The OKAY Monophonic Synthesizer

When you play a modern synthesizer, you expect each key to play a certain note, and if multiple keys are pressed, for the corresponding chord — or garbled music — to ring out. The OKAY Synth does things a little differently, and only allows the user to play one note at a time. While this would seem like a disadvantage, this simplicity allows it to use standard off-the-shelf electrical components in a kit that can be put together in an afternoon.

Of note is that this 3D-printed device doesn’t use a microcontroller or other processor, but instead employs discreet components to produce its sounds. It even breaks out electrical functions into separate PCBs in order to illustrate what’s going on. Because of this open design, the instrument — which is available fully assembled or as a kit with or without the 3D-printed components — is ripe for modification and expansion. If you’d like to go with the BYOP (bring your own printer) kit, or perhaps even design your own system based around it, print files are available on Thingiverse.

You can see the device in the first video seen here. While it sounds good on its own, the second video shows two of them playing together, showing off the OKAY Synth’s ability to select between 6 octave ranges.