I mean, at the core of it, you have different circuits that are performing specific functions, so signal generators like.įLATOW: You got your littleBits right there. And I started mixing the two together on stage because it allowed me to create broader, larger scale immersive ideas from just one person.įLATOW: Paul, can you give us the basics of what a synthesizer is, in a nutshell? And I'd already been involved with synthesis since high school when I had a Roland W-30 which was the first music workstation. And then over time, I started learning about looping. So the idea of controlling all of the sounds that a sound engineer would do usually became fascinating to me.
A few other musicians were running their vocals, their voice through effects. Actually, Jay Clayton who's - who lives in New York, she was my teacher in jazz at the time. I mean, I was in bands for a long time and I became interested in affecting my own vocals. And you - how do you build electronics into your comedy act. This is SCIENCE FRIDAY from NPR, talking with Reggie Watts and Paul Rothman. I loved the idea of harnessing a computer of sorts to make music.įLATOW: I'm Ira Flatow. You know, like, how huge and monstrous it was, and yet it produced all these incredible sounds. WATTS: (Unintelligible) I don't know what it does, but we're loading it into the school. guy's unloading his synthesizer from the car. But when Stevie Wonder, when you would hear sounds on the radio that we're, like, computer robot sounds or rocket, you know, it's on a rocket, I immediately was fascinated with the idea. And, you know, I started with kind of acoustic-based artists like Ray Charles. I always - ever since - as far as I can remember I was always interested in little, tiny gadgets that make sounds. But, actually, a conversation that Reggie had with I at the TED Conference last year, a combination with the Japanese company KORG reaching out to us, interested in seeing if there was something that we could do together, kind of set this whole kind of product in motion.įLATOW: And, Reggie, when did you discover an interest in synthesizers? Having that musical background, was it a natural thing? I did study music here in NYU, specifically music technology and electronics. ROTHMAN: I think, you know, some of the idea came from just a general knowledge that we had in the company, backgrounds in music, a couple of our engineers are music majors.įLATOW: But you - and grew up playing violin and piano? Thank you for having me.įLATOW: How did the idea get - come about for the kit? He is the product development manager at littleBits and the man behind the Synth Kit. Also here to demystify the synth is Paul Rothman. REGGIE WATTS: It's my pleasure to be here.įLATOW: Thank you. And he's right here on our stage, as we - somebody use to say, with us, with his little synth.
Reggie helped littleBits develop their synth kit.Īnd you might know Reggie from his TV show "Comedy Bang! Bang!" Maybe you've seen his comedy performances where he improvises everything right there in the spot, songs on the spot, using electronics. And just in case you thought you were too cool to play with toys, well, that isn't stopping comedian Reggie Watts.
No electronics knowledge required, almost as simple as plugging together those Lego blocks. But do you know how they work? Yeah.Ī toy company called littleBits wants to show you they've created a do-it-yourself synth kit, a tiny synthesizer you can make yourself. In pop music, from the top 40s, to indie synth pop, you definitely heard synthesizers, maybe you've even seen them in action. It really were a rarity, but not so today. When that song "Autobahn" came out 1974, and, yes, I was around to remember when it came out then, synthesizers were the cutting edge in music technology.