GieskesZachteman Lo-Fi Cassette Instrument

Gieskes Zachteman

Zachteman from Gieskies is a cassette tape instrument with tunable keyboard designed to provide direct performance and manipulation of cassette tape audio. A cassette tape player is affixed to a control board with nine knobs and key buttons, letting you individually set a playback speed for each of the nine buttons. Essentially a miniature mellotron with lo-fi appeal, Zachteman is perfect for performing enveloping textures, analog glitches, and more.

In addition to the keyboard controls, you can also engage a momentary vibrato effect with knobs that set the vibrato depth and speed. The momentary switch can be inverted by another switch, letting you either momentarily cut off or engage vibrato according to your preferences. Zachteman also integrates wonderfully into a modular synth system, with CV input for tape speed and a gate input for the vibrato effect. If you're curious about tape experimentation, Zachteman is a fun and intuitive tool for easily creating captivating sounds with cassettes.

Zachteman Features

• Cassette tape player with performable speed modulation
• 9 buttons and knobs for setting tape speeds engaged by each button
• Vibrato effect with momentary switch
• Knob controls for vibrato depth and speed
• Additional switch inverts momentary action of vibrato switch
• CV input for tape speed with 2-12V range
• Gate input for vibrato LFO with 1V to 12V range
• Powered by 2x AA batteries, speed range extended when using 3V DC power supply