PEEPS: Super cool vintage looking handmade synthesizer
5,0 / 5,0 | 
PEEPS has a fabulous vibe to it that puts it somewhere between a classic vintage synthesizer and a cake version of a classic vintage synthesizer that synth enthusiasts get given for their birthdays. It’s wonderfully lo-fi and a bit rough around the edges but with a big sound and one huge dollop of cool.
PEEPS
This is the handiwork of musician and synth builder S8JFOU. It’s based upon an Axoloti core which is a microprocessor designed for audio DSP processing. It’s a bit like a Raspberry Pi or Arduino but using the Axoloti Patcher software you can create synthesizer and effects algorithms and design your own instrument.
For PEEPS S8JFOU has created a 4-voice polyphonic synthesizer with 3 oscillators per voice, 2 of which are detunable. There’s a 2-pole lowpass filter plus a built-in reverb and tape delay. There’s an LFO tied to the oscillators with frequency and mix controls. He’s added a 4th oscillator by taking the FM oscillator from the Mutable Instrument Braids for drone sounds through its own 2-pole filter, pitch and volume controls. This one only routes through the reverb, not the delay.
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The adorable 13 note keyboard has an octave switch, sustain and an arpeggiator which can sync to MIDI or CV/Gate input. It has USB and MIDI inputs to connect up to a wider setup and it can be battery powered.
The look of this synth is completely brilliant. The design choices to reflect something of the EMS VCS 3 or Korg MS-20 is excellent and the knobs reinforce that vintage vibe. I love the fact that you have to plug the keyboard into itself externally – it’s mad but awesome. And most importantly it sounds pretty darn epic. He says he wanted to build the sort of synth that he’s always wanted – nice job.
PEEPS is not currently a commercial product but S8JFOU says that he’s happy to build one for interested people, just reach out on one of his various social media platforms.
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