Greetings all -
I’m on the hunt to a cool synth for a young player. I already found the Blipblox which is perfection but I can’t get my hands on one.
Any ideas for something similar?
Cheers,
-Robert
3 Likes
How about the Dato Duo?
I don’t think there is any reason this can’t be played solo, but playing together with a friend (or Mom and Dad) would be good too.
ADDED: Nice video demo.
Another thing to do would be to watch DivKid’s video on Eurorack for kids! It would take considerably more work to get going, and more expense, but on the up side is it is an open ended thing that could really grow with the child. (The Dato Duo is made to grow too.)
5 Likes
Is a Volca not good for kids?
5 Likes
the microkorg is really kid friendly. My nephew had no trouble digging in and getting weird right away.
…not that he knew what he was doing, but he had fun.
the korg monotribe might be a nice kid-friendly synth intro, too.
…or a volca.
4 Likes
Another idea – in more of an ambient realm is the new Glo Polyphonic Whale on Kickstarter.
It wouldn’t be available by Christmas, but no doubt there are other options in a similar vein that would encourage sound exploration.
Heck a very simple audio sampler is fun just to muck about and collect sounds.
Heck anything with a vocoder is great, if you can sound like a monster or a dinosaur.
5 Likes
Moog One hands down.
21 Likes
Volcas are good. My son likes the Volca FM a lot. Pocket Operators too.
3 Likes
The OP-1 is fantastic for kids (once they’re back in production, at least).
1 Like
Thanks everyone. Some good ideas here.
This kid loves my Moog, OP-1, and Elektrons. I’d like him to have something he can take home. Something durable and accessible for a 6-7 year old. I’d love to go with a MicroKorg but it’s just a bit pricey for this situation.
The pocket operators are a great balance of price and complexity. Cheap enough to buy for a kid, deep enough to keep interest as the kid grows. They are also built rather well, in my opinion.
2 Likes
I had this question too
Bought a 1€ toy at 2nd hand kingsday market
Saw how my son loops audio with it (5 y old)
Now I think of buying this one
1 Like
How about the Toysmith Multi-Voice Changer ($20) – On sale various places for $10!
it’s got various switches for, high voice, low-voice, robot-voice, etc. I’ve used it and seen kids go crazy with it too and it’s fun.
Up from that would be a real vocoder, something like the Electro-Harmonix Iron Lung Pedal which is a real vocoder, so you can pitch follow another audio source. And while that pedal is only $135, you need a mic, and output amp and speaker, and some sort of audio source to follow, which is going to run into real money if you don’t have that stuff already. Plus setting that up for a kid is probably out of the question.
Perhaps there’s some sort of integrated device that would be more intermediate in price like $50, but give a real vocoder function.
3 Likes
Check out littleBits Synth Kit. They say it’s for ages 14+ but I’ve seen kids younger than that have a lot of fun with a little guidance.
Also if the kid in question has an ipad, helping them install GarageBand and show them how to use it is a great “free” musical gift.
1 Like
There are all sorts of apps that are simple, kid friendly, and fun.
Decided on a Korg Volca Keys. Thanks again everyone!
8 Likes
Bookmarked this one!
My 2.5 yo son used to love “playing” with the Circuit and Volcas, but that usually meant turning them on, toodling for 2 minutes, then turning them off again.
I look forward to the day he has an attention span and can at least appreciate a good filter sweep! 
3 Likes
i got this little one for my nephew. he was only little but he had heaps of fun as we built it together and he could annoy his mum with crazy noises hehe
4 Likes
Don’t forget the new Stylophone. Cheap and fun.
My kids were both very fond of the Moog Grandmother for some reason.
6 Likes