Telmatronics Groovetube: Plasma and magnets in a synth

23 Feb 2023 by Robin Vincent |

3,7 / 5,0 | Approximate reading time: 1 Minute

Telmatronics Groovetube · Source: Telmatronics

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Just launched and funded on Kickstarter is the experimental Groovetube plasma synth from Telmatronics. Apparently, low-pressure electrified gas can oscillate.

Groovetube

Telmatronics are calling Groovetube a bit of a prototype but wants to give people a go playing on it. And so it’s available on a very conservative Kickstarter campaign that aims to raise just £4,500 to make it happen. The goal was hit with only 7 backers – that’s how you win at Kickstarting, but perhaps not so much in terms of hard-cash investment.

So what’s the synth like? Well, it starts out by sounding a bit like someone trying to make music by squeaking on a balloon. And then it gets really very interesting indeed. The sound is extracted from a fluorescent plasma tube and can be manipulated by magnets. Playing with a big glowy tube is pretty exciting and definitely gives you a new and innovative way to make sound.

Telmatronics are finding that different tubes have unique tones and respond to differently to manipulation. Voltages can be modulated to control frequency and phase relation. There’s an internal CV sequence, gate pattern generator, digitally controlled LFOs, and sync.

Here’s the Kickstarter video:

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Groovetube is an experiment designed to give a place to explore the concepts to start the process towards creating an actual product. It’s not a synth yet!

I’m excited by the fact they’ve got at least 7 people investing in the idea, and I hope this will end up in some kind of playable instrument. Without a doubt, it looks fabulous, and the sound potential is vast and different.