Stuff We Like: Mind-Controlled Synth

Indie mainstay Apples In Stereo have been putting out records for many years, and front man Robert Schneider has always been a sucker for cool or interesting things related to making music. Well his latest realization comes in the form of a mind-controlled synthesizer that he somehow stumbled upon.

A bit of background first from Schneider off Elephant 6’s Town Hall forum: “As some of you may know, I was working on putting together a mind-controlled Moog synthesizer, allowing you to play the synth with your thoughts, but was having trouble perfecting it. It turns out my Moog MG-1 synth (the first instrument I ever owned, incidentally) has a slider that shorts out, and that was causing me mysterious problems. Anyway, I got the thing working yesterday and have been playing around with it a little.

“It is an easy modification to make, to the Mattel Mind Flex game, to connect it to the control voltage (CV) input on an analog synthesizer (the CV is labeled “pitch” on my MG-1). I will post instructions soon, so that others can play their analog synths with their thoughts as well– an interesting and satisfying feeling, even though it is challenging to control.”

Sounds amazing, but does it work? Yes, but it’s very hard to control, much like a Theremin is super sensitive. Check out the footage:

Also keep an eye on http://www.e6townhall.com for instructions on how to make it yourself.

Mind controlled instruments could take music to possibilities we’ve never even imagined. What other instruments would be amazing to play with your mind?