Introducing UNA: a hands-on hardware composer for keyboard players

video upload by midicake

CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro & capturing a melody 0:16 Parametric sequences: mutes, steps, direction 0:46 Sequencing every parameter 0:57 Chords & chord progressions 1:14 Mixer & rhythm track 1:30 Bass variations with probability 1:41 Modulation 1:57 Soloing over the top 2:13 Patches & patch chains 2:30 Finale: MIDI CC output 2:45 Order UNA"

Midicake UNA Sart MIDI Arpeggiator - SonicLAB Presentation

video upload by sonicstate

"Chris joins us in the studio to show us the new *midicake Una*, a compact MIDI processor and sequencer that takes ideas from MIDI Cake ARP and puts them into a smaller keyboard-focussed format with three intelligent parts driven by MIDI input.

Note: UNA has gained a number of new features and UI improvements since this was filmed, including the Patch Chain and Program Change features mentioned in the video. Head to https://midicake.com/una for what's in the shipping firmware.

UNA is designed to be a musical idea capture device. It uses incoming notes as a harmonic source for three parts: chord, melody and bass. The chord track drives rhythm and harmony, the melody track works as a more complex arpeggiator/sequencer, and the bass track adds generated or edited bass movement. It reverse-engineers played ideas into its parametric sequencing engine rather than simply recording MIDI. It can also be attached to a low cost Android tablet directly for a larger interactive UI to expand control options.

Key features include per-parameter sequencing for pitch, gate, velocity, slice, octave, MIDI channel and delay. It supports ratchets, trills, swing, Euclidean-style mutes and accents, probability-based variation, chord chains, chord suggestions and live play with sustain. Luna also has two MIDI outputs and can route or sequence across multiple MIDI channels.

Una early bird launch offer £399 / $519 / €479 for the first 150 units and sells direct from https://midicake.com"



"Meet Midicake UNA, a hands-on hardware composer for keyboards, synths, and the people who play.

Capture a melody, then play the keyboard. UNA's rhythm, melody and bass tracks follow your chords. Every sequence is parametric and deterministic, so you shape it hands-on and the same settings always give you the same pattern. A pattern is only yours if you can repeat it.

In this video:
• Capture melodies by step recording or in real time
• Change mutes, steps and direction without touching a note
• Step-sequence every main parameter and slice notes
• Chain chords into progressions, and UNA keeps every track in harmony
• Mix tracks and pick from the factory patterns
• Add controlled variation to the bass with probability
• Modulate internal parameters and MIDI CCs with waveforms and step sequences
• Solo over the top with pitch quantisation
• Switch patches on the fly and chain them into patch progressions

Order UNA at https://midicake.com

Designed and built by hand. Free firmware, forever."

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Midicake UNA: building a track live on a Roland JUNO-X

video upload by midicake

"Watch Midicake UNA build a track from nothing on a Roland JUNO-X. Every sound is the JUNO-X. Every note comes from UNA and ARP, with the solo played live over the top.

It starts with a melody captured from the keys. The Bass track comes in, a three-chord chain is captured, and ARP takes over the drums. Then it's played live: the Modulators come on, the chord chain is switched off, and the chords go back to the player's hands.

UNA is a hands-on hardware composer for keyboards, synths, and the people who play. Hold a chord and the band starts. Change the chord and everything follows. Every pattern is parametric and playback is deterministic, so a pattern you like is a pattern you can repeat.

Midicake UNA is out now. The price you see is the price you pay, with duties and taxes included for the UK, EU, US, Canada, Switzerland and Australia."

Watch the UNA launch video: Introducing UNA: a hands-on hardware compo...

CHAPTERS
0:00 Capture a melody
0:17 Add the Bass track
0:35 Capture a chord chain
0:56 ARP running drums
1:49 Modulators on, chord chain off

Additional Midicake UNA posts

Midicake UNA Tutorial

video upload by midicake

See the announcement post here.

"Midicake UNA: the complete tutorial. Everything UNA does, from plugging in to patch chains, in one sitting.

UNA is a hands-on hardware composer for keyboard players. Hold a chord and the band starts: three tracks, Rhythm, Melody and Bass, follow the chords you play in real time, while your other hand stays free to solo. In this video Chris, founder of Midicake, walks through every part of the instrument with a keyboard plugged in: the controls and views, keyboard split and LISTEN, the Melody, Rhythm and Bass tracks, capturing what you play, chord chains, Modulators and patches.

