I’ve seen a lot of boutique makers with low-cost synths and DIY kits for synths, but I haven’t seen a major manufacturer some out with something like this in a long time:

KORG showed off their new “Monotron” at this week’s Musikmesse show in Frankfurt. The Monotron is a mini, true analogue synthesizer with VCO, LFO and VCF knobs, plus a ribbon controller (!).

The keyboard is a touch-sensitive resistive affair, which lets you add vibrato and other effeects by just moving your finger. The Monotron runs with two AAA batteries.

Here’s a video of the Monotron in action:

Particularly interesting is the filter, which KORG claims to be the same circuit found in the MS-10 and MS-20… but wait – there’s more. It also has an audio in jack so you can use the filter to process external sounds.

All this for a price of €50 (around $67 USD) seems too good to pass up.