When the music box meets the analog synthesizer, it brings the "real note comb strike" into the world of MIDI.
Muro Box Arranger: Hung-Yin Liu
When the music box meets the analog synthesizer, it brings the "real note comb strike" into the world of MIDI.
Muro Box Arranger: Hong-Yin Liu
Are you a DJ or gearhead synth head who, amid the knobs and cables of synthesizers, seeks the “organic noise” and “granular feel” that digital cannot replicate—a physical vitality?
Imagine playing the Muro Box smart music box in real time, like a piano, using just a MIDI keyboard or synthesizer, and applying various MIDI effects to generate unexpected, surprising melodies and sounds from the music box.
This is not merely performance—it is a vivid interplay between digital commands and a physical mechanism. Next, we will unbox and test the sparks between Muro Box and a range of classic synthesizers.
When Digital Commands Meet the Smart Music Box
Let us first examine how Muro Box integrates digital and traditional mechanisms to enable interchangeable songs and real-time performance, with the key being the world’s first patented cylinder.
This technology completely breaks the traditional limitation of a fixed music box cylinder by integrating electromagnets with mechanical structure. When the music box receives a MIDI digital signal, its internal coils are energized to control specific protruding pins to engage with the main shaft, causing them to rotate and strike the note comb to produce sound.
When you press a key on a keyboard, this signal instructs the corresponding cylinder mechanism to rotate and strike. It is as if the traditional music box has been equipped with a digital nervous system, transforming what was once a spring-driven mechanism that could only play a fixed score into a “physical instrument” that can be controlled at will.
– Muro Box only reads the “Note” and “Timing” from MIDI signals; it does not read Velocity or note sustain parameters. The instrument relies purely on the fixed mechanical force of its physical mechanism to strike the note comb, producing clear, percussive physical vibrations.
– **The N40 Mufeng, N40 Standard, and N20 Standard versions all provide MIDI IN functionality, allowing connection to external hardware and computer sequencing software.**
Creating Unique Sounds: Connecting Music Box and Synthesizer
In the video above, you can see many musicians connecting various MIDI controllers or synthesizers to the Muro Box, applying and composing unique, atmospheric sounds. Every time the real note comb strike is seen, it brings a strong therapeutic sense. This intuitive feedback from hardware interconnection not only gives the sound a true vitality but also brings unexpected surprising melodies to creators when improvising parameter adjustments.
Currently, the Muro Box models equipped with MIDI IN ports are as follows:
– N40 Mu Feng / N40 Standard Edition: Equipped with both Type-C and 5-pin DIN MIDI In ports.
– N20 Standard Edition: Equipped with the modern mainstream Type-C port.
This allows the Muro Box smart music box to easily connect to your existing MIDI controllers or synthesizers. It can serve as a powerful “acoustic oscillator” in your system. You can drive it using familiar sequencers or other MIDI FX, using digital control to produce the most authentic and beautiful physical strike sounds.
Shawn, an American musician based in Japan, after receiving our N40, experimented with various effects using his existing MIDI controller and synthesizer. We have also listed the items he performed and their timestamps in the video for your reference, and compiled his explanations into the following text:
Use the table of contents to jump to the effect description sections for each device.
Arturia Keystep 37
The first device connected in the video is the Keystep 37, whose MIDI capabilities are more extensive than its appearance suggests.
– **Arpeggiator 0:46**
Activating ARP mode and holding a chord causes the Keystep to automatically send the chord’s notes one by one. When transmitted to the Muro Box, each MIDI signal becomes a physical strike action.
– **Chord Mode 1:20**
Press and hold Shift + Hold to enter Chord Mode. The video demonstrates a C major seventh chord (Cmaj7). After programming it, pressing any root note causes the Keystep to automatically output the corresponding chord. Pressing C produces Cmaj7; shifting to G produces Gmaj7.
– **Strum 2:02**
This function triggers chord notes sequentially rather than simultaneously, simulating a strumming effect. The direction can be adjusted—from low to high or high to low—and the strum speed is configurable via numerical values.
– **Sequencer 13:45**
Shawn uses the Sequencer at the end of the video. After pre-recording a note sequence, simply changing the keyboard’s played note causes the device to transpose the sequence in real time using that note as the root note. He uses this sequence as an automatic accompaniment while shifting the keyboard range higher to improvise melody lines above, demonstrating a one-person band performance.
(2) Teenage Engineering OP-1 Field
The OP-1 Field connects directly to Muro Box via USB-C, requiring no MIDI interface or adapter — plug and play.
