Patchwork Instruments · TZ4 · Kickstarter soon

91 cells.
one instrument.
infinite music.

“see your music think.”

TZ4 is a hexagonal LED panel that composes evolving melodies with cellular automata — arranged on the Tonnetz, a 19th-century map of harmony. Plug it into any DAW over USB-C. Pick a scale. Watch it think.

Notify me on Kickstarter ↗ Try it in your browser →

the same engine, free in your browser — no hardware required to start.

click the lattice — every cell is a note

01 · how it works

simple rules. honest geometry.
music nobody wrote.

the tonnetz

A diagram from the 1800s that arranges the twelve notes so every neighbour is harmonically related. Fifths one way, thirds another. Chords are triangles. It is a map of harmony — and the TZ4 is that map, printed in light.

cellular automata

Conway’s Game of Life, for music. Cells are born and die by counting their neighbours. Constrained to your chosen scale, the colony writes melodies that emerge from the rules — never twice the same.

a MIDI instrument

Class-compliant USB MIDI. No drivers, no app store, no account. Plug into macOS, Windows or Linux and it appears as a MIDI device — a generative melody source for any DAW, any synth, any voice you own.

02 · the instrument

a beautiful object
that happens to be a controller.

TZ4 panel glowing on a desk, USB-C cable attached
cells91 RGB LEDs · one per Tonnetz note
panel30 × 26 cm hexagon
constructionCNC case · 5 mm honeycomb lattice · 0.5 mm diffuser
connectionUSB-C · class-compliant MIDI · no drivers
powerbus-powered · 5 V · under 2 A
works withAbleton · Logic · FL · Bitwig · Reaper · anything with MIDI in
firmwareopen source · updatable over USB
brainESP32-S3 · patterns computed on-panel
TZ4 panel seen from above, all 91 cells lit
the diffuser does the heavy lifting — each LED blooms into a soft hexagonal glow.

03 · the anatomy

three parts. scroll to open it.

0.5 mm diffuser — where LEDs become glow

5 mm honeycomb — 91 cells, zero bleed between notes

CNC case — the brain on the back, USB-C out

geometry from the production STEP files — nothing staged.

04 · the control panel & simulator

every parameter, in the browser.
no install. no account. no waiting.

The TZ4 web control panel: sliders for update period, life length, population, neighbour rules; live simulator; MIDI panel
17 patternswaves, rings, spirals, raindrops — how the automaton sweeps the grid
chord progressionsset chords and a rate; the harmony walks underneath the colony
loopingcapture a passage; let it phase against a moving key
live simulatorthe same engine in the browser — try the instrument before it exists on your desk
presetssave whole states; morph between them
multi-deviceseveral panels, one page — a distributed orchestra
Try the control panel — live →

05 · the story

7 years. 11 prototypes.
one obsession.

I’m Tom, an engineer from Bristol. This started because I couldn’t play music — and refused to let that stop me. I saw how Hans Zimmer and Radiohead scored Blue Planet II: an orchestra given one rule — play the note, but stop if your neighbour is playing. An ocean of organic sound. I wanted to build that out of electronics.

The search led through Conway’s Game of Life to the Tonnetz, and the first prototype was cardboard with LEDs poked through holes. It worked. Eleven prototypes later there are custom PCBs, CNC cases, a 3-metre suspended MegaHex, 50 boards shipped to an installation in Venice — and mates who can’t read a note of music, jamming for hours.

The Tonnetz taught me music theory — not from a textbook, but from watching light move. It meets you where you are.

— Tom · Bristol, UK

An earlier Tonnetz prototype glowing in a stone archway at a night installation
prototype 5 — solar-powered, in a roofless barn. people moved benches to watch.
The full TZ4 ecosystem: panel, web control panel on a monitor, Ableton Live on a laptop
the whole loop — panel on the desk, control panel in the browser, Ableton listening.

06 · the campaign

launching on Kickstarter.

The TZ4 MIDI panel is phase one. Back it at launch and you’re backing the person who will personally build and ship your unit. Phase two — the TZ7, with capacitive touch — follows on this same page.

Notify me on Kickstarter ↗

est. delivery Q1 2027 · UK · EU · US · CA · AU · JP · KR

faq

the short answers.

Do I need to know music theory?

No — that’s the point. Pick a scale and everything the panel generates is harmonically valid. Use it for a while and the theory arrives by itself, through colour and pattern. It taught me almost everything I know.

Does it make sound on its own?

No. TZ4 outputs MIDI over USB-C. Your DAW or synth turns the notes into sound — any voice you own becomes the orchestra.

What does it work with?

Anything with a MIDI input: Ableton Live, Logic, FL Studio, Bitwig, Reaper, GarageBand, hardware synths with USB host. macOS, Windows and Linux — class-compliant, no drivers.

Can I control what it plays?

You set the scale, root, automaton rules, speed, population, looping and chord progressions. You shape the system rather than program notes — more conducting than composing.

What’s the web simulator?

A free browser version of the same engine, with full MIDI output. Try it now, no signup. The physical panel takes it off the screen and onto your desk — a real fire instead of a fireplace video.

Is it open source?

The firmware will be open source, and updates arrive over USB.