The Billow, dubbed by its creator Poetaster as a “Micro Mellotron”, shrinks the concept of the early 1960s electro-mechanical tape sampling keyboard the “Mellotron” into a portable cassette deck. Its dirty, hybrid, semi-analogue sounds and built in speaker add a percussive, stretchy, and distinctly unusual tone to electronic music and sound design.
The Billow starts life as a humble cassette player. Poetaster’s unique circuit bending process targets the cassette motor’s fine tuning, replacing its potentiometer with tactile controls. This direct control over the motor’s speed means you now have direct control over the pitch of the note, which is where things get even more interesting.
Put a recording or tape loop in, press the buttons, set the speed – and suddenly, your tape feels more like a record on a turntable. Using only five buttons, five or six selectable notes, and simple sustained playback – The Billow can handle speed shifted tape loops, FM/AM radio, and even retains its skill at playing a cassette at normal speed!
If you prefer a MIDI setup, the MIDI Billow can behave even more like the original Mellotron, allowing key presses to control playback speed and pitch. To make this possible, it adds an RP2040 Zero running CircuitPython, and an LH9110 motor controller.
Poetaster’s Tonetoys have been creating and selling their signature blue machines on Tindie for a long time, so I am pleased to see them return with another exciting product!
source https://blog.tindie.com/2026/11/the-billow-a-synth-diy-micro-mellotron-bringing-cassettes-outside-the-box/
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