The compact electronic music studio that lets you jam with synths and drum machines. Developed by the makers of Patchblocks.
We are taking the idea of a music studio or live performance setup, built entirely out of hardware, and boiled it down to a range of very compact and affordable products. It gives you the feel and fun of jamming with hardware equipment, all bundled in a ready-to-use set with an impressive sound quality.
For more information please visit www.patchblocks.com or the Kickstarter campaign site.
All Patchblocks units, which are not part of the minijam studio, will be shipped directly!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Pre-Production ready to ship + design changes
almost 7 years ago
– Wed, Jul 12, 2017 at 11:20:24 PM
Hello everyone,
after some struggle with an unavailable component for the filter, mass-production issues with the original enclosure design, and delays with one courier service, we finally have all the parts and assembled the pre-production units. They will be shipped within this week.
Pre-Production ready to ship
Design changes:
The original black design with the blue glowing pots had to go through some changes. The glowing parts required an additional translucent sheet which was glued under the black polypropylene. Unfortunately this method didn't work very well in mass-production and we had to think of an alternative. Sticking with black would mean just holes for the led lights to shine through, not really a good option. A white sheet worked better, but the lights were pretty dim and fuzzy. Completely transparent rendered the labels hard to read. So the best alternative we found was using translucent sheets instead. I also worked on the prints to make them a bit more minimalist and clean - less cross between Alienware and Madcatz as it has been mocked on reddit ;) The pre-production units still have the ripped side panels, the series production version will have a clean and straight version instead. Also, we'll probably use white PCBs with red LEDs for the series production, to create a better contrast for the black label print and less aggressive illumination.
New translucent design
Some of the PCBs still have the LEDs between the pots, which were used to illuminate the ring in the black design. If those LEDs annoy you, and if you want to save some battery, you can cut a small trace at the back to turn them off.
Cut-trace for potentiometer LEDs
New Features:
I've worked on the firmware for the .hub and the .waves in the meantime. Filip turned the waves into a paraphonic synth (just one filter for all voices), which freed up enough CPU to crank up the sampling rate to 30KHz. I spent a whole week, trying to make the hub support old SD cards (which are not class 10), which kind of works now - if you format them FAT32 with the maximum cluster size. Still, we recommend to just get a fast SD card. I also improved the ADC recording quality a bit.
The .waves got a handy new feature: double tap recording mode. If you double tap record, it will stay in record / overdub mode until you press record again. Before that you had to hold record pressed, while recording notes.
Please give feedback:
If you are one of the pre-production backers, please give us some feedback, so that we can improve the product for the series production. Also, if you notice bugs in the firmware, please let us know.
All the Best
Sebastian, Sascha, Filip and Team
Pre-Production in Production
almost 7 years ago
– Thu, Jun 29, 2017 at 11:00:27 PM
Hi Backers,
here's a quick update to keep you guys informed. We had some issues with one of the components of the filter, and some other minor hiccups, but finally all the pre-production PCBs are in our German office and working. Those units are getting assembled over the next few days, while Filip and I work on further firmware improvements. Here are some impressions from the assembly process:
pre-production assembly
pre-production filters with DIP IC
Also, I grabbed the camera today to give you a quick update on some new features and other developments ...
We're looking forward to sending out those units and hope we get lots of useful feedback from our super-early-adopters to make the minijam even better for the main production.
There will also be changes to the look and feel of the product, mainly PCB and LED colour, as well as polypropylene enclosure design and side panels. But more about this in another update - once we can show actual pictures.
All the best and thanks for your patience and support!
Sebastian & Patchblocks Team
Yaaay, thank you everyone!
almost 7 years ago
– Sat, Jun 10, 2017 at 05:42:23 AM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Ask.Audio MasterClass and more
almost 7 years ago
– Sun, Apr 30, 2017 at 06:29:29 AM
Hello everyone,
we managed to get over 80K so far, with a good bit of luck and plenty last minute backers we might make it up to the magical 100K – that would be phenomenal. Here’s some news of what’s happening on our side.
New PCBs
We just received a new sample production of PCBs from one of our suppliers. In order to get the best quality and some production security, we made two small batches with two different suppliers. The PCBs you might have seen in some of the youtube reviews that have popped up recently were of the first batch and didn’t have the blue LEDs around the pots. Now we got new ones with the LEDs and a blue display on the .hub.
New test batch
Backerkit
Also, we will be using Backerkit for the handling of the checkout process after the campaign finishes. As we might not reach the stretch goals, we will still offer you some goodies in this process. Mainly our other gear, such as Patchblocks, the new PBMIX-3 mixer and some accessories, all at a super backer-friendly discount.
Superbooth and reviews
The day I was down at Superbooth was great. I’ve got to see lots of new stuff, talked to some distributors, manufacturers and even backers! Also, this trip resulted in two interviews.
Also, here is a last minute reminder for my Ask.Audio MasterClass later today at 12:00pm (PT) / 20:00pm (GMT). I’ll be showing how to work with the studio, explain the individual machines and how to integrate a Volca or Pocket Operator. The MasterClass is free and you get a live chat where you can ask me questions. Here is the link to enrol:
Design and Free Stuff
about 7 years ago
– Wed, Apr 26, 2017 at 10:38:39 AM
Be part of it
If you are a backer of our project, we want you to be more than a customer, we want you to be part of the team. But this comes with responsibility – are you up for it?
Be a designer
There has been some discussion online regarding the design of the machines. Discussion is good, but we would like to take a more scientific approach and quantify those opinions. Please take part in our short google survey and let us know what you think. I’m particularly curious about your views on the full colour printed designs.
Doodle design idea
Getting involved with the design doesn’t end there. I’ve uploaded a .pdf template of the tek.drum. If you’re good with illustrator or just have a mad idea about how the designs could look like, download it and go nuts. Share it in our forum or drop me an email about it (seba…[email protected]). If you know any visual artists whose work could fit on the machines, send us a link.
Be a promoter
We’re now also launching a referral programme. That means you can get some FREE STUFF!
2 friends that back the full studio will get you a surprise gift with your reward
3 friends that back the full studio will get you a free minijam machine of your choice
8 friends that back the full studio will get you another full studio
If you want to take part, just put your name and email into this google form. We will then send you a unique referral link to our campaign – for you to spam all over the internet ;)
