Off topic – OVUM, a Cool Music Gadget

This is a little different from my regular FileMaker and Mac tech blog posts, but I seem to remember that a lot of FileMaker developers are musicians, so I thought I would share this music-related press release here and see if there is any interest.

Regular readers of this blog, may recognize my son, Cory Alder’s name. I do a lot of tech support for the people in my life, but when I get stuck with something, I call Cory for help.  He has a new company called Crows Electromusic, and he has just introduced OVUM, a standalone all-analog tool for exploratory sound synthesis. With individual controls for each function, OVUM gives direct control of five independent triangle-core oscillators. The instrument’s unique un-quantized interface is great for exploring pure tones, drones, and microtonal sound textures.

Cory says “During development of OVUM we’ve had the pleasure of handing the instrument to people who’ve never touched a synth in their life – and then watch their eyes light up as they discover how easy it is to make strange and beautiful sounds when they’re unconstrained by conventional time signatures and musical scales. We think people of all ages, musical abilities, and experience levels are going to love this instrument.”

I can verify this quote as I am one of the people who have been entranced by the gadget he has produced. He is trying to do something a little different with this little music box. Cory has had a passion for electronic music for quite a while and has bought and sold many electronic gadgets over the years and was noticing all the plastic and e-waste that gets produced. His goal with this project was to make something that made interesting music and when its life cycle is ended, can be taken apart easily and most of its components recycled. Hence the use of wood and aluminum in the design.

According to his press release, it features: 

• All analog circuitry

• 5 different voices

• Triangle and square wave triangle-core oscillators

• One-control-per-function interface

• Unique control system

• Fully standalone, just add headphones

• Wood and aluminium enclosure

• USB powered

• Made in Canada

OVUM is available now for $129 USD. 

Crows Electromusic is based in Vancouver, Canada. Started by Cory Alder in 2022. Crows’ goal is to develop new hardware instruments that challenge the established ways we interact with sound and music creation. OVUM, is available for purchase now, and orders will ship starting April 15th. 

For more information or to be one of the lucky ones to buy, please visit OVUM’s website at or follow him on social media (Instagram, TikTok).