Akuto Studio Chord Machine AKT-0.1: Futuristic finger chords
4,3 / 5,0 | 
Akuto Studio Chord Machine · Source: Akuto Studio
Akuto Studio Chord Machine · Source: Akuto Studio
Play chords in the most achingly stylish way ever on the Chord Machine AKT-0.1 from Akuto Studio. Could this be more hipster than an OP-1?
Chord Machine AKT-0.1
So what do you do if you are too embarrassed to carry your accordion into the coolest coffee shop along Walthamstow high street? Or if you’re fed up with the keys on your OP-1 and want to add a device that will tip you into a coolness singularity? The Chord Machine could be for you.
All teasing aside, this thing looks flippin’ fabulous. After the initial alarm of the big orange ball looking at you, the website is pretty groovy as well. This is a stunning presentation, and I’ve even let the 10-second background music run on repeat, and it’s nice.
So, it’s some kind of electronic chord device with button-accordion-style buttons. It has a touch-screen pad to the left, which seems to do MIDI control, MIDI effects and controls various modes and display information. The large knob handles the scaling, semitones, octaves, chord types and transpositions.
Akuto Studio Chord Machine · Source: Akuto Studio
The website says it’s a MIDI controller so it doesn’t have any sounds of its own. Perfect for pairing up with a Teenage Engineering device or any other polyphonic synthesizer or your computer for that matter. The buttons can function like a piano or an accordion or a curious sounding Tonnetz tone network.
It’s 25 days until launch on the 25th of April, and if you sign up now, you’ll get an $80 discount. Not sure what it’s a discount on exactly at this point, but 1,623 have signed up for it. Or, like me, signed up for more information anyway. The price and more surprises will be announced on the 18th of April.
- Akuto Studio website.
The only video I can find is on Instagram. It gives a little glimpse into the functionality, which is ultimately very simple. And, as it’s a controller, the sonic results will depend largely on the quality of your other gear.
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2 responses to “Akuto Studio Chord Machine AKT-0.1: Futuristic finger chords”
The Teenage Engineering Omnichord?
Their reluctance to even reference a price combined with the overwhelmingly Teenage Engineering aesthetic lead me to believe this will be disgustingly overpriced.