Flexur is a standalone, immediate fun, expressive synthesizer.
Flexur is a standalone expressive synthesizer inspired by Trautonium. It has two floating touch bars that allow for continuous pitch and volume/filter control. The bars are paired with a streamlined, knob per function synth designed to compliment them. It’s like a Cello crossed with a MiniMoog in the spice mines of Arrakis.
watch the prototype demo:
What is a Trautonium?
Trautonium is a mostly forgotten synthesizer invented in 1930s Germany by Friedrich Trautwein and Oskar Sala. It has floating bars that you can push on for loudness/filter control, and slide on for pitch contol.
Our mission is to make an instrument that allows me to play the vocal melodies from my favorite songs. I considered a variety of interfaces from Wiggler, to Theremin, to Ondes Martenot. Wiggler can do discrete jumps in pitch, and Ondes Martenot can do smooth pitch slides. But when people sing, they constantly flip back and forth between jumps and slides. The Trautonium bars allow you to do both. Watch this video to learn more about Trautonium and how we prototyped Flexur.
The touch bars have other benefits: both loudness and pitch expression happen with the same finger, making the expression intuitive. It also leaves one hand free to wiggle the synthesizer controls. You can use multiple hands and fingers for big jumps, or play polyphonic lines and accompany yourself.
A knob per function synth
Under the control of an expressive interface, an oscillator and a filter can sing. Other expressive synths ship with complex computer software that has hundreds of controls, we felt that expressive nerds deserved something more like a MiniMoog. Flexur’s floating touch bars are complimented by a streamlined, knob per function synth designed to compliment them. Every parameter is on the surface.
Flexur is also a Controller
For players who want more advanced sounds, there is a suite of connectors to animate your favorite synthesizers with the expressive bars.
CV outputs make it easy to take control of an analog synth or eurorack modules. There are dedicated, parallel jacks for pitch, gate, push force, and envelope. Plug them in and they “just work". See Flexur controlling an 0-coast.
There is also MPE MIDI output via USB and TRS jacks for polyphonic expressive control of digital synths.
Flexur also includes a full sized (1/4”) instrument cable jacks for gigging musicians. It works with TS cables for plugging into a guitar amp or mixer. If you plug in a TRS cable it functions as a balanced output for long cable runs with low noise.
Where are we now? What are the risks?
We have built four copies of our functional prototype and tested it with over 100 early users. We have also worked with a design firm to develop an industrial design (the “look”) that you see in the renders. Now, we are raising funds via crowdfunding preorders to get to first customer ship. In order to maximize our chances of success, we are limiting the preorder campaign to 100 units and building in house so that we can quickly adjust as obstacles arrive. The funds will be used to cover one time fees of bringing up production (mold & extrustion tools, compliance, minimum order quantities, etc).
Our main risk will be the custom capacitive multi touch sensor we have developed, but we always have the option to roll back to a resistive sensor strip if necessary (like on the Otamatone). This preorder is for supports who can accept some risk and want to help make Flexur a reality. So far we have shipped 35 Quords and 550 LinnStrument surfaces, so we have some experience building electronics and handling logistics. In exchange they receive a discount, a warranty, behind the scenes updates, and a Flexur months before the next opportunity.
The first units will ship no earlier than 6 months from now. We market the timeline as “6-24 months” to set the expectation that shipping can take much longer depending on what challenges arrive. Between preorder and shipping, we will send monthly investor updates to our supporters to keep them up to date with the latest progress.
Thank you for your support in bringing Flexur and a little more melody to the world.
Fundraise as of June 10: $115,526 (fully funded!)
Flexur T2 is a Trautonium inspired, standalone, immediate fun, expressive synthesizer.
It’s an instrument for playing emotional melodies. It is easy to start playing right away, but also rewards weeks, months, and years of practice.
This product is our main focus at Sound Workshop, we aim to ship in 6-24 months. In order to get to first customer ship, we are preselling up to 100 units to raise at least $75k. These funds will be used to cover one time expenses like manufacturing tools, test fixtures, consulting fees, and minimum order quantities.
Preorder customers receive:
$200 thank you discount
Lifetime access to our paid Patreon feed
2 year, white glove warranty
To date we have validated the technology with the functional prototype seen in our pictures and videos. We have made four units of this prototype and delighted over 100 early testers. Moving forward we will be repackaging the electronics into the production intent design seen in the computer renderings. We will build the first 100 units in house so that we can focus on quickly iterating through challenges and shipping to you without the added obstacles of bringing up a factory. Your contribution will help make an affordable Trautonium into a reality.
Specs (Subject to Change):
450×280×70mm
Two Floating Touch bars, 15mm semitone pitch, 23 semitones
Streamlined knob per function subtractive synth with interface optimized for expressive play
Preset, autotune, and mono/poly/arp settings
6×12 mod matrix with two routing pathways and dedicated intensity sliders
USB C connector for power and firmware updates
Generous IO to control analog and digital synths: Audio in/out, TRS MIDI in/out, USB C MIDI out, 2x expression/gate in, 4x CV out (pitch, gate, envelope, force). Full sized balanced instrument cable jack for conveniently plugging into mixers, guitar pedals, and amps.
Expectations:
Shipping will take 6-24 months. We will send monthly backer updates on our progress, as well as post public YouTube videos going under the hood on our musical design and productization journey.
Preorder customers will receive lifetime access to our paid Patreon content through a to-be-determined side channel. (Patreon does not allow us to gift a lifetime membership on their platform)
International customers (outside the US) should expect to pay tariffs/VATs/fees when importing Flexur into their country.
This is a crowefunding campaign to fund the development of the instrument. There is some risk that we will fail to ship. This is intended for people who are willing to accept some risk and are motivated by helping to make this instrument a reality, receiving modest discount, and receiving the instrument as soon as possible. This instrument is our mission and we will move heaven and earth to make sure it ships to you. We are limiting the preorder quantity and building in house to maximize chances of success.
Thank you for helping to make expressive synthesizers more immediate, affordable, and portable. We hope that this will allow more people to play expressive, emotional melodies and get out there into their local music communities. Let’s go!