Applewood Instruments

Applewood Instruments

Tendril

You already have two hands on the instrument and one foot on the switches. Tendril is the motion you don't have a limb left to control — a slow modulation that runs on its own while you play.

Try it in your browser ↓

This is the real waveform engine, running in your browser — not a video. Plug in a MIDI interface and it will drive actual gear over Web MIDI.

WAVE
MORPH
LO
Hz
HI
‹ PRESET ›
TAPMUTE

Actual size — 37 × 91mm

Turn the WAVE selector through its eight stops (six shapes, Settings, Mute), drag the two side knobs, and tap the footswitch for tap-tempo (hold to mute). Click the screen or either knob's labels to flip between Lo/Hi and Morph/Rate.

MIDI setup

Not sending

Only ten of these exist

If one isn't in the cards right now, leave your email. I'll let you know when the Kickstarter goes live — backers get a discount.

What it's for

A guitarist already has two hands on the instrument and one foot on the switches. A keys player running a Rhodes, a Wurli, or a stage piano into a pedal chain has nothing spare at all — that gear has no LFO of its own. A synth player already has modulation on the synth, but not on the pedals downstream, where the synth's own LFO can't reach. Modulation is the thing everyone wants and nobody has a limb left to control.

Tendril doesn't need you to drive it. Set a floor, a ceiling, and a shape, and it takes the sound somewhere you wouldn't have gone turning a knob by hand. Free-running is the point — tap a tempo if you want to land near the beat, or lock it to incoming clock if you need to. Nothing requires it. If you'd rather dial in every detail yourself, you can. Most people won't want to.

The specifics, if you want them

Six shapes, one knob

Sine, triangle, square, random, pulse, and a custom slot you draw yourself — each keeps its own morph setting, so switching shapes doesn't undo your work.

32 presets

Save a setup and it's there next time, recalled by footswitch or incoming Program Change.

A real expression output

A 1/4" jack driven by a vactrol — an isolated, floating resistor, not a voltage. It works with expression pedal inputs regardless of what voltage the host expects.

Every parameter takes CC

Floor, ceiling, morph, shape, rate, mute — assign an incoming CC to any of them and play the modulation itself from outside.

Power and MIDI, either way

A 9V center-negative jack like the rest of your board, or USB-C. MIDI in and out over 3.5mm TRS (Type A), plus class-compliant USB-MIDI.

Draw your own shape

Drop a plain-text file on the USB drive and write a step sequence or formula by hand. No software to install.

What you're actually buying

Every Tendril here is 3D-printed and hand-wired by me, one at a time, on my own desk. That means visible layer lines, a little hand-finishing, and firmware that's still settling in — not a finished consumer product. Ten of them exist. Once they're gone, the next version is a powder-coated aluminum enclosure, made in a real production run.

These first ten run on USB-C or 9V center-negative power, and MIDI in, out, and USB-MIDI all work fully. Sold as-is, no returns. A prototype is allowed to be a prototype. I'd rather you know that going in than find it out after.

01 Hand-made, one at a time
02 Numbered 1–10, signed by hand
03 Sold as-is — prototype firmware, no returns

Edition of ten — hand-made, one at a time

Tendril, Edition of Ten

$225 + shipping

  • 3D-printed enclosure, hand-wired by me
  • Numbered 1–10, signed by hand
  • USB-C or 9V center-negative power; MIDI in, out, and USB-MIDI all work
  • Prototype firmware — solid, but not final. Sold as-is, no returns
  • Once ten are gone, the next batch is the powder-coated aluminum production run

Nothing's for sale yet — leave your email and I'll reach out the moment prototypes are ready to order.

Missed this batch?

Leave your email for early access when the Kickstarter goes live, plus a discount for backers.