Rockit Kit
In 2012 this 8 bit synth kit appeared on Kickstarter.
The Rockit 8 bit synth kit was designed to be an inexpensive open-source project, allowing musicians to create a range of 8-bit sounds, while hackers and electronics enthusiasts would be an engaging electronics project and platform for synth exploration.
The synth itself makes a variety of noises including deep basses, chip noises, sci-fi robot weirdness, and loads more.
The hardware part of the kit is well documented and the code is written in C.
Specifications
- Fully Open Source Hardware and Well-Commented C Software Design
- Digital Analog Hybrid Circuitry
- 2 Digital Oscillators with 16 waveshapes, updateable to more
- 2 Low Frequency Modulation Oscillators with 10 destinations
- Innovative Digitally-Controlled Analog Filter with Low-Pass, Band-Pass, and High-Pass with Envelope Control and External Audio Input
- Analog Voltage-Controlled Amplifier with Envelope Control
- Drone/Loop Mode for Playing by Itself
- 19 Knobs to Twiddle and 8 Switches
- Full MIDI Input and Output
- Sound Patch Save and Recall
Availability
Sadly there’s been a lot of ‘rot’ in the past decade-and-a-half, with websites disappearing. Kickstarter declares “All Gone” but we don’t know if there’s any place to get hold of the kit, or even a parts list so it could be built from scratch.
Nevertheless, it’s a cool little device — maybe a number of Rockits are living their best build lives in music setups around the globe.
169 backers pledged $15,130 for this, so there must be a few out there, hopefully still working.
Do you have one?
