This DIY Touch Synthesizer, Tiny TS, Fits In Your Wallet

If you thought the Modal Electronics CRAFTsynth, the trusty Korg volcas or Teenage Engineering's Pocket Operators were the smallest hardware synthesizers you'd seen, think again. Jan Ostman, better known as DSP Synthesizers, has announced a DIY, open-source, credit-card sized synthesizer with a 1-octave, capacitive touch keyboard!

Perhaps next time you feel like splashing the cash on your credit card, the Tiny TS will encourage you to play a tune while waiting in the queue. We have no idea how this lil' synth sounds. We doubt very much whether it's as playable as a Korg volca, and certainly won't sound anywhere near as good as the Modal CRAFTsynth... but, we don't think that's the point of Tiny TS.

Tiny TS credit-card synthesizer

Will this be the Christmas DIY kit to play with? Full details of the Tiny TS below from Jan's website:

"The Tiny TS is a credit card sized (100x65mm) fully open-sourced synthesizer with a 1-octave capacitive touch keyboard. It has Audio/CV/Gate outputs and 6 synth parameter dials.If you don’t like the onboard sound of the synth, the CV’s output 1V/oct and Gate from the keyboard so teams well with my other oscillator chips."

The synthesizer parameter knobs are:

• DCO: Coarse pitch and Double. The CV out follows the keyboard and coarse pitch.
• DCF: Filter peak and ENVmod.
• ENV: Attack and Release affecting amplitude.

A mock-up of the Tiny TS synthesizer.