A new mini synthesiser from this.is.NOISE inc., a boutique Canadian hardware company, promises to always be in key, and its OLED screen even features a built-in virtual pet.

The synth, called Gamma, is ready to be played “without the need for prior musical training”, as its seven chords and notes are mapped to a selectable diatonic scale so everything always sounds good together. And yes, you read that correctly – you can own a virtual pet right within Gamma, just like that Tamagotchi you let die back in the late 90s, and it will even evolve as you play.

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The mini synth offers 14 low-profile keys for triggering notes and chords, two thumbsticks for real-time modulation, and four knobs for “precise” control over sound parameters. The thumbsticks offer on-the-fly access to octaves and effects – these include reverb, delay, detune, glide, tremolo, vibrato, and advanced chord variations like sus, 7th, and 9th chords.

Overall, it has 10 oscillators and four waveforms, plus an ADSR envelope, low and high pass filters, a key selection encoder for jumping between major and minor scales, and an on-board speaker. As for connectivity, it offers MIDI Out, an audio out/headphone jack, and rechargeable USB-C power.

Get a closer look below:

Gamma is currently in its final stages of development and will be available for pre-orders from 1 May. No pricing details appear available as of yet, but if you sign up for email alerts, you’ll get a $50 discount code emailed to you upon launch day.

In other gear news and on the soft synth side of things, Arturia has released V Collection 11, the latest instalment of its revered suite of plugins that emulate classic analogue synths and acoustic instruments. Along with a handful of new emulations, V Collection 11 also introduces new additions to Arturia’s Augmented series and a new synth, Pure LoFi.

You can sign up to receive notifications when Gamma launches via the this.is.NOISE inc. website. 

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