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[ELECTRONIC MUSIC]

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TERRENCE O'BRIEN: I am
at Critter & Guitari

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out in Brooklyn, checking out
the Organelle M. Now Critter

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& Guitari makes
musical instruments,

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primarily synthesizers and
other electronic devices.

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And a couple of years ago, they
put out the Organelle, which is

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more than just a synthesizer.

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It's actually a computer,
and the Organelle

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M is an upgraded model of that.

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Now they've added some
very useful things

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like a microphone,
MIDI in and out,

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but, more importantly, it's got
a speaker and batteries, which

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means you can now take it
anywhere and enjoy just jamming

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whenever the mood strikes you.

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[ELECTRONIC MUSIC]

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CHRIS KUCINSKI:
The reason we made

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the Organelle M was that we just
wanted it to be more portable.

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We wanted it to
be more immediate.

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It turns on, and
you can hear it.

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So it's totally self-contained.

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So we thought that
this would add

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just that much more fun,
spontaneity exploration

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in your music making.

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[ELECTRONIC MUSIC]

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TERRENCE O'BRIEN: Now
underneath the hood

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is a piece of
hardware you might be

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familiar with--
the Raspberry Pi.

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Like I said, this is a computer,
not just a synthesizer.

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You can create patches
for this or use

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patches created by a very large
and very active user community.

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That turns this into a
synthesizer, a guitar

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effects pedal, a sampler.

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I'm sure you can turn it
into a 4-track recorder

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if you wanted to.

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It is a very capable and
very powerful device.

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CHRIS KUCINSKI: Engadget.

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CHRIS KUCINSKI (VOICEOVER):
Gadget, gadget, gadget.

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TERRENCE O'BRIEN:
This is the clean.

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And then like one that's like--

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CHRIS KUCINSKI (VOICEOVER):
Gadget, gadget, gadget.

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CHRIS KUCINSKI: --delayed, and
then reverb, low-pass filter.

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Changing the pitch,
so now you have

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a new one, which
is a combination

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of all these things.

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CHRIS KUCINSKI (VOICEOVER):
Gadget, gadget, gadget.

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CHRIS KUCINSKI: You
can have something--

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one, like kind of like
a little tiny spark

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that you can mutate,
and remutate,

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and keep adding stuff to it.

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We're really excited
about the Organelle,

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because it's combining our
favorite features from some

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of our older instruments,
like the pocket

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piano and the Kaleidoloop.

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And it's-- it's-- you know,
it's really like the whole

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band's back together again.

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So we're psyched to just
keep making weird patches

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and better patches.

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TERRENCE O'BRIEN
(VOICEOVER): Now

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in case you've never seen the
Organelle before, the model

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M is very similar.

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The only real new thing
upfront is this speaker

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here, as I mentioned.

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Otherwise, the layout
is very similar--

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four knobs over here on the
left, an OLED screen, and two

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knobs over on the
right-- one of which

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is for volume exclusively.

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TERRENCE O'BRIEN: These knobs
all change function, depending

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on what you're using
the Organelle M for at

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that particular moment of time.

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And then there's this keyboard--
two octaves of maple wood.

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It is one of the things that
makes a Critter & Guitari

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device instantly recognizable.

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These are not plastic
midi keys like you'll

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see on a lot of other
synthesizers or even a touch

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pad, like you might
see on a Volca.

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These are really
nice and clicky.

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I hope you can hear that.

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Around back, you're going
to find a lot of ports--

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much more than you'd find
on your typical synthesizer

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or portable musical instrument.

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You've got a headphone jack,
a quarter inch audio out,

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a switch for turning the
internal speaker on an off,

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quarter inch audio in which
is very useful for processing

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external sound-- say,
a guitar-- pedal input,

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eighth inch MIDI
in and out, which

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you can use an adapter to use
a standard five-pin midi DIN.

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Or just use TRS MIDI.

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There's a micro SD card
slot here, which contains

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your patches and the OS--

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HDMI, 9 volt AC adapter
port, and power on and off.

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And then over on the side,
you've got a pair of USB ports.

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Now, you might be wondering
why does a synthesizer

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need an HDMI port and USB?

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Well, that's so
that you can plug

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in a monitor and
a keyboard, where

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you can create and customize
patches of your own.

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You will also notice that all
of the labeling on the ports

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is written upside down, which
is really super helpful when

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you're trying to peek
over the back to see

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where things get plugged in.

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I wish more people
would do that.

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And then around the
back looks pretty plain,

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but over here is
your battery door--

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four AA batteries which allows
you to take this anywhere--

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to the park, on the
bus, to your in-laws,

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wherever it happens that
you want to block out

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the world for a little while
and make some music or noise,

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if you have the same
skill set as I do.

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[ELECTRONIC MUSIC]

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TERRENCE O'BRIEN
(VOICEOVER): If all of this

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sounds like a thing
you need in your life,

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you can head over to
critterandguitari.com

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and order one now for $595.

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That is $100 more than
the original Organelle,

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but this is clearly a far more
capable, far more powerful,

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and, more importantly, a
far more portable device.

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For more of the latest
tech news from Engadget,

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hit the Subscribe button.

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TERRENCE O'BRIEN: And if you
want to make sure that they

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keep sending me out to play
with synthesizers instead

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of sitting at home
and reviewing phones,

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please click the bell icon.

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[ELECTRONIC MUSIC]

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