Blipblox: The Synthesizer for Kids, That's More Than Just a Toy
Meet Blipblox: The Synthesizer for Kids, That's More Than Just a Toy
January 2, 2019
Co-Founders of Playtime Engineering, Kate and Troy Sheets
Electronic music has come a long way in the past two decades. Not only in terms of the music being made, but the technologies available to producers to utilize. The advance of Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs), such as Abelton and Logic Pro, has brought the power of the once enigmatic “studio” literally to users fingertips - democratizing music making for a whole generation of bedroom producers.
However, gear still holds a substantial place in the hearts of electronic music producers and companies have responded to the demand by making synthesizers and drum machines more affordable and accessible. You see remakes and clones of popular synths year after year, but one San Franciscan company is taking the idea of accessibility to another level entirely.
Playtime Engineering
Formed in 2018, Playtime Engineering is the creator of the Blipblox, a first of its kind synthesizer for children. That’s right, a synthesizer designed for the enjoyment of kids as young as three years old! I know what you may be thinking - aren’t synthesizers already fun for kids?
Yes, synthesizers are already a joy for music curious kids, but who wants an unsupervised 3-8 year old banging on their precious and expensive synth? With the Blipblox kids of all ages can play the way they want to and experience the joy of music synthesis on their own terms.
First Impressions
When I first encountered the Blipblox, I admit, I didn’t immediately identify it as a synthesizer. The absence of words like, “LFO”, “gain”, or “resonance” above the device’s knobs tricked me into thinking it was just another colorful children’s toy with flashing lights that played nursery rhymes or pretended to be the console of an imaginary spacecraft.
It wasn’t until I ventured to twist some of the knobs that I began to see I had been wrong. Because the sounds I was able to make surely could never come from a children's toy.
Rooted in San Francisco
The Blipblox is the brainchild of Kate and Troy Sheets, Co-Founders of Playtime Engineering. Kate’s industry experience in business management and Troy’s years as an electrical/hardware design engineer form the foundation, but it takes more than industry acumen to take the leap into entrepreneurship.
The two share a love for electronic music that dates back to their time raving in San Francisco in the 90’s and early 2000’s. They’ve been Burning Man attendees and even threw their own trance parties that sparked close relationships with artists such as Bassnectar.
Troy’s adolescence was spent producing music and viewing synths not just as instruments, but also as toys, which is where the idea for the Blipblox originates from. Because at its core, the Blipblox is the distillation of the most fun aspects of sound synthesis into a child-friendly device.
Speaking to Troy on the phone I asked what inspired him and Kate to leave their established careers for the Blipblox. His honest answer: “Working on synthesizers is a lot more fun.”
The creation of the Blipblox in San Francisco is no anomaly. Dance music in the City has a long and storied history, while tech companies are currently writing a new chapter in San Francisco’s books. These two entities are often at odds with each other, but with the Blipblox we see how dance music culture and technology can work together. To be fair, a children’s synthesizer isn’t something that will bridge the divide between an embattled culture and an industry that displaces it, but it’s encouraging to see at least an instance where one can positively influence the other.
Blipblox circuitry
How Does It Work?
For all you gear nerds, the Blipblox comes equipped with two envelope generators, two LFO’s, a low-pass filter, a sequencer,a drum machine, and over 300 pre-programmed melodies (learn more). There’s also an internal speaker, audio out jack, and a midi input to hook up external controllers.
The exclusion of an integrated keyboard is a main design point aimed at simplifying the user experience to knobs and levers - ideal for use by young children. Being battery operated also means the Blipblox can go wherever inspiration strikes. Overall, the sound design is geared to appeal to children, but adults who enjoy glitchy and chip-tune type sounds will be fans as well.
Conclusion
For those that have kids, the Blipblox is the kind of toy that will both educate and delight. If music or sound creation holds no appeal to your tiny tikes this product may not be for them.
For experienced music creators the Blipblox is not going to hold your fascination, but that’s not really the point. It’s about introducing synthesizers to a younger generation and getting them curious about music early on. As a plug and play instrument that doesn’t require years of piano lessons in order to gain proficiency the Blipblox fills a nice gap.
With those kinds of future implications, the Blipblox may be more than just a synthesizer for kids - it potentially could become one of the most important synthesizers ever created.
Blipblox are offering a pair of tickets to NAMM - the world’s largest trade show for music products, pro audio and event tech industry. Here’s your chance to win! Fill in our Giveaway form and tell us about your curiosity with synthesizers.
If you enjoyed the Blipblox, be sure to keep your eye out for Playtime Engineering’s newest product set to be announced at National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) annual trade show in January 2020.
Words by Brennan Ko
Photos courtesy of Playtime Engineering