Twisted Electrons hapiNES L Synthesizer

General

When you lay it all out, the evolution of synthesizers is pretty amusing. Throughout the '70s, '80s, and '90s, it was all about the biggest and best in terms of tunings, sounds, and effects and now, in the 21st century, a lot of smaller companies are coming up with more unconventional synths that sometimes take things a few steps back to simpler times. A great example is this offering from Twisted Electronics - a small and unassuming little desktop synth that can be combined with other just as little desktop synths to make nothing but pure joy: the hapiNES L.

The hapiNES L: Power Up!

The hapiNES L is essentially a desktop version of the very same audio chip that the very first, and very original Nintendo Entertainment System used to soundtrack Mario as he took out a turtle or butted his head against any free-floating brick marked with an ominous question mark. And here, using four oscillators, you're given the power to play the NES chip like a synth. The noise-oscillator can be manipulated to spit synthetic drums, while a triangle, and two block/pulse oscillators are provided to shape melodies. A built-in sequencer/arpeggiator can be deployed to build complex patterns per oscillator and also offers support for creating the kind of fast arpeggios that were used to simulate chords. If you yearn to power up your set up with the nostalgic comfort of genuine 8-bit sound, then you're exactly where you need to be.