A fingerboard synthesizer is a synthesizer with a ribbon controller or other fingerboard-like user interface used to control parameters of the sound processing. A ribbon controller is similar to a touchpad, however a ribbon controller only registers linear motion.

Although it could be used to operate any parameter that is powered by control voltages, a ribbon controller is most commonly associated with pitch control or pitch bending.

The ribbon controller has no moving parts. Instead, a finger pressed down and moved along it creates an electrical contact at some point along a pair of thin, flexible longitudinal strips whose electric potential varies from one end to the other.

Different the fingerboards instruments - or ribbon controllers - were developed like Ondes Martenot, Hellertion, the Trautonium, the Electro-Theremin, the Fingerboard-Theremin, The Persephone... Ribbon controller is used as an additional controller in the Yamaha CS80, the Korg Prophecy, Kurzweil synthesizers ...

Synthesizers