Professor Hacks His Arm Prosthesis to Plug Into a Synthesizer to Control the Music Using His Thoughts

Bertolt Meyer, a German psychology professor who was born without a left arm, very cleverly created a specialized converter called the “Synlimb”, with the help of his husband Daniel Theiler and Koma Elektronik. This brilliant hack channels the electrical current from his own body into a measurable voltage, sends it through to his synthesizer, allowing him to control the emitted sound with the signals from his brain.

The SynLimb converts the electrode signals that my prosthesis picks up from my residual limb into control voltages (CV) for controlling my modular synthesizer. The SynLimb thus allows me to plug my prosthesis directly into my synthesizer so that I can control its parameters with the signals from my body that normally control the hand. For me, this feels like controlling the synth with my thoughts.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.

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