Tocante Zenert Solar-Powered Touch Synthesizer

Imagine coaxing pitched noise from sunlight alone, with a synthesizer that turns your fingertips into a chaotic orchestra of tones. The Zenert, part of Ciat-Lonbarde's Tocante family, captures that wild spirit through 24 analog oscillators tuned to non-standard intervals derived from resistor values, producing just intervals, neutrals, and majors/minors that evade equal temperament for truly alien harmonies.

Its touch-sensitive copper pads span four octaves, where pressing multiple notes unleashes polyphonic noise swarms filtered through a resonant low-pass for sculpted timbres—touch the ornate surface elsewhere for interference, PWM-like modulations, and timbral shifts. A built-in 0.5-watt speaker lets it fill a room unplugged, or pipe resonant audio via the 3.5mm mono out; solar-rechargeable NiMH batteries keep it running anywhere, with a 12V DC option for low-light days. At 28 x 8 x 2 cm, this wooden micro instrument feels intimate, like a handmade talisman designed by Peter Blasser for experimentalists craving tactile, sun-fueled soundscapes.

Players love its unpredictable expressiveness and eco-friendly freedom, though some note the touch sensitivity demands a light hand to avoid overloads.