Tindie Store

Hardware Audio / MIDI Devices

A unique control surface that functions like a Stylophone mixed with an Omnichord. Comes fully constructed!

Strum your MIDI gear with the LE STRUM - a unique and expressive MIDI controller! Connect it to your MIDI instrument or computer, hold down a chord, then use the stylus to play MIDI notes by touching the contact pads on the board! .

LE STRUM's 36 chord buttons give you immediate access to 84 different chords (maj, min, dom7, maj7, min7, aug, dim for 12 root notes). You can also play sus4, add6 and add9 chord variations. It's great for learning about chord progressions and finding chords to match your track!

LE STRUM has several performance modes which are accessed by holding the MODE button while pressing one of the top row of chord buttons.

User patches combine settings for: play on make/break, damp on make/break, guitar voicing /stacked triads, additional guitar octave, enable added 4/6/9 notes, enable guitar chord bass notes, keep chord selection after chord button release, common note sustain on chord change, map chromatic/diatonic/pentatonic scale to pads, enable organ buttons on midi channel 2

LE STRUM has a special 6 string guitar mode, which knows basic major, minor and seven open chord fingerings for guitar. It can be used to lay down strummed guitar MIDI tracks without a MIDI guitar, and in a more convincing way that you could get from a keyboard. It's more than a toy, yessiree!

    Designed for hackability (e.g. solder wires to the provided holes on the pads to make proper "strings" to pluck)
    Transmits on MIDI Channel 1 for stylus activity and MIDI Channel 2 for Chord Buttons.
    Output is to a standard MIDI 5-pin DIN socket.
    A PP3 battery is required

The Le Strum is also available in kit form here

Size 98mm x 75mm x 45mm (incl MIDI socket) Weight approx 120g with battery

Please note that synthesizer hardware or software is required to make sound. LE STRUM is a MIDI controller and does not make any sound by itself!

Buy Le Strum

Le Strum - Hardware MIDI Chord Controller

ARPIE: A compact, hackable hardware MIDI arpeggiator designed by Jason Hotchkiss, fully constructed and tested.

Simple to use but huge on features, the ARPIE enables you to send arpeggiated chords via MIDI to any Synthesizer or Sound Module, opening up a whole world of musical possibilities and breathing new life into old gear. As well as an internal clock, the ARPIE receives MIDI clock through a central input to SYNC your hardware in a range of note timings. It can even be used without a keyboard!

Here is the low-down on what the ARPIE can do:

    Arpeggiate modes: Up, Down, Up-Down, Randomised, Manual or Polyphonic Gated Chord
    Lock notes to scale: 7 musical modes/11 root notes/selectable out-of-scale note handling
    Variable playback rate: 1 to 1/32 beats per step, with dotted and triplet options
    Transpose from -3 to +12 semitones from front panel, or by inputted MIDI note
    Control note length and MIDI velocity
    1-16 step play/rest pattern with randomisation options
    Automate up to 16 bars of transposition, with the force to scale option for finding new chord progressions
    Manual chord entry mode: Experiment with chords and access ARPIE's full potential without any keyboard attached!
    Per-step Accent, Full Gate, Tied Gate, Octave Up/Down, Fourth interval down, polyphonic play through with randomisation options
    Mutate and extend the arpeggio with inserted notes: None/Lowest note/Highest note/meander 3 steps forward 1 step back/4 steps forward 2 steps back
    Select MIDI channels and OMNI receive mode with MIDI thru, MIDI panic and MIDI "Channel Mode" filter
    Control accent velocity with added support for Volca FM
    Internal MIDI clock with tap tempo - slave or master
    Alternative MIDI clock input socket
    6 pin "Hack Header" expansion port.Standard firmware allows three standard potentiometers to control MIDI CC's, Mod, Bend, BPM, Velocity etc
    Control Receive, Transmit, Beat Clock and Chord Hold using front panel, with firmware diagnostic/power LEDs on main board and a reset button
    Integral 9V PP3 battery holder and 9V DC socket (2.1mm barrel) which works with either polarity plug.
    Small size (98mm x 87mm x 35mm approx dimensions) and light weight (approx 125g without battery)

NEW Choose from FOUR ARPIE models: Classic, Dark Side, Night Rider and White Knight!

Some of the testimonials for the ARPIE:

"Arpie is the smallest most efficient friend I’ve got in my studio" - Jean Michel Jarre

"I absolutely LOVE The ARPIE, it's breathed new life into half my studio, super easy to use & is perfect for old hardware" - Mumdance

"The ARPIE has come in useful in sessions when we've got a bit stuck and need something fresh - it gets you away from the keyboard and makes you interact with your synths in a new way, with unexpected results. I never would have programmed the sounds on my Prophet I've made using the Arpie!" - Michael Lovett, NZCA Lines

"This weird and wonderful device has been hugely fun in the studio" - Sharooz Raoofi (Sample Magic)

"I currently have ARPIE driving my modular gear, and already it’s delivering better results than any software arpeggiator I own". - Ade Fenton

All documentation and manual will be sent to you once the ARPIE has been posted. Alternatively, they are available online here and [here (https://github.com/hotchk155/arpie/blob/master/docs/Arpie%20Quick%20Reference.pdf?raw=true).

You can purchase a snazzy acrylic case from here: https://www.tindie.com/products/hotchk155/case-for-arpie/

Shipping is quoted by Royal Mail, but I am happy to go with any shipping company you might prefer. If you have any questions please use Tindie's ask a question feature.

PLEASE NOTE: ARPIE is a MIDI Arpeggiator and requires separate synthesizer software or hardware to be connected to it to make sound.

Buy ARPIE

ARPIE - Hardware MIDI Arpeggiator

The Super Smash Button is an audio gate which allows you to pass any signal at the bash of the big arcade button! Trigger musical elements, vocals, synths, noise and drones through it for rhythmic stutters, jittered melodies and chopped up beats.

It works incredibly well with drones, circuit bent keyboards and weird effects machines - bringing a new dimension rhythm and melody combined. Plug in a radio or play some foley recordings for randomly accessed nuggets of sound to add unpredictability and serendipitous synchronicity to the proceedings.

There's a toggle switch to allow the signal to pass completely, for when your Track and Field skills have come a cropper. Use external effects after the pedal to expand its impact - a delay or loop pedal is the ideal output for an innovative way of making new textures, tones and soundscapes.

This is a hand-made, hard-wearing device in a strong aluminum enclosure, with a tried-and-tested arcade button for years of trigger finger raising. It ships from the UK, boxed with a range of coloured buttons and rubber feet to grip to and protect your surfaces.

There are 3 options to have the enclosure spraypainted and varnished: Speckled with 5-7 colours, one Solid Colour or Two-Tone - please include your choices with the order!

Red Turquoise Yellow Magenta Green Black White

The Super Smash Button is 111mm x 31mm (47mm including switch) x 60mm and weights around 150g.

Buy Super Smash Button

Super Smash Button - Arcade Audio Gate

The 8BitM8 is a bit-crusher pedal inspired by the tonal qualities of vintage samplers, MPCs and the love of lo-fi sounds. 

https://www.tindie.com/products/midierror/8bitm8-hardware-bit-crusher/

It comes hand made in a rugged metal enclosure packed with high quality components which include a genuine arcade button.

8BITM8 Hardware Bit Crusher Demo

The 8BitM8 GTR is a bit-crusher pedal designed to deliver crunchy tones, digital distortions and lo-fi sounds to your guitar! See more here: https://youtu.be/oQgTTTn16dA

8BitM8 GTR - Bit Crusher Guitar Pedal Demo

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