When it is working, this is a choir organ built from forty-four modified vintage Furby toys. Keys and switches on the console trigger the toys' voices and movements, and during the demonstration each Furby sings and moves to the pitch being played. There is even a full song performed with backing from a LinnDrum and a foot switch. It looks and sounds like nothing else in the hobby.
The construction is what grabs me. Each toy was dismantled, exposing the plastic skeleton, gearbox and wiring harness, then modified with a soldering iron, pliers and wire cutters. Notebook sketches map out the electrical concept, covering connections for ground, motor, LED, sound, buttons and glitch points. Every toy ties into an Arduino Nano-style board on a perfboard with LEDs and a wiring loom, and the sound circuit is built around a BC549 transistor.
The presentation details are worth savoring too. The toys sit on tiered wooden steps above an organ-style keyboard with an oak finish, and below them an angled panel on a metal faceplate carries rows of toggle switches, knobs and dials. The rotary potentiometers are labeled with note pitches such as A, B, C#, D and D#, the vowel shaping knobs read HI, LO, A and R, and the switches carry labels like LOOP, WAKE and COLLECTIVE AWAKENING. Vowel formants can be reshaped on the instrument, and the loop toggle can freeze a vocal sample mid-phrase; in my view that is a lovely performance tool. A rear metal panel holds the input and output jacks plus a warning about feeding after midnight, and a microphone on an arm sits near a small tabletop mixer or sequencer controller.
One open thread: the maker says many hours went into this, and the concept began as a take on another designer's Furby Gurdy. With the maker still seeking Furby donations for upcoming projects, offering credit in return, it will be interesting to see where this goes next. A zine covering the concept and design is available through the maker's Patreon.
Project by LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER. Watch it on their YouTube channel: