Tristan Perich’s 1-Bit Symphony is an amazing piece of work that really draws you in with masterful craftsmanship, but the novelty of it may wear off for a few after the initial rush passes.
The symphony comes to life in a hollow jewel case that lets you see all the inner workings of the device. You have a battery, headphone jack, a few circuit boards and a volume control knob to fully experience the MIDI’s pulsing in your ears. Through both your eyes and your ears you can hear and see the music using the pull out insert that breaks down the electronically crafted sounds byte for byte. It’s amazing to see it all laid out. There’s no LCD screen, no indication of what track you’re on, just a dozen different ways to get lost in the music and enjoy it.
Overall the sound is amazing for those who really like the bleeps and bloops of electronic music stored on hand-wired circuit boards. Old School video game fans are sure to remember these types of sounds and music fans in general may like the idea of abandoning the multi-million dollar symphonic arrangements for something a little simpler as a reminder when things might have been a little less grand, but no less creative.