There's something beautiful about stumbling into music accidentally.
Humming while doing dishes, tapping out a rhythm on your desk, finding a harmony in the sound of car horns. These moments are magic. Traditional music software, as much as I love it, often gets in the way of those moments.
I've always been drawn to the work of boutique synth makers, the passionate creatives using their love of the craft to make something special for other musicians. Studios like Xfer Records, Slate + Ash, and Goodhertz understand the best instruments invite exploration rather than demanding study. I've always wanted to make my own.
In 2020, I started Thanks in Part as a way to learn how code becomes sound, and as a chance to figure out what makes an instrument great.
I wanted to capture that feeling of discovering sound—the joy of experimentation without pressure to create something "correct." Browser-based instruments felt like the perfect medium: instant access and immediate creative exploration. Web audio APIs had come a LONG way in the 2010's, libraries like Tone.js had made using them even easier, and I was excited to see what I could do with them.
My first instrument, Vana, emerged as a meditative tonebox in the key of A. I wove a familiar sampler UI (shout out to the Akai MPC) together with a small library of warm handpan samples and realtime processing to create a unique, crunchy character. It's designed for contemplation and atmosphere, playable by keyboard or fingers, and ideal for a quick moment of creative relaxation.
Oh, and I love an easter egg: tapping the logo elevates the ambiance with a field recording set in the woods.
Next came Coral, my first foray into sequencing. It allows you to create simple two-bar musical loops, toggling notes on and off for each beat. The UI takes heavy inspiration from a handpan, but the sounds begin as sine waves, with dynamic processing bringing them to life. Where Vana is about slow exploration and ringing notes, Coral invites you to build patterns in quick rounds, layering notes in as the loop plays.
Ideas for new instruments come to me often. A four-track recorder you can save and share, a soundscape driven by your phone's camera... they always share a simple philosophy:
The best creative tools are the ones that make room for us to play.