The description of the Striso Duet states “The Striso duet – a portable instrument based on the Striso board, inspired by concertina, bandoneon and accordion.”
Seems like you ought to at least mention the Jammer, and specifically the Thummer, with which the Striso Duet is more-closely related.
There’s a photo of the Thummer at the end of Wikipedia’s discussion of Dynamic Tonality, here: Dynamic tonality - Wikipedia
For those who are interested in making truly new music with the Striso Duet, check out Dynamic Tonality (at the above-mentioned Wikipedia page) and the synths that support it: Dynamic Tonality
On the other hand, Dynamic Tonality requires fine control of many continuous variables simultaneously. The Thummer was intended to provide these, through internal motion sensors and thumb-operated joysticks. The Thummer was small and light specifically so that it could be easily suspended from a forearm brace.
On the other hand, my company went broke by spending too much on R&D, and then on the stainless-steel molds for high-volume manufacturing. Being hand-made from plywood in low volume may result in a heavier instrument, but at least your expenses come mostly after you get an order, so you’re less likely to go broke making them!
I ran into the Thummer before I encountered the Striso. I really wish it’d managed to make it off the ground, I certainly would have been playing one. I understand why you feel it deserves a nod.
From my perspective the Duet is closer to a concertina than it is to the Thummer. The place where the Duet (and Striso devices in general), excel over the Thummer in design (if I understand correctly) is that the individual buttons can entirely independent axis of controls, where a with a Thummer, beyond activating or not, the expressive potential would affect all of them at once.
That being said, if a Jammer device went on the market today, I’d still be sorely tempted despite literal years having been invested both in getting skilled with the Striso and modifying the software to my taste.
Hi Jim,
I can remember the Thummer - interesting concept!
The forum software seems to have auto-flagged your postings, because they contained the same links - have restored them now. Best refer to other postings where you have linked something instead of adding another link to the same location. At least until the “new user” status is gone.
Hi Jim,
Thanks for joining in. Like Frank I also really wished that your Thummer journey was successful.
Indeed I’ve taken a very low risk route by developing the Striso mainly as a hobby, and only bringing it to market when it was mostly finished. Also with time it became much easier, with motion sensors and PCB production now being super accessible.
The dynamic tonality concept is really nice! It would be very nice to play the 2032 synthesizer with the Striso. One of those things that’s on my list for way too long, just like replying on your last email
