Created by Sam Conran at the RCA/Design Interactions, the Kabbalistic Synthesizer is a is a musical synthesizer that uses the combination of electric signals to build and create sound bottom up using its raw basic elements. It replaces all usual functions of a regular synthesizer, signal, noise, ADSR, gate and keyboard with alternatives that are generated by live macrocosmic phenomena. The result is a synth that operates itself with waveforms generated by the Earths magnetic field, noise via magnetic storms of Jupiter and keyboard via cosmic rays.

When the recent ESA comet landing took place, a sound recording of abstract tones was disseminated and went viral with 5,000,000 (+) plays (the equivalent of going 10 times platinum). This recording captured the imagination of the world as it provided a tactile and experiential connection to the extremely complex science of physics as well as interplanetary exploration. The process used to make the recording is called ‘sonification’, a data driven sound design that relies on speculation by the designer and synthesis to create sounds that don’t exist. The resulting sounds are semi-real and are used as tools in aid of scientific outreach.