The Pocket Organ: An Open Source Musical Instrument

Thomas Tempe Thursday, July 30, 2020: 0900. If you were to name three instruments, chances are they would all be over 300 years old. If not, then their user interface would be inherited from centuries past. They need to make beautiful sound while be...

Thomas Tempe

Thursday, July 30, 2020: 0900. If you were to name three instruments, chances are they would all be over 300 years old. If not, then their user interface would be inherited from centuries past. They need to make beautiful sound while bearing archaic manufacturability constraints. They might be terribly difficult to learn, and probably for the wrong reasons.

The pocket organ is about designing an instrument that fits in your pocket, plays with earphones, is extremely easy to learn, and has a depth to it, plus a set of strengths and limitations that are quite unique and useful.

While there are exquisite modern instruments out there, they're all legal monopolies of their respective owners, and their price typically puts them out of the reach of beginners. The pocket organ is an attempt to change that.