If you're like me a grown up person that still likes toys, a fan of music, a person obsessed by synths and strange things that make cool sounds, and/or someone who feels a lot of stress, The Gecho Loopsynth is one of the coolest thing you can buy, and if you do have just only one of these particularities I listed, the Gecho is still super cool!

Here's why: the way you interact with the sensors and the buttons and the sounds feedback you get is awesome. It's always surprising but beautiful and often very relaxing. I use my Gecho as a synth and produce music with it, and believe me you can do pretty amazing stuff (programming your own chords progression helps a lot!), but what make the Gecho unique is that when you're over doing serious music you can just play with it and relax without overthinking anything. A subtle movement can trigger a nice sound and it's a beautiful experience.

One thing I like to do is to put my headphones on and take my Gecho for a walk (unlike a dog it doesn't need to pee but I'm pretty sure he likes a little walk), I choose a channel that modifies the sound received by the mic and the synth kinda "reinterprets" the sounds all around to do something that you can call music.

And I'm barely scratching the surface, the synth is open source and there's a lot of different channels that do different stuff, it's like a never ending exploration, you can even have access to a Eurorack module because someone made it a Gecho channel. Last but not least, if you're a fan of harsh noise you can just put channel 13 on and you'll never have to buy another record in your life, isn't that great!

Oh, and I almost forgot the thing is freaking beautiful in it's wooden box and the inner enclosure is full of funny graphics, that doesn't make it sound better but it make it very pleasant to watch and manipulate.

Baptiste, 30th January 2020

If you find the Gecho to be fascinating as I do, it will likely be because of the raw sound it makes. Raw sound, meaning, glorious, gorgeous, beautiful sound. Interesting sound. Compelling sound.

Actually, the quality of the sound is at a professional level. The Gecho could easily be used on professional recording project. It’s just a question of whether or not the sounds it makes are the sound you need.

In that it can function in a professional capacity means it’s not a toy. But at the same time, just as a device, or a thing, it’s very easy to work with it, as in spend a few minutes learning how it turns on and off an how to change presets and you’re good to go.

It’s easy to start up the Gecho. But the sound it emits, and the way a user—a GechoLoopist?—interacts with that sound ... that means, at least for me, that ending a Gecho session is virtually impossible. That’s because when I start it up, I can’t stop listening to this tiny little thing!

And that’s all before I plug it into another synth. Process another electronic sound source through the Gecho or vice-versa, use all available controls, and you may never, ever turn off the sound chain! Best of all, it’s a sound chain that’ll surprise you at every moment.

The Gecho can ship in it’s own wooden box. If one chooses that option. I recommend that you do. That’s because you get a beautiful looking thing with thoughtful details like magnets that hold the Gecho in place and perfectly spaced inlets and outlets for the few cables one might use with the Gecho. But as regards the wooden box, much more important is that tapping on it sends percussive triggers into the Gecho. In return, how the Gecho responds, is far more than the sum of the triggers. What that means is where you tap on the box, how loud or how soft you tap, and the different speeds at which you might tap—three parameters, where, how, and when, make a real difference in terms of the sound the Gecho produces. It’s a huge difference, in fact, and it’s part of what transforms the Gecho into the fascinating thing that it is.

That tiny, little, Gecho: It’s unique, its a sound-first instrument, it’s fun to play with but it also outputs professional-level sound. What’s not to like?

Mark Polishook, www.polishookpiano.com 17th September 2019

Now let me give you some feedback about my two Gechos, which finally arrived this week. I was such a happy man on that day, maybe even more happy was the child in me. ;-) So far I have mainly used the V1, to keep a “historic” approach. And I am so happy that I have bought it in addition to the V2. It is such an awesome little device. Some creativity goes in, and out comes an almost endless joy in form of beautiful and exciting sounds. It is like a little treasure hidden inside a lovely wooden box. And then all those gorgeous tiny lights. It feels like this device was especially made for me. It fits so well with my desire for a small and incredibly beautiful musical toy. No other synth I own so far came only close to this experience. It is very hard for me to put it into words. It is really this special combination of things, that trigger something very special in me: The sounds, the lights, the wooden box. I hope this does make any sense at all. And please keep in mind that I am no native English speaker. Anyway, I wanted to share the effect this little creation of yours had on me. :-)

Therefore, let me thank you, and everyone who was part of the process, form the bottom of my heart, for inventing and producing this amazing toy. I really love it! Please continue progressing its firmware and I am looking forward to whatever incredible device comes next.

