Gear

Having trouble justifying your next noisemaker purchase? Make Magazine (makershed.com) has the solution: the Gakken SX-150. This Japanese analog synthesizer is made up of a single oscillator, a couple of straightforward controls, and a touch strip to control pitch, all for wallet-friendly $45.99 U.S. It’s no Mini-Moog right out of the box, but shipped as a kit with its guts exposed, and an expanding library of online videos on how to mod it (adding a midi kit for plug in and play with any new-ish keyboard) this meant to be bent device may be the only synth you’ll ever need. While the virtual world relies on users’ input to make sites like Facebook come alive, Make may be on the way to crowd-surfing a non-virtual product into the ultimate synthesizer with a price tag that would be a steal at twice the price (hint: get two).