GRAB EM Field Synth

GRAB uses the magnetometer in your iPhone as an antenna. It receives the electromagnetic noise around you and turns it into sound in real time. Power adapters, motors, displays, Wi-Fi routers — the invisible field they radiate becomes the source material, and you play it the way you would play a field recording. Move to a different room and the instrument sounds different.

SOUND ENGINE
• Five ETHER-inspired layers: mains hum / PWM buzz / static hiss / high squeal / pulse train
• Three sensor-driven synth voices: saw / square / noise
• With the camera on, light falling on the lens drives a tremolo across level and timbre

EFFECTS
• CRUSH — bit crusher with sample-rate reduction
• COMB — comb filter with feedback
• REVERB — multi-tap reverb with shimmer
• STUTTER — BPM-synced gate
• MUTE — momentary kill switch; tap it repeatedly to articulate a tremolo by hand
• HOLD latch on every effect pad, from the button or a second finger

ABLETON LINK
• Automatic tempo sync with Live, Logic and other iOS music apps
• STUTTER locks to the Link tempo at 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 and 1/32
• Uses Ableton's official Link settings panel
• Plays alongside other audio apps rather than interrupting them

VISUALS
• 3D point-cloud frequency spectrum
• Spectrum bar mode
• With the camera on, a grayscale image sits behind the field in depth

WAYS TO PLAY
• A field-sound tool: walk it past appliances and hear the timbre shift
• An atmospheric noise source to drop into a live set
• A platform for experimenting with electromagnetic noise music

PRIVACY
All audio is processed on the device. Nothing is recorded and nothing is sent anywhere. Ableton Link communicates only within your local Wi-Fi network.