Jamming with Ralf & Floor on Sneeuw & Ruis festival 2016

Published on Jun 15, 2016 Dato Musical Instruments

"We set up the Dato DUO at the Sneeuw & Ruis festival in Utrecht on June 11th 2016.

Music by Ralf & Floor (both non-musicians). Video edit by Quinten Swagerman (http://quintenswagerman.nl)

Get your Dato DUO on Kickstarter: http://dato.mu/ks"

The Dato DUO is Fully Funded!

Published on Jun 14, 2016 Dato Musical Instruments

"We made it! We reached 100% our Kickstarter funding goal to bring the Dato DUO in production with a little under 2 weeks to go.

Dato DUO is an innovative synth for two by Dutch designers David and Toon. It is aimed at musicians and non-musicians of any age. It has two faces: a synthesizer side and a synth side. Two players collaborate in making music facing each other. The controls and functions have been designed so that the instrument is easily usable by non-musicians, too. For the more serious musician, the Dato DUO is equipped with sync in and outputs and MIDI IN/OUT.

Dato has been visiting artists and letting them jam on the DUO prototype. Chris from Dutch producer duo Killing Skills says: “Constraints are actually really cool. They make you creative”. Videos will be posted on the Dato Music YouTube channel as they appear (http://dato.mu/yt).

The Dato DUO was selected Kickstarter project of the day on June 8th. We reached our funding goal of € 60000 (~$68000) in 15 days. The Kickstarter campaign will run until June 26th 23:00 CEST."

Dato DUO – The Synth for Two Adds Internal Speakers and Passes 50% Funding

via the Data DUO Kickstarter

"In our previous update, we announced that we will add MIDI IN and OUT to every Dato DUO. What we haven't told you yet, is that every Dato DUO will come with a built-in speaker as well. That should allow for hours of jamming on the couch."

Upcoming Dato DUO Mini Dual Hardware Synth and Sequencer Adds MIDI Support

Some great news in via the Dato DUO Kickstarter campaign. The Dato DUO will have both MIDI In and Out support!

"We received many requests for MIDI on the Dato DUO. The DUO already plays nicely with other gear like Volca's and Pocket Operators but we agree that just syncing isn't enough.

We have been crunching the numbers and stretching our design skills for the last few days and we have good news for you: we will be including full-size MIDI IN and OUT connectors on every Dato DUO!

Using the output, you will be able to use the DUO's sequencer to play notes on other MIDI gear. The input will be used to enter notes into the sequencer or play the synth. This makes the Dato DUO suitable for serious music production too.

We'd love to hear which MIDI gear you will be hooking up to the DUO!"

You can reach out to them via the contact link on their Kickstarter campaign page here. They are currently at $16,025 of their $67,062 goal with 25 days to go. If you are interested in seeing this fun little synth happen consider giving your support. Even if you can't afford to purchase one now, you can support them for as little as €5/$6. 

P.S. You'll find a banner for them on the top right section here on MATRIXSYNTH. You can get to their campaign page anytime by clicking on it.

Dato DUO Synthesizer for Two Launches on Kickstarter

A desktop synth with two two front panel interfaces. One dedicated to the sequencer and one to the synthesizer. Dato just started a Kickstarter campaign to fund it here. An early bird DUO runs $301 or €269.

"Dato DUO synthesizer for two launches on Kickstarter

A synthesizer and a sequencer in one package – for two players. Starts at €269.

Today, Dutch synthesizer startup Dato launches their Kickstarter campaign for the Dato DUO. Designed to be played by two, the DUO combines a synthesizer and sequencer into one electronic instrument that is aimed at children and adults alike.

"We believe synthesizers are too much fun to be left to grown-ups alone", says Dato co-founder David Menting. Musicians and non-musicians of all ages were involved in the design process, resulting in a unique and robust instrument. Co-founder Toon Welling: "We put all the things we liked most about other synths into one instrument".

The wedge-shaped electronic instrument houses a synthesizer on one side and a sequencer on the other. The eight-step circular sequencer has a pentatonic keyboard to play melodies into it, with further buttons and knobs to change those melodies on the fly. David: "We chose to limit the keyboard to five notes per octave so that any melody you play will sound in harmony.”

The other side of the instrument controls the synthesizer. Two large sliders control the two digital oscillators and the filter-cutoff frequency, with basic envelope controls to shape the sound. Effects and percussion can be added using two touch pads, making for a robust and versatile instrument even beginners can use. Toon: “You can’t do anything wrong on the DUO!"

The Kickstarter campaign runs from 27 May until 26 June. The first 100 early-bird backers can pre-order the synth for €269 (approx. $300), with regular Dato DUOs going for €299. Additional rewards include a limited all-black edition and a Kickstarter-only poster that can be folded into a paper Dato DUO model named the “Dato Acapella”.

About Dato
Based in Utrecht, the Netherlands, Dato creates musical instruments for future generations. Starting from the belief that making music is fun and should be so from the first time you try it, a Dato instrument is always out of the ordinary, yet easy to use.

While the DUO is Dato's first product, founders Toon and David have a few years of experience under their belt in the Dutch design landscape. Toon was recently selected by the Dutch Association of Designers (BNO) to participate in their Driving Dutch Design program for talented young Dutch designers. And David has run a successful consultancy bureau for interactive product design for the past six years."

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