Synth Maverick Love Hultén’s Latest: A MIDI Guitar Marvel

Few have reshaped, reconstructed, and reimagined the landscape of synthesizer innovation quite like Love Hultén. Renowned as a trailblazing creator within the realm of electronic music apparatus, Hultén has consistently unveiled awe-inspiring creations, ranging from synths and loopers to modular electro units, alongside ventures into realms as diverse as record players and arcade games. Based in Sweden, this musical maverick has commenced 2024 with a collaborative endeavor alongside ‘catbeats’, introducing a new project that, while currently nameless, promises a distinctive fusion of MIDI guitar and NESpoly synth, ingeniously crafted for portability.

Hultén’s latest brainchild presents an unconventional MIDI instrument, blurring the lines between guitar tradition and electronic innovation. Featuring a fretboard for note triggering and a dedicated strumming interface for chords, the device is adorned with an array of knobs and buttons facilitating looping, modulation, play/pause functions, and gain control.

Designed with travel in mind, the entire apparatus can be disassembled, boasting bespoke touches tailored to the user’s experience. Reflecting ‘catbeats’ affinity for feline themes, a charming cat avatar resides beneath a removable clear dome, reminiscent of pet carriers. The avatar, interchangeable to suit varying moods, adds a whimsical touch. Additionally, Hultén playfully describes the guitar’s strap as crafted from ‘extraterrestrial skin’, though in reality, it’s fashioned from a clear, flexible plastic sheet—unless, of course, extraterrestrials have indeed mastered skincare beyond our comprehension.

While MIDI guitars may be a rarity, particularly ones of such innovative caliber, the unveiling of this creation by Hultén hardly surprises aficionados familiar with his oeuvre. Known for pushing boundaries with creations ranging from a circular Game Boy to a synth fashioned from plastic dentures, this offering may not rank high on the eccentricity scale for Hultén, yet it serves as another testament to the boundless creativity of his mind.