Ingo Flick, 24th October 2020

Staggeringly good fun! The design, portability and novelty value of the self-generating music patches were what first got me interested in the Gecho loop synth. This is no toy though. Aside from the synth voices, hidden inside the Loop Synth’s unassuming little box is serious studio potential for those prepared to experiment and dig a little deeper. Combine the line input and proximity sensors for example, and you have a powerful fx processing unit. The built-in microphones are of a surprisingly high quality and when coupled with patches from an ever expanding list of algorithms make a unique source for drums, pads and otherworldly samples that sound like literally nothing else I can think of. If that’s not enough, there is a truly trippy granular sampler, a chip tune patch, a gesture controlled drum machine and MIDI coming in the next version. Love it.

Mark Salisbury, Tetrahedral Kites 30th August 2018

What an unusual and unique product! I would first like to start by saying that I discovered this synth by chance randomly on youtube looking for reviews on small synths. After doing a little more research I discovered that this device was actually a successful kickstarter campaign in 2017 which happened to be so popular that the creator of this project - Mario was making more. Simply due to the unusual and uniqueness of this device I simply had to have one.

Now that I have the device purely by luck from a cancelled order as again they sold out in less time than it took me to realise, I definitely have no regrets about buying this.

First is the design: a lovely hardwood oak box with a carved logo on the lid not only looks fantastic on any shelf or mantel piece it also serves to house the little synth nice and safe and the box actually functions as part of the synth itself. Closing the lid whilst using sets the parameters to maximum and makes the mics super sensitive which can get interesting.

The rest of the bits you get when buying this are fantastic too – everything from the box design to the little cheat sheets and bits inside, this is a lovely one man band hand crafted item clearly made with a lot of passion.

Second, the synth: sat on a small (and I mean small) circuit board you turn it on, press a couple of buttons and begin messing about. That’s the only way to describe this synth. You have proximity sensors that will change live sound as you hum, breath, shout at the extremely sensitive microphones (and I mean sensitive. It will pick up on a mere whisper!) You have an input jack that you can fire sound into for audio processing (I have tried with pocket operators, an 0coast and a korg and you can get some really wonderful sounds out the other end). Then there is cord programming, a magnet sensor and various other weird and wonderful settings to try out. You have 2 output jacks (for headphones or straight into an audio interface and into a DAW). You can turn off external audio if using the input, or leave external on for even more odd effects! I especially like the granular sampler which changes your voice, a sound - anything into harmonics for some very interesting effects – or even just to sit with headphones listening to other worldly sounds around you for a means of “chilling out”.

So is this a useable synth or just a gimmick? It depends on what you are looking for and the definition of useable or gimmick is.

I have a Digitone which I would say is the most useable work horse I own. But I have other bits of gear that are on the cheap scale that I have always wanted to audio process without using Ableton’s effects or buying a specific pedal OR – more importantly getting a mortgage for a load of eurorack stuff. So for me and what I want it for it’s very much useable. The sounds that you can get away from the external processing for me are useable too: like for sound effects on a track or something else. And generally this synth begs to be played with and fooled about. It’s a great inspiration tool. This is not a gimmick – more of a niche product that is very unique. It won’t be for everyone tastes , however if you are looking for something totally different that stands out in a saturated world of companies making pretty much the same synths as they did 10 -20 years ago (digitone…come on it’s a dx7 really :0) ) then I can’t recommend this enough.

Brett Jones, Dark Transmission (YouTube, Instagram, SoundCloud, BandCamp) 16th August 2018

I can't be any happier with my little but BIG! Sounding Gecho. :) I have nothing wrong to say about this product this little guy sounds amazing! I instantly had the WOW! Factor. Mario, great packaging, art, case, sticker and itself the Gecho! Every company should package their products like this lol. Thank you for creating an awesome magical box, Great job! :)

Ps. Might just get a second one (:

Massimo, happy owner of a Classic unit. 21st May 2018

Proud owner here. This thing is amazing. Spent the first few days just getting lost in the ambience of all. When I sat down with it properly after watching some of your tutorials and found myself entering chord sequences from whistling, humming and using notes from a keyboard I was absolutely blown away by the scope of this magic box. It’s a thing of beauty, aesthetically and aurally!

Simon Gould, Cheese Shop Spoon on Bandcamp 11th May 2018

I am the proud owner of the Gecho #077 and so happy to have this new friend! It is a lovely, adorable, little creature. Only NOW I can understand why you were saying that it is not meant to be played live... it is not a synth, it is really a living creature born for meditation and hypnosis! And it is so addictive that it is not possible to stop playing with it! :) Once again I have to congratulate you for your fantasy and imagination.

