Project Descriptions
CalcSynth is a synthesizer and sequencer based on the Chinese cultural phenomenon of ‘singing calculators’ – online creators repurposing calculators with sound as musical instruments. It formalizes this playful hack into a complete esolang-based synthesis system. Using only numbers, basic calculator operators (+ – × ÷ % =), and calculator memory functions (MC, M+, M-), users can generate complex sounds and sequenced patterns: addition builds harmonics, subtraction shapes envelopes, division filters frequencies, etc. The severe constraint makes explicit what synthesizers hide: that sound manipulation is mathematical computation. Bridging digital and physical forms – web application and hardware-hacked calculator – CalcSynth asks what creative possibilities emerge when we repurpose dismissed technologies into serious performance tools.
Project Live Demo (Web Application Ver.)
Link to project