Use the chapters below to jump straight to a topic, and come back to this video as a reference.

Midicake UNA is on sale from 15 October 2026. Early bird launch offer: £399 / $519 / €479 for the first 150 units, taxes included, free shipping. https://www.midicake.com"

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SynthFest 2026 Walkthrough

video uploads by Molten Music Technology

"I visited SynthFest for the day in Sheffield and these were the bits of synth and modular that caught my attention."

You can use the player controls to skip around once started.

Playlist:

1. SynthFest 2026 Walkthrough

Sound On Sound magazine brought back SynthFest this year to delight us with synthesisers, modular and electronic music technology. It was filled with gear, seminars and a good dollop of community. Here's my walkthrough of the main expo in the hope of giving you some of the vibe of this fabulous show. Check out my handful of other videos getting closer in on some of the interesting bits that caught my attention. https://www.synthfest.co.uk/

2. SynthFest 2026 Noise Lab Beat Designer

To go along with their Drum Designer module, Noise Lab has come up with a fully featured drum machine called Beat Designer. https://www.noiselab.se/

3. SynthFest 2026 Orbiton

A remarkable new prototype instrument called Orbiton. It uses these twangy lamellas to physically modulate the sound. Currently the sound source is a DSP internal synth, but the intention is to be able to use the lamella vibrations as oscillators as the instrument develops. https://orbitonsynth.com/

4. SynthFest 2026 Delia Derbyshire Day

Grabbed a few moments at the Delia Derbyshire Day booth who are using Delia's legacy to empowered women in electronic music and technology. This was juston the Insta360 camera so the video and audio are a bit ropey, but it's a wonderful charity who deserve a shout-out. https://deliaderbyshireday.com/

5. SynthFest 2026 Half-Time Modular 8TR, 2TR and a Looper

Half-Time Modular are released a stereo, 2-track recorder module that will capture your performance at the touch of a button. Very neat in 2HP but also useful as a 1U tile. They also had a prototype looper - one to watch out for. https://www.halftimemodular.com/

6. SynthFest 2026 MidiCake Una

Una is a sort of build-a-band, hardware interactive composer that responds to what you play and jams around it. https://midicake.com/

7. SynthFest 2026 Rides in the Storm Rhythm Rides

Rides in the Storm were showing their not-quite-working drum machine Rhythm Rides. It's a massive source of modular drums, pattern generation and percussive grooving. Should be running at Superbooth next year. https://rides-in-the-storm.de/

8. SynthFest 2026 Bradshaw Instruments Drumkid

Sample-based drum module that's a whole kit to play with and includes lots of probabilistic messing about. https://bradshawinstruments.myshopify.com

9. SynthFest 2026 CLIP Photon Smasher

CLIP are a community-led project that brings people together over the generation of sound, and making and listening to music. They had two different Photon Smashers to show us. https://www.clipsoundandmusic.uk/

10. SynthFest 2026 Ian Helliwell

Discovered a superbly dressed man, showing some wondefully put together boxes, making some fascinating noises. That man is audio/visual artist Ian Helliwell. https://www.ianhelliwell.co.uk/

11. SynthFest 2026 F*ck With Sound

F*ck With Sound were showing three modules including a Ring Modulator, Distortion and Spatial mixing thing. https://www.fwithsound.com/

12. SynthFest 2026 Wonkystuff FluxMEMORY/h

Wonkystuff has pulled the FluxMEMORY out of the AE Modular format and put it into your hand. The handheld FluxMemory/h gives you four sample playback heads that you can mix and mess with. https://wonkystuff.co.uk/

13. SynthFest 2026 Eternal Research Demon Box

Strange triangulaar box that feeds of electromagnetic fields and outputs MIDI notes and other bits of data. https://eternalresearch.com/

14. SynthFest 2026 Transistor Sound Labs Bitloader

Bitloader is a sample-based drum module that's the perfect companion to the Stepper Drum which been in development for a very long time. However, Nina seemed to think that January could be the moment to get both of these modules released! https://www.transistorsoundslabs.com/

See the labels below for additonal posts on each.