KOMA Elektronik and Passepartout Duo have introduced Chromaplane, a unique new polyphonic electromagnetic instrument.
The Chromaplane features a touchless interface, organic analog sounds, and an intuitive way of playing, all made possible by invisible electromagnetic fields.
KOMA says that the Chromaplane “combines the expressivity of traditional acoustic instruments, with the endless experimentation of electronic sound design.”
Here’s the official Chromaplane intro video:
Audio demo video:
Pricing and Availability:
KOMA is planning to fund production of the Chromaplane via a crowdfunding campaign, which they say will be launching soon. See their site for more information.
“[a]ll made possible by invisible electromagnetic fields.” – because not all electromagnetic fields are invisible, or stay crispy in milk.
It feels like someone drew the basics on a cocktail napkin while drunk, sobered up and built what they’d drawn. The sound is too fascinating to write off as a toy. Although It might seem to defeat the freewheeling purpose, I’d find it more inviting with a simple grid for reference. It comes across as a weird cousin to MPE, so it has a lot of space music potential. I hear some interesting guitar/woodwind-like performances waiting in the background.
At first glance, this looks way cooler than it is. I was under the impression this was a theramin-like plate which allowed us to take different magnetic objects (hands are technically magnetic) and move them over the plate to generate sounds. This is the opposite of that, the little hand things pick up the magnetic fields the plate generates from its little dots. I hope one day someone makes the device I though this was, but imo this is a total gimmick. It’s basically just using fridge magnets as your synth controller. Kinda neat, but not practical, and really not very useful for experimental music (unless you’re SUPER into ambient stuff, then it might be for you). Seems pretty limited overall, and from what I gather it doesn’t actually map to the DAW which is sort of a deal breaker for any kinda control surface these days. For most people, this device will need a whole lot more functionality than they’re advertising to have much practical use.
Looks very fun and original. I alreay own an Elektrosluch electromagnetic microphone and this is taking it on another level. Onstabuy from me if its priced right.
Price will be starting from €299 on Kickstarter