The Chromaplane won first prize at the Guthman Musical Instrument Competition in 2025, a recognition that speaks to how genuinely novel its approach to sound synthesis really is. This isn't a keyboard or a grid controller—it's an electromagnetic instrument that lets you physically move two pickup coils across its surface to "listen in" on a cloud of ten invisible magnetic fields underneath, creating an experience that feels more like playing an acoustic instrument than sitting at a traditional synth.
The heart of the Chromaplane is its fully analog, fully polyphonic architecture built around ten square wave oscillators arranged in three independent rows across its compact aluminum surface. Each electromagnetic field can be individually tuned using precision adjustment screws, and each row has an octave-down switch to expand the frequency range—the bass row spans 10Hz to 700Hz, the middle covers 35Hz to 1400Hz, and the high row reaches up to 2600Hz. Since all ten oscillators are always sounding, you're sculpting from a rich harmonic cloud rather than triggering individual notes, which naturally lends itself to creating complex evolving drones or surprisingly agile melodies depending on how you move the pickups. The signal passes through a 4-pole lowpass filter that can self-oscillate and be modulated by the internal audio signal itself, plus a lo-fi delay with CV control over the time parameter to add space and texture. There's also an external audio input for processing outside signals through the same electromagnetic fields, and an envelope output that tracks the instrument's amplitude for controlling other gear.
The Chromaplane emerged from years of live performance by the Passepartout Duo, who developed the original larger version and performed over 100 concerts with it before collaborating with KOMA Elektronik to bring it to production. The community response has been enthusiastic—the Kickstarter campaign successfully funded a first production run of 500 units, and players consistently praise its intuitive, gestural interface and the organic, unpredictable character of its electromagnetic synthesis.
