theremin

My Opto Duet layout with a speaker and a battery sealed in, so there is nothing to plug it into: two 555 oscillators that talk to each other only by light, two photocells looking out at the room, one pitch knob and one power toggle. Speaker only, no jack. Upright 125B in black, lettered by hand. One of a kind.

$80

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Hive Drone - an upright neon green box with six chrome knobs in two columns of three, a toggle switch and an LED at the top and the name hand-lettered in purple down the side, on a chroma green tile

Hive Drone - Six-Voice CD40106 Drone in a Neon Green Box

My Hive Drone stripboard layout, boxed: six CD40106 oscillators with a pitch knob each, summed into one drone, with a power toggle and an LED. Output and DC jacks on the top edge. Upright neon green 125B. One of a kind.

$80

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Opto Duet - an upright white glow-in-the-dark box with opto duet lettered in pastel across the top, a jack, a photocell and a toggle in a row above the name, a round LED bezel in the middle, and a second jack, a second photocell and a DC socket along the bottom

Opto Duet - Two Light-Coupled 555s in a Glow-in-the-Dark Box

My Opto Duet stripboard layout in a glow-in-the-dark upright 125B with a UV LED in the middle of the face, so the box charges itself while it plays. Two 555 theremins coupled only by light, two photocells for your hands, a CV input on the pitch, no knobs at all. One of a kind.

$80

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Garden Variety - a square tin lid printed all over with blue, purple and white pansies, with six brass knobs, six brass toggle switches, a jack socket and a small indicator lamp set into it, and OUT, ON and VOL hand-lettered beside them

Garden Variety - CD4093 Drone Synth in a Floral Tin

A CD4093 quad NAND drone synth on my own stripboard layout, in a tin covered in pansies, with far more bends on it than it has any business having. Six knobs and six toggles: one toggle is power, one knob is volume, and the rest only mean anything in combination. Its own amp and speaker plus a line out, 9V battery. One of a kind.

$165

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A round toy monster covered in shaggy red, orange and yellow fur with a hard plastic scowling face and dark photocells set into its eyes

Screaming Creep

A 555 optical theremin living inside a gutted Grumblies rage-monster, with photocells for pupils. Light is the instrument - shadow it, cup an eye, sweep a flashlight past it. Plays through its own speaker, no amp needed. One of a kind.

$150

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Kawasquawki - a dark blue Kawasaki toy keyboard with a carry handle and a big orange and yellow speaker grille, kawasquawki hand-lettered on the panel, with four added black knobs with blue pointers, a red record button, a black play button and three toggle switches

Kawasquawki - Oscillator and Recorder in a Toy Keyboard

A Kawasaki toy keyboard whose own circuit was beyond saving, with an NE556 Atari Punk Console built dead-bug inside it and an ISD1820 recorder beside it. Catch a few seconds of the oscillator and play it back at any speed, or run both at once and let them squeal over each other. Photocell pitch, 3.5 mm line out, and an RGB LED across the speaker. The keys still do not play. One of a kind.

$125

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Bent Brooks - a decorated skull with a crystalline white finish, long black ringlet curls, and an iridescent purple-and-green cap, housing a lo-fi ISD1820 sampler module

Bent Brooks - Lo-Fi ISD1820 Sampler

A lo-fi ISD1820 sampler in a decorated skull - a nod to Brook, the singing skeleton from One Piece. Preloaded with his singsong “yo-ho-ho-ho-ho” laugh: a play button fires it, and a pitch-bend knob drags it from a graveyard groan up to a chipmunk squeal. One of a kind.

$75

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Devil's Triangle - an upright pink sparkle box with three silver knobs down the left, three toggle switches and an LED down the right, devils triangle lettered down the side, a 3.5 mm jack and a DC socket at the bottom

Devil's Triangle - Three-Oscillator Drone in a Pink Sparkle Box

Paul Stevenson's three-oscillator drone on my own stripboard layout, with the channel pots gone and a bend of mine in their place: two toggles that lean the oscillators into each other through a kilohm. Three pitch knobs, three toggles, an upright pink sparkle 125B. One of a kind.

$60

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Dragonfly - an upright lilac box with four pink knobs in two rows, three toggle switches below them and a small 3.5 mm jack and DC socket at the bottom, the name in pastel letters down the side, on a chroma green tile

Dragonfly - CD4046 VCO in a Lilac Box

My Dragonfly VCO stripboard layout, boxed: a CD4046 phase-locked loop used as an oscillator, with pitch, range, volume and a power-starve knob, a mode toggle, a power toggle, and a bend of mine that drops the whole thing about an octave. Upright lilac 125B. One of a kind.

$80

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A red Texas Instruments Speak and Spell held up in one hand, its green display lit and its keypad untouched

Speak n Synth

A drone synth living inside a Speak & Spell, sharing its speaker. Nothing was bent to get it there, so the toy still spells, on its own AA batteries. Six knobs and three toggles through the back, a power starve on the synth, a 12V rechargeable pack with a charge port, and a line out carrying the toy and the synth together. Made to order on a donor toy, so no two look the same.

$225

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Noise Loaf - a white-painted loaf tin whose lid carries twelve small knobs in purple, orange, green and blue, three chrome toggles lettered on, vco and grit, an unlit LED and two small sockets lettered in and out, with noise loaf hand-lettered across the bottom, on a chroma green tile

Noise Loaf - Four Noise Boards in One Tin

Four boards in a painted loaf tin, three of them my own free layouts: a CD4093 running four oscillators, a CD4046 phase-locked loop that chases them, an LM386 into a speaker behind a hand-drilled grille, and a PT2399 delay with a dirt knob on its input. Twelve knobs, three toggles, 3.5 mm in and out. It plays out loud on its own. One of a kind.

