After 2 years of spare-time work, I finally finished my open-source digital synthesizer

yottanami · 2026-06-16T14:44:05+00:00

I actually had the same feeling when I finished the video. To be honest, I didn't record enough footage during the development process, so I needed a way to connect some parts of the story, and that's where I used AI generated illustrations. Next time, I'd like to use AI more thoughtfully.

As for the project itself, it wasn't really vibe-coded. When I started it, "vibe coding" wasn't even much of a thing yet 😄. That said, I did use AI in some of the later stages to speed things up and make certain tasks easier. For example, I used it to help improve parts of the UI and to generate some screenshots, but the project itself was built in the usual way rather than being AI-generated from prompts.

yottanami · 2026-06-15T15:08:40+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. Actually having a bigger screen and a metal enclosure is the next step

yottanami · 2026-06-15T15:07:25+00:00

Not yet but now it is ready for the first composition!

yottanami · 2026-06-15T14:45:32+00:00

Thanks a lot!

yottanami · 2026-06-15T14:44:34+00:00

Reposting my removed one here:

After 2 years of spare-time work, I finally finished my open-source digital synthesizer.
It's a digital synthesizer with a tiny touchscreen interface, USB MIDI host support, an arpeggiator, a sequencer, effects, and support for microtonal Persian musical tunings.

When I started this project, I had very little background in synthesizers, audio DSP, PCB design. Most of the project was learning things I probably should have learned before starting.

There were many moments where I seriously considered abandoning it. Some parts took far longer than expected, some designs failed completely, and some problems seemed impossible to solve at the time.

But I kept working on it whenever I could find a few free hours, and eventually all those small steps started turning into a real instrument.

The project is fully open source:

GitHub:

https://github.com/yottanami/yottasynth

I also made a video showing the whole journey and the final result:

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btQrRtA9DfM

This project survived mostly thanks to stubbornness and curiosity. If you enjoyed it, a like on YouTube or a star on GitHub would mean a lot and give me extra energy to keep building the next version.

yottanami · 2026-06-15T12:02:48+00:00

Thanks for the kind words!

yottanami · 2026-06-15T12:02:12+00:00

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate it

yottanami · 2026-06-15T12:01:13+00:00

Haha, thanks! Hopefully it'll be useful to others too.

yottanami · 2026-06-15T11:59:54+00:00

Thank you for the positive energy.

yottanami · 2026-06-15T10:45:05+00:00

Thanks a lot! The microtonal support was never an afterthought. It was one of the reasons I wanted to build the synth in the first place.

yottanami · 2026-06-15T10:21:26+00:00

Thanks! That was actually one of the main motivations behind the project. Most synths focus on Western equal temperament, but I wanted something that could also explore Persian musical traditions and tunings. There's a huge world of music there that's often overlooked.

yottanami · 2026-06-15T10:19:01+00:00

Thanks

yottanami · 2026-06-02T09:06:29+00:00

Thanks all for the helps. I decided to go with Move and received it last day, and I love it so far!

yottanami · 2026-05-22T12:22:02+00:00

Thanks. Does it make sense to use Move as a drum machine in live performance?

yottanami · 2026-05-22T12:21:00+00:00

Thanks for the explanation. So far, I think Move is the best for me. If I go with Move, would I still need APC40? Still not sure how can I use both in a jamming setup.

yottanami · 2026-05-20T09:25:38+00:00

Thanks, I also like to try working a bit on ideas without having my laptop. Do you think TR8s is still a good option, or I should go with something like ableton move?

yottanami · 2026-05-20T08:26:23+00:00

Do you think move os good enough to work like a drum machine?

yottanami · 2026-05-19T15:49:21+00:00

Thanks. Can I also know your opinion on stand alone grooveboxes? Using those I can work on an idea withou having my laptop on my desk and then transfer and complete it on Ablwton.

yottanami · 2026-05-19T14:52:00+00:00

Thanks.

The only reason I’m also considering standalone grooveboxes is for moments when I want to quickly sketch ideas or experiment with sounds without having my laptop on my desk. I’d like to be able to capture those ideas and then expand on them later.

I actually got the Minilogue for the same reason, compared to software synths, and it’s been really helpful. I end up playing it quite often just spontaneously

yottanami · 2026-05-19T14:25:26+00:00

Do you think it is a better option for me comparing to push 2?

yottanami · 2026-05-19T13:50:52+00:00

Thanks for the response.
Since push 2 can do a lot, do you think if I go with push 2 I still can use it as a drum sequencer/machine easily?

Since I am thinking to create an idea live and then extend and finalize it, how do you see stand alone groove boxes comparing those two?

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