Welcome to Telmatronics

Hello! This is the home of Groovetube, an experimental plasma synth that makes sound in a fluorescent tube.
The first small batch of machines is now built up and undergoing  pre-delivery testing. We're also starting to develop our own plasma tubes - watch this space!

The Story
Telmatronics started with the idea to use plasma for an audio component that could be controlled with a magnet. Other devices such as effects pedals use plasma noise, but we wanted to make sound with a larger plasma, that could be directly interacted with.

Experiments with fluorescent tubes and an RF oscillator made some pretty wild and funny sounds, and controlling them with a magnet was a lot of fun. So we ran a Kickstarter project with a prototype machine, and then set out to turn it into a synthesiser. 

We've ended up with a lively and acoustic-sounding electronic instrument - you can read more about this and see recent demos on our Groovetube page.

This was designed as a machine to put random fluorescent tubes in, to see what sounds they made. With fluorescents being discontinued, we're having to think a bit more - we've started to prototype a few plasma tubes, and are working out how they can be easily produced. Different electrodes should let us design for particular types of sound, which is most exciting!

You can contact us directly here, and check our progress on facebook or youtube.

Thanks for visiting!