I was lucky to snag a first-run Shbobo Shnth, Peter Blasser’s just released computer music device.  It is tiny at 4.25 x 4.25 x 1.25 inches.  It features:

• 4 touch-sensitive wood barres
• 8 control buttons
• 2 touch-sensitive antennae (on the back side)
• 8 LED indicators
• A microphone input

The output is through a stereo mini-jack.

Shnth is programmed in a language called shlisp.  The programs load from a computer via a USB cable, which also serves to charge the internal battery.  Shnth can be disconnected from the computer and played with the currently loaded program.  Programs can contain a group of separate ‘situations’, which represent different patches.

Here’s a quick demo, using one of the supplied programs, called ‘vancouver’, which has several different situations that I stepped through to demonstrate.

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