$165

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Sub Octave Grub - an upright off-white box with seven chrome toggle switches down the right side, a clear numbered knob and an LED on the face, an eighth toggle below and the words sub octave down the left edge with grub across the bottom in pastel hand lettering, on a chroma green tile

Sub Octave Grub - Seven Octave CD4024 Divider

My Grub Divider stripboard layout, boxed: a CD4024 brings seven exact octaves out below whatever you feed it, each on its own toggle so they mix rather than switch. Volume knob, power toggle and an LED. In, power and out on the top edge. Upright 125B in Tayda textured white. One of a kind.

$95

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Bluebottle - a small square tin painted gloss black, seen from the front with one side showing: seven blue knobs on the lid, two toggles labeled drop and swap, a violet LED lit in the corner, and on the side a knob between two toggles labeled on, vol and vco

Bluebottle - Dragonfly VCO and Opto Duet in a Painted Tin

My Dragonfly VCO and my Opto Duet in one small tin painted black, wired into each other. Seven knobs and two toggles on the lid, a shared volume and two toggles on the side, a 3.5 mm line in that chews on a guitar, and a rechargeable 15V battery inside. Small enough to palm. One of a kind.

$185

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A square tea tin painted with birds and flowers inside a mottled blue border, with two black knobs, two toggle switches, the photocell eyes and a touch probe on a black lead set into the lid

Duet Deluxe

Two 555 theremins in a tea tin, wired together by nothing but light. One sets the tempo, the other makes the tone, and your hands play both through two eyes in the lid. Its own amp, mixer and speaker inside, and a touch bend on a flying lead. One of a kind.

$150

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A glossy purple box stood upright, seen face on. the beepulator is hand-lettered across the top in pale lilac. Below it an indicator LED and a small toggle, then two chrome knobs side by side, a third chrome knob with a second toggle beside it, cv lettered underneath, and three jacks in a row along the bottom: the barrel power jack, the CV in and the line out.

The Beepulator - Boutique

my Opto Duet, two 555s that play each other through an LED and a photocell, with its pots running through my Analog Bit Crusher board and a switch to put the crusher in or out. Three knobs, two toggles, a CV in and a line out in a hand-lettered purple 125B.

$80

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A sparkly hot pink box stood upright, seen face on. 5 finks is hand-lettered in purple down the left edge. An indicator LED and a small toggle sit at the top, four chrome knobs in two rows of two below them, a fifth chrome knob with a second toggle beside it, cv lettered underneath and one small jack at the bottom.

5 Finks - Boutique

my Opto Wobble, boxed: two 555s that play each other through an LED and a photocell, and an LFO that wobbles one or the other on a toggle. Five knobs including a starve, a CV jack, in a sparkly pink 125B.

$80

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Duet - a purple hammertone box lying flat, duet lettered at the top with tempo and tone beside two small photocells, a clear LED dome in the middle, two black knobs below, and a toggle, a quarter-inch jack and a DC socket along the top edge

Duet - Opto Duet With Tempo and Tone Knobs

My Opto Duet with two knobs added: two 555 theremins that only talk to each other through light, in a purple hammertone box, with a tempo knob on the slow one and a tone knob on the fast one, two photocells to wave at, and the coupling LED in the middle. One of a kind.

$80

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A wide white box lying flat, seen face on. Twelve hot pink knobs stand in four columns: four in each of the first two, two in the third above two small toggles, and two in the fourth. A row of four small toggles runs across the top with a round LED beside each. MACHINE 2 is hand-lettered in pink down the right edge, and IN and CV are lettered beside two jacks at the lower right, with a third jack in the corner.

Machine 2 - Boutique

five boards in one white 1590DD with pink knobs and pink LEDs: my Cicada NAND, two Atari Punk Consoles, an Opto Duet and a heavily modified Parasit Studios Sentient Machine. A line in through the Sentient Machine and a CV in to an APC. Twelve knobs, six toggles.

$280

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A metallic blue glitter box photographed face on. Grubworks is lettered across the top in sparkly silver, with vol beside a chrome knob at the top left. Below that is a row of four chrome knobs, two at the left and two at the right, with a small LED between them and ON lettered under the LED. Three toggles sit under the knobs, one over the word chew at the left, one under ON in the middle and one over the word hum at the right, and a row of seven toggles runs along the bottom edge.

Grubworks - Grub Divider, Atari Punk Console and Opto Duet in One Box

My Grub Divider with an Atari Punk Console and my Opto Duet built in, each voice on its own toggle, plus a line in. The Opto Duet has a tempo, so the divider turns it into a beat all by itself. One of a kind.

$180

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The face of a raw aluminum box seen close at an angle, ROBO and rungler engraved in the lower right. Six ribbed silver knobs in three pairs run down the left with a chrome toggle beside each pair, three more knobs sit at the upper right, and a small dark LED is near the top.

Robo Rungler - Boutique

PedalPCB's Roboto and my Rungler in one aluminum 1590BB: an 8-bit pitch shifter and two oscillators with a shift register that keep nudging each other. Nine knobs, three toggles, in and out. One of a kind.

$180

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A glossy white box photographed face on, GRUBWORKS hand-lettered across the top in green, with a chrome knob on its own at the top right. Below the name is a row of four chrome knobs, two at the left and two at the right, with a small LED between them. CHEW, ON and HUM are lettered across the middle, each over a toggle, and a row of seven toggles runs along the bottom edge.

Grubworks - Boutique

The second build of Grubworks: my updated Grub Divider, an Atari Punk Console and my Opto Duet in one glow-in-the-dark 1590BB, each powered on its own: chew, hum and seven octave toggles. One of a kind.

$180

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