Show HN: I built a synth for my daughter

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Overall Reaction

  • Commenters are overwhelmingly enthusiastic, calling the project beautiful, polished, and surprisingly professional for a first hardware build.
  • Many adults say they personally want one, not just for kids, and several explicitly say they’d back a Kickstarter or want to buy/build a kit.
  • People appreciate that the synth is “actually musical” rather than just a noisemaker, and that it’s hard to make it sound bad.

Comparisons & Existing Gear

  • Strong parallels drawn to kid-/consumer-focused instruments: Dato Duo/Drum, Blipblox, Teenage Engineering Pocket Operators/EP series, Korg Kaossilator/Monotron, Bliptronic 5000, CHOMPI, MFOS Weird Sound Generator, Modern Sounds Pluto, etc.
  • Opinions on those alternatives are mixed: fun and capable but often with fussy UIs, strong “design opinions,” or higher prices; still good reference points for a commercial path.

Design & UX Feedback

  • The physical, tactile interface (sliders, knobs, no screen) is widely praised as more engaging than touchscreens.
  • Suggestions: modular companion devices (drum machine, chord synth, sequencer), clock sync between units, swing/longer patterns, hidden max-volume control, headphone jack, more synth parameters, possibly stepped faders.
  • Some warn kids will pull off knobs; recommend gluing or otherwise securing them.

Manufacturing & Enclosure

  • Discussion of enclosure options: plywood + bent sheet metal, wood, vacuforming, PCB front panels, continued 3D printing, and soft tooling for lower-cost injection molding.
  • Several argue 3D printing may be best for small runs; soft tooling can be fragile and costly.

Electronics, PCB, and Tools

  • Multiple replies to “baby’s first PCB” question:
    • Basic audio-rate boards are feasible for beginners; cost is low (often tens of dollars for small batches).
    • Workflow described: schematic/netlist → PCB layout → auto-routing → DRC checks, then fabrication.
    • Recommended tools: KiCad, EasyEDA, Fusion 360; communities like /r/PrintedCircuitBoard and IRC/Libera channels for reviews.
  • Commenters note how accessible such projects have become thanks to cheap microcontrollers, desktop 3D printers, affordable PCB fabs, and LLM help.

Music, Theory & Semantics

  • Debate around whether it’s a sequencer or synthesizer; consensus: it’s both (sound generation + step sequencing).
  • One detailed thread on correct note naming (A# vs Bb) and diatonic scales; others mention alternative tunings and different notational conventions.

Parenting & Kid Experience

  • Many parents share stories of building or buying musical gadgets for their kids and note the tension between inspiring creativity and enduring repetitive noise.
  • Several hope this kind of device can expose children to real musical structure early, with a high “fun floor” and high “skill ceiling.”