Product Description
At once a minimalist musical plaything and a hardcore old-skool synthesizer, the Bliptronic defies categorization as it belts out 8-Bit style style tunes from its grid of glowing buttons. You'll notice sound similar to a retro Casiotone with an interface not unlike a simplified Yamaha TENORI-ON... if that makes any sense. close-up Bliptronic Philosophy... in Regards to Music In the world of the Bliptronic, creating a song revolves around an ever evolving 4-beat pattern. Each row of vertical buttons represents the notes in one octave. Push a button to turn on a note, push the button again to turn off a note. Push multiple buttons in one vertical row to make a chord. The Bliptronic plays whatever you have selected in sequence horizontally across the display. When it reaches the end of the pattern, it repeats. The genius comes as you modify the pattern by turning notes on and off while the pattern is still looping to create evolving electronic melodies. playing in a group Knobs and Buttons, There are Some In addition to the grid of glowing LED buttons you'll notice some other controls on the Bliptronic. These allow you to set the tempo (From 60-160 BPM), choose the instrument (From 8 different retro-synth type sounds), adjust the volume and turn looping on or off. A big "play" button at the bottom makes the Bliptronic uh... play. If you hit it again it stops. Yep. looks stylish The Bliptronic is a Social Butterfly One Bliptronic is grand, but more Bliptronics are even grander. An infinite number of Bliptronics can be attached together using the link ports and included cables. When one Bliptronic reaches the end of it's pattern, the next Bliptronic is instantly triggered to start playing. This allows you to make longer songs where each person controls a section of the song. You can even set the tempo and instrument differently on each Bliptronic in the chain to achieve unconventional musical results.
| List Price: | $49.99 |
| Price: |
$44.95 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details |
| as of Fri, 15 Feb 2013 02:39:06 GMT ***Remember, deals price on this item for sale just for limited time*** | |
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #3229 in Musical Instruments
- Brand: ThinkGeek
- Number of items: 1
Features
- Totally unique music making machine
- Plays sequences, chords, and loops
- Connect several together to create a symphony
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful.
By Mariposa Revolucion
i bought three of these, for xmas gifts, before knowing how bad the quality was. One arrived not working, the other two broke almost right away.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful.
By Adam
It can't play half-steps so I hope you like c major! The BPM knob is inaccurate and it falls out of sync with other devices within a couple patterns of starting it. The sounds are horrible low quality pcm tones; there's something like a piano, a xylophone, etc. I was expecting synth tones. I intended to use it for live sequencing but it's BPM drift makes it useless. A waste of money.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
By Casey Holmes
I plan on a video review of this great little device later.
Think Geek shipped it through Amazon quickly. It arrived well packaged and without issue.
I opened it up and was happy to find the aluminum faceplate on it. This is akin to other small electronic devices such as the Korg Kaossilator and Korg miniKP Kaos Pad that I plan to use the Bliptronic 5000 with on my DJ rig.
I plan to use the Bliptronic as sort of a musical metronome that I can mix beats into and out of on my DJ set. I plug the bliptronic into my Mini-KP Kaos Pad and then into my DJ mixer and amplifier so I can make it very loud and change the sounds of it radically. I then mix beats to it with my CDJ DJ system.
Sounds really cool. I will make a video later once again. Everyone is currently sleeping and it's too early to rock the house.
As for the unit itself,
The knobs are a bit hard to work with since they are smooth. Serrated knobs would have been better or easier to grip. To be honest, you could probably go to your local electronics surplus store to find some different knobs that are easier to grip so no big deal really there.
The other thing I noticed is that some of the knobs hit the aluminum case, causing friction when you turn them. The company has put some small plastic washers under the knobs to try and prevent this but it doesn't completely prevent knob to case contact as evident by the ring imprints left on the case aluminum plate when you pull the knob off. Also if you push on the power/volume knob too hard while adjusting the volume, the unit can glitch off and on a few times until you stop. I haven't opened it up yet to see why this is but may soon. Just go easy on the knobs and dials as they do seem a bit low quality. You might even be able to replace the knobs with better stuff if you are good with soldering and tinkering. If you can adjust your knobs to your physical liking it will improve the instrument quality and add some customization. I'm sure you could open the unit up and figure out how to "circuit bend" the electronics by adding more controls for other desirable features some electronics musicians may desire from it.
It reminds me of a mini Yamaha Tenorion for a fraction of the price, Yet I use it for a musical metronome on my DJ rig. For this reason I wish they included an external power source option to plug it into the wall and rid of the batteries however.
All in all a great little rythm machine with lots of potential.
Sooner or later one of my recorded DJ remixes will have the sounds of this Bliptronic 5000 incooperated. I like the small size and "pad-like" physical presence of the device too. It really can go anywhere easy and looks spiffy to boot.
If you put it in a blacklight the keys will glow green softly while the lit up red keys provide a nice effect. Sometimes I just turn the music down and stare at the glowing keys for a while as they pulse to the music. Almost a meditative device in a way. Something special about this neat inexpensive little plastic brick of glowy light-up buttons. Makes a great trip toy for the open minded.
If you read this and you can afford to shell out $40 on musical toys than this is for you. Don't hesitate to check one out. I will do video sooner or later. Check youtube but they don't show it being mixed to beats on a DJ rig or in the blacklight like I will soon! hehe
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