Stefano Azero, Music producer and performer at a034.it 7th November 2017

Backer #21 here from California. I just received my Gecho Loopsynth in the mail today and WHAAAAT?!?! I am having so much fun with this that I haven't put it down for hours. This is by far the coolest gadget I own or have ever owned in my 31 years here on Earth. I am not so tech savvy yet that I can program music into this thing but what you have already installed in here, and the attention to detail, the pick ups, the flippin design on your board and the box and everything just screams about your passion.

If there was anything that ever fulfilled that desire to literally escape while going nowhere, this is it! Everything about this shows that you truly put so much thought and care into the design and function and that's what makes me proud to have backed this project so early and I cannot wait to show it off and take it with me everywhere.

Jonathan Martin, Kickstarter backer of the first production run 24th August 2017

I got mine a couple of days ago and simply love it. I can't stop playing around with it and trying all the different channels. It's just so amazing sitting there and getting every noise translated into music. I'm not a musician, but I don't have to be. I already recorded a couple of tracks just with the sound of my kids playing and shouting. And on top of it, it is a real piece of art. The box just looks beautiful and no one would ever suspect what's inside.

Ronny Ecke, Kickstarter backer of the first production run 27th July 2017

The Sound is super beautiful... like you said better than the YouTube videos. Dedicated physical controls are still king in the musical world though. The Gecho's tactile tapping, scratching, whistling, and waving really are an innovative interpretation... I don't find myself wishing it had a knob or fader. I love the responsive LED levels for the proximity sensors.

Cameron Leggett, graphic designer, pressman & electronic music hobbyist 19th July 2017

Hi folks,

I am very proud that I've been introduced to this Gecho project before you guys got to known this amazing machine at the very early stage of it and I can tell you that I know what is Gecho.

Can't talk about Gecho from your IT or DIY perspective having not being good at that style of kung-fu, sorry about that, but from the point of view a person that has to do with the music playing, I think I could say few words about it.

If you have ever had (and I am sure all of you did), moments when you feel like... leave me alone. I don't want to see anyone. I wish I could go to the forest or stare to the flow of the mountain river with just me and my guitar in my hands and go one by one through playing along all my favourite tunes and hear them sound from a different point of view ...you'd be surprised how Gecho helps to it.

I remember asking Mario (the inventor guy) to set me up with the background of J.Pachelbel's "Canon in D", and how I was amazed with the way it sounded! So real, no plastic tone! Totally undisturbed. Whatever you play, blends up with what you hear in the background in a very smooth and natural way. Later on, I had the answer to my question why it sounds so natural, it was simple at the end, because the level of the background tone is kept under -12db like in the old days before the loudness war started. I take my hat off, dear Mario.

By the way, hope you don't mind if I put in the link of what is the meaning of the loudness war just in case somebody is not sure what I am talking about here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war

So yeah, I am really hoping that this project gets through quickly and soon we'll be able to just grab Gecho, our instrument, headphones and shout through the doors: Honey, I am going to the woods for a couple of hours! Love you :-))

Aslanbek Dokhshukaev, guitarist & composer

I've personally tested an early iteration and it was pretty amazing.I'm not good with the technical stuff, but in layman terms it is a box that turns any noise into music. So if you bang on the table, whistle, touch a fork on the wall, turn on a forklift, operate a piledriver, it all becomes music together, somehow.

I tried my best at the beginning to make sounds out of tempo and as unharmonic as possible and it all became this sort of strange out-of-this-world melody. The funny thing is that the more I did it, the more I was entangled by it, like an ouroboros of sound, the brain eating itself in its meaning. I don't know how to explain it better...

Nicholas Amorim, hobbyist composer, singer, drummer & guitars maker

Gecho is deeply meditative and amusing at the same time. The experience enables you to explore your hidden feelings, which you have never been able to put in words. It's like classical instrumental music with you being in the place of a composer. It is difficult to put your finger on it, but as soon as you put your hands on it you'll realise it's unputdownable. So I guess the best way how to explain what's the thing like is to say - it's addictive. First time I took it to work, it was grabbed from me immediately and only returned towards the end of the day with great reluctance.

Pietro, music enthusiast, amateur guitarist and poet, proud owner of Gecho s/n.010

When I first saw the Gecho I was intrigued. When I touched it I was immediately mesmerised. My world just took on another dimension that I was in complete control of - it is amazingly cool.

Mike Dee, mobile games designer & enterpreneur