fabrication

code

sound

publications

portfolio

The Kitharvallum is a relative-pitch synthesizer controller, wherein melodies are played by keying in intervals rather than specific notes. Inspired by Leon Gruenbaum's Samchillian keyboard, the Kitharvallum is built into guitar hero controllers, with additional controls wired in to control the musical key and to further shape the synthesized sound.

Each colored key represents a different semitone interval, with the lowest one used for accidentals. The player presses several keys at a time, which are added together to form the full desired interval to the next note. The direction of the interval is controlled by pressing the strum switch either up or down.

The controls are tied to an internal Arduino board, which by default communicates with a Pure Data patch. The patch handles the logic of intervals, keys, and dynamics, and the actual synthesis of the sound.