Richard Van Hoesel GND-1T, a chaos Synthesizer built around Speak & Spell

Richard Van Hoesel GND-1T is a new Synthesizer that recreates the iconic Speak & Spell on a chaos and glitch trip.

In 1978, Texas Instruments introduced Speak & Spell, a colorful child computer that could make letters and words audible. Nowadays, the original device is a cult. It is particularly popular among circuit benders. Many people hack them to create glitch and noise instruments.

One reason for this is the speech synthesis at the core of Speak & Spell, which makes this possible. An Australian developer, Richard Van Hoesel, loves the S&P so much that he created a standalone Synthesizer that goes far beyond what the OG and circuit-bended versions can do. 

Richard Van Hoesel GND-1T

The GND-1T or Glitch & Drum 1 Touch is a new Synthesizer based on a faithful emulation of the TMS speech synthesis chip found in the classic vintage Speak & Spell child computer.

Richard Van Hoesel describes it as a standalone chaos monster inspired by many years of circuit-bending hardware Speak & Spells to produce musical sounds. The GND-1T is a Synthesizer, MIDI drum generator/sequencer, effects processor, and more in a single device.

Visually, the new synth has nothing to do with the original. However, touch remains, not with a touch-sensitive membrane keyboard like in the later versions, but with a touch screen. There are also a few knobs to tweak the engine.

Multi-Engine

The core hosts a multi-engine, including a faithful emulation of the original speech synthesis. In addition, you can use various other speech synthesis concepts, formant, vowel, and glottal, as well as other engines, rhythm, complex oscillator, and more.

Of course, you can also virtually circuit bend or work with glitches in the GND-1T. Special modes are also available for this. According to Richard Van Hoesel, the multi-engine comes with around 150 real-time parameters, allowing you to dive deep into sound creation.

Then, it offers unique internal drum kits and various stereo multi-effects, including resonant post filter, overdrive, and echo effects with looping to refine your sounds.

A highlight is the GND-1 T’s automation capabilities, which enable parameters to drift and morph between patches randomly. You can also do this bidirectional morphing manually. 

Besides the automation, it also includes a modulation engine with various modulator signals: mod wheel, velocity, breath-control, aftertouch, expression LFO, and more. The modulation block is unique here as it mixes twin waveforms selected from over 30 wave shapers and signal sources each. 

If you use the MFO, you can also archive audio rate modulations of the amp, pitch, and speech filter. 

Rhythmics 

Richard Van Hoesel also added a dynamic MIDI rhythm generator algorithm to the GND-1T, which allows users to generate patterns on the fly. This engine also comes with over a dozen drum parameters, giving users full control over their sounds. 

A look at the backside. You can find a USB port for data (MIDI) and digital audio, a USB host, a main output, and +9V DC input. On the left and right sides, you can find an analog AUX input, a headphone socket, and a full-size MIDI In/Out interface.

First Impression

One thing is sure: you don’t need to buy an OG Speak & Spell if you need the sounds. There are probably a million samples of it on the net. The GND-1T Synthesizer, on the other hand, is something new based on this iconic toy.

It is exciting that the engine has been emulated and massively expanded for this release. It looks like a wild, fun Synthesizer, which some will be excited about.

Richard Van Hoesel GND-1T (Speak & Glitch) is now available for $863 AUD and with a hard case for $908 AUD. The price includes worldwide shipping.

More information here: Richard Van Hoesel

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