02 pcbprocess
Choosing the brain
