Inventor creates the world’s smallest MIDI synth and it sounds rather adorable
His mini synth journey began all the way back in 2015.
Image: MusicTech
A crafty inventor has created the “smallest and silliest synth yet” – a USB-C MIDI Synth consisting of a USB-C connector, a miniature circuit board and a piezo buzzer.
The creation doesn’t appear to be much larger than a thumbnail, and yet although not practical it works just fine, and actually sounds quite cute.
The miniscule creation was crafted by inventor and engineer Tim Alex Jacobs, as reported by Music Radar. The creator of mini synths runs a YouTube channel and website under the name of Mitxela, where he has documented his other tiny inventions.
The mini synth journey began in 2015 with Jacobs’ original mini MIDI synthesiser, which then progressed to a USB synthesiser. Of course now, his latest invention brings his mini creation to an even more modern stage.
“You might be thinking that this is utterly pointless, and you’d be right,” Jacobs says candidly in his video. “There is no device we could plug this into that doesn’t already have a speaker. There are no USB-C hosts that couldn’t already run a software synthesiser […] The only thing it can do is a monophonic square wave.”
You may be thinking that such a tiny creation would only be possible of creating incredibly scratchy and uncomfortably piercing sounds, but as Jacobs plugs four of the synths into a USB hub, and performs a Mario 64 video game theme tune it sounds sort of adorable.
“I was prepared for a horrible shrill chorus of four synthesisers screaming at once, and instead I get this adorable Mario song. I love it,” sums up one YouTuber user in the comments.
Watch the full video below:
Last year, scientists in Denmark created the world’s smallest vinyl record. It could barely be seen by the naked human eye and held just 25 seconds worth of the song Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree.
You can find out more about Tim Alex Jacobs and his other creations via his website, Mitxela.
