Melancholytron is a book and a synthesizer, developed around a single emotional state.
A large, coffee table–style book of 72 pages, containing stories, illustrations, and poems that explore melancholy from different angles, alongside a brief introduction to the phenomenon and its translation into sound.
The book comes with a synthesizer featuring 25 non-velocity-sensitive keys, 5-note polyphony, and approximately 300 shades of melancholic sound. Each preset consists of individual samples for each key, with a minimum of 25 samples per preset. Some presets extend across a wider range of octaves through additional sampling.
The sounds are shaped using eight controls, adjusting qualities such as weight, brightness, darkness, depth, and the way a sound emerges and lingers over time.
A slider allows for real-time control of volume, enabling gradual swells and careful placement within a musical context.
Connections on the back include MIDI In, MIDI Thru, audio output, and power input.

What it is: a book about melancholy that comes with a synthesizer with 25 keys. It contains a carefully crafted library of sounds around the concept of melancholy. It features a hand full of polyphony, eight controls to make the sound sit in a musical context and a looming slider that pulls towards you, because that’s how swells should feel.

Technical

• 25-key keyboard
• One handful of polyphony
• Approximately 300 presets
• Each (MIDI) note within a preset has its own dedicated sample (3–16 seconds)
• Minimum of 25 samples per preset, often more
• 8 real-time controls: Darkness, Context, Waiting, Linger, Clouding, Stress, Weight, Focus
• Looming slider
• Altitude buttons
• MIDI In
• MIDI Thru (configurable as MIDI Out)
• Mono jack output
• DC power: 9–15V, center positive, 300 mA