– **Pattern Mode (3:02)**
Select Pattern mode (grid-based step sequencer), input a melody, then use the encoder to start playback and control tempo. Within these repeating loops, Shawn gradually overlays additional notes. As density increases, an unexpectedly flowing texture emerges — Shawn mentions this reminds him of the classic work *Soft Wave for Automatic Music Box* by Japanese environmental music master Hiroshi Yoshimura, with its light and organic sense of flow.
– **Hold Mode + Encoder Control (3:53)**
In Hold mode, you can first select a set of notes to sustain (or stand by), then manually and instantly trigger individual notes using the encoder — operating it like a purely hand-cranked traditional music box.
– **Arpeggiator Mode (4:13)**
In Arpeggiator (Arp) mode, press a chord and use the encoder to make Muro Box play the arpeggio in forward, reverse, or random order.
– **Endless Sequencer Mode (4:39)**
Input your desired note sequence. After OP-1 records this length and pattern, simply press any key on the keyboard — it will use that note as the root to perfectly transpose the previously entered scale sequence. It also supports effects such as reverse or random.
– **Tombola Physical Modeling Sequencer (5:20)**
Tombola is a physical modeling sequencer on the OP-1: a rotating octagonal container appears on screen. Each time a note is pressed, a ball drops inside. Whenever a ball hits the wall of the container, it triggers a MIDI note.
The more balls, the denser the collisions, and the faster the music box’s note comb strikes accelerate. Shawn describes it as: “It sounds a bit crazy, like some music I made in the early 2000s.” He is surprised that Muro Box’s mechanical structure reacts fast enough to keep up with these high-frequency, high-density extreme triggers.
(3) Suzuki Omnichord OM-108 – Sliding Instead of Keys
The Omnichord is a classic electronic instrument from 1981 (with a 2024 reissue, the OM-108). It features a touch-sensitive strum pad on its body that produces chords when you swipe your finger across it. **(at 7:02 in the video)**
* Muro Box receives MIDI signals on Channel 1 by default, and the Omnichord’s default Channel 1 output corresponds exactly to the strum pad.
* In the video, Shawn completely mutes the Omnichord’s built-in sounds (volume down), allowing Muro Box to produce all the notes independently. The speed and range of his finger movement across the strum pad are directly converted into the density of triggers on the music box’s gears. This translates the physical action of moving the hand across a tangible surface directly into the physical plucking of a mechanical music box, resulting in a strong sense of human-instrument integration.
(4) Korg Minilogue — Analog tone and mechanical resonance sound simultaneously
The previous tests used Muro Box as the sole sound source. This test employs a different performance approach: allowing the synthesizer tone of the Minilogue and the mechanical note comb strike of Muro Box to sound simultaneously.
– The Minilogue is an analog synthesizer capable of playing up to four notes simultaneously (4-voice), with a warm, slightly blurred analog edge to its tone. In contrast, the note comb strike of Muro Box is clean and crisp. The two complement each other in timbre.
– Shawn recorded an arpeggio sequence in real time and raised the register by one octave via the Minilogue, using the rich sound of the electronic synthesizer as the foundation while Muro Box struck the higher notes. The overall layering is distinctly audible.
(5) Teenage Engineering OP-Z
The OP-Z is a portable sequencer by Teenage Engineering, compact in size but feature-rich. (at 9:30 in the video)
- Initially, Shawn used the Pattern mode, allowing the OP-Z to record the input notes and their positions, forming a continuously repeating loop. The notes played off the beat create a sense of randomness, resulting in a melody that sounds entirely unquantized—something rarely heard from a music box. This deviates from the logically played melodies we are accustomed to, introducing elements of surprise or inspiration.
- He then utilized the OP-Z’s “Master track chord transposition” function for real-time key shifting. During adjustment, the sequencer automatically analyzes and makes other tracks “adapt” to the current tonality and scale, thereby generating melodic progressions that a creator would not typically write deliberately. Shawn describes these melodies as “a natural outflow combining technology with real-world sounds.”
(6) Others: Resonance Box Effect / N40 vs. N20 Appearance Comparison
Later in the video, there are:
– the effect of playing with the resonance box (at 12:01 in the video)
– the unboxing of the N40 and a comparison of its exterior and MIDI jack with the N20 (at 12:35 in the video)
If you are interested, feel free to watch the full video.
For those interested in how Shawn first encountered Muro Box, his recording and sound capture method, please take a look at his user story.
Using various MIDI effects in arrangement software
I used Logic Pro to test the following MIDI effects. In the Inspector panel on the left, locate the “MIDI FX:” section. Click on it to reveal a dropdown menu. From there, I selected three items to test: Arpeggiator, Chord Trigger, and Note Repeater.
Note: In order to avoid glare in the following recording, the lid was removed (only the N40 allows the user to open its lid). As a result, the mechanical sounds in the recording are more audible. Additionally, I used noise reduction software to attenuate some motor noise and ambient noise.
