At Superbooth 2019, LeafAudio showed us their updated Microphonic Soundbox – a toolbox for sound design.
The Microphonic Soundbox mk2 is an acoustic wooden experimental instrument. It features metal springs, metal rods, sand paper and a Kalimba made from carbon strips, but it can also be extended with other found materials.
We talked with LeafAudio’s Manuel (Manu) Richter, who gave us an overview of the updated Microphonic Soundbox and demonstrated some of its sound design possibilities.
I love these noise & sound generators – just wish I had the hours of time required to play with them!
Their « This is not a Fxxxing Theremin » T-Shirts were pretty funny.
So basically analog Omnisphere. Wicked cool. 😉
Really? I guess I need to know more about Omnisphere. Anyway this thing is right up my alley!
Omnisphere is a virtual instrument where the sound developers did lots of “sound design” type of work with unusual sources. But it’s WAY more than that. This was just a reference to the more experimental sounds in their vast library.
This concept of contact mics and a variety of vibrational & resonating attachments is great. Though a savvy person could create their own version, this set of products is impressively versatile.
I don’t know if they sell kits or parts, but that would be a nice way to encourage diverse user upgrades/variation.
I know it’s not the same, but if you’re looking for a physical thing to bang on, that has a shitload of sounds, and gives you nearly infinite variety of ways to play it to get different tones and modulations, AND is ready to be plugged in without messing with contact mics etc, I strongly recommend you check out a Korg Wavedrum.
Those are awfully cool.