Olydian Photosynthesis Solar-Powered Generative Wavetable Synth – What?!

The Olydian Photosynthesis is a cute wavetable synth with a generative sequencer and a built-in solar panel. You know you want one.

Olydian Photosynthesis

So I thought I was done with work for the day and was sitting down to zone out with some YouTube when I saw this funky-looking synth in the thumbnail for Sanjay C’s roundup of the Synth & Pedal Expo 2024. That synth was the Olydian Photosynthesis, a brand new instrument from brand new New York City boutique manufacturer Olydian.

This synth has a number of striking things about it, which I’ll get to in course, but the main thing is that it’s solar-powered! It sits inside a cherry hardwood case whose lid features solar panels. Once charged, the battery can run for a generous 10 hours. If it’s a cloudy day you can also charge it traditionally via USB-C or a wall wart.

“Beautiful, Nostalgic Wavetable Synthesis”

The Photosynthesis uses wavetable synthesis that designer Kyle Fakhoury describes as beautiful and nostalgic, with 128 tones plus drums. You can hear it in action in the video below and it really does have a nice sound.

More Information

www.olydianmusic.com

 

That seems like a lot of money for what it does, though it comes with a very nice cherry hardwood box.