(1) Logic Pro - Arpeggiator
Simply pressing and holding a chord triggers the software to automatically execute a fretboard pattern, weaving a continuously looping melodic line.
In the video, I only tried the “ascending” and “ascending-descending” modes. There are other modes for you to experiment with on your own. However, note that in the “ascending-descending” or “random” modes, if the same note appears too close together, the music box has physical limitations in performance and may skip notes, but this can also be considered a kind of “surprise.”
(2) Chord Trigger
The chord trigger allows you to “play a chord with one key.” Once the interval parameters are set, simply tap a note with one finger, and the software will automatically trigger a full set of chords that match the specified interval.
- Keyboard Split Function (0:32)
Chord Trigger also supports a keyboard split function. You can divide the keyboard into two sections: the left-hand area is set as the chord trigger zone—pressing a single key causes Muro Box to play a chord; the right-hand area remains a free-play zone for playing melodies.
Note Repeater
The chord trigger enables one-key chord playing. After setting the interval parameters, simply tap a note with one finger, and the software will automatically trigger a full set of chords that match the interval.
The “Note Repeater” has several parameters: in addition to the Delay Time that determines the interval between notes, the most important are Repeats, which sets the number of repetitions, and Transpose, which determines how many semitones each repetition shifts upward or downward.
As mentioned in the previous paragraph, although the interface allows adjusting the velocity (volume) decay, the Muro Box itself does not read the velocity parameter.
When these high-density repeating notes are superimposed and mixed at the same dynamic level within the resonance chamber, the dissonant mechanical note comb strikes produce an eerie quality that is well-suited for horror or thriller soundtracks.
Conclusion
What makes Muro Box fascinating is that it not only converts digital data into actual physical sound, but also serves as a musician ready to perform for you at any time. As an automatically playing instrument, given its price and size, Muro Box is an accessible and truly interactive physical mechanical instrument.
Whether you want to experiment with avant-garde ambient music or infuse your style with the vitality of physical metal strikes, it is already on your workbench, ready to respond to your MIDI commands with the purest physical motion.
In future installments of this series, we will continue to introduce ways to play Muro Box directly or to perform arrangements created with music software. Stay tuned! If you have specific questions about equipment integration or would like us to test some wild MIDI experiments, feel free to email us at support@tevofy.com.
Notes
Physical Limits of Music Box Performance
Muro Box completely breaks through the limitations of traditional music boxes, allowing unlimited-length performances. However, as a real mechanical device, it still retains the unique rules of the physical world. Understanding these limits not only perfects your arrangements but also brings out the distinctive mechanical beauty of analog instruments.
1. Range Limitation
Using middle C = C3 = 261.6 Hz as an example:
- The 40 notes used by N40: F2-C6, excluding the four notes F#2, G#2, A#2, and C#3.
N20 (20 notes): Range C3–A5, without black keys.
If notes are played above the highest or below the lowest note, the music box will produce no sound.
If a semitone that does not exist in the musical scale is played, it will automatically be played “raised by a semitone.”
2. Mechanical Latency: Feeling the Pulse of Physical Motion
There is approximately a 0.1-second (100ms) delay from Muro Box’s reception of a MIDI signal to the actual strike sound.
Melody Expression – For Different Notes
If a melody is composed of distinct, non-repeating notes, Muro Box’s playing speed has virtually no upper limit.
– Response time: Processing different notes takes only 0.001 seconds.
– Performance verification: Even at an extreme tempo of quarter note = 375 BPM, performing a 1/64 note (the smallest unit in the App), Muro Box can still execute it.
– Musical expression: You can freely arrange dense chromatic melodies such as “Flight of the Bumblebee” without worrying about missing notes.
4. Melodic Expression – For the Same Note
Same Note Maximum Repetition Rate: Due to the physical rebound time required by the mechanical plucking mechanism, the same note cannot exceed five strikes per second, i.e., the upper limit of continuous strikes is 300 per minute.
- Quick assessment: When the song’s tempo (quarter note) is ≥ 75 BPM, playing consecutive sixteenth notes on the same note may result in missed notes.
- Optimization suggestion: If this situation occurs, it is recommended to delete one of the repeated notes.
Muro Box does not read the Velocity (volume intensity) parameter of MIDI.
Muro Box only reads the Note (pitch) and Timing (trigger time) from MIDI, and does not read parameters such as Velocity (volume intensity) or note sustain. Regardless of how hard or softly you strike the keys on a keyboard or in software, or how long you hold a note, it will purely rely on the fixed force of its physical mechanism to strike the note comb, producing crisp, point-like physical vibrations.