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Music

The Mixtape Alpha Synth is the Size of a Cassette Tape and Cooler Than Your iPhone

The Perfect, Portable Synth for Ignoring Your Friends Anywhere!

Ever wanted to churn out Crystal Castles-lite beats on the subway while people stare annoyingly in your direction? Or interrupt dinner with a jam session on a device that fits comfortably in your skinny jeans? Or maybe you want to give someone a cassette that won't play in any conventional player, and instead of carefully-curated tracks contains your own songs, half-baked sketches and ideas? Well congratulations, the tiny synth that is known as the Mixtape Alpha is now available again.

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Created by Chicago’s and MIT’s , the Mixtape Alpha is an 8-bit synth with four voices, four effects, and five-note polyphony, and even the ability to loop and play over stored patterns. Note input is done via a stylophone-style strip, similar to the Korg Monotron series. For the hackers in the audience, all of the source code can be found on a convenient page for even more customization.

We first heard of this tiny wonder back in April 2012 when our friends at the Creators Project shared news of . Unsurprisingly, that batch of Mixtape Alphas sold out faster than you can say “SYNTH SO HARD,” but you can now order your own now . You’ve got about 30 days left, and at $42 USD, this thing looks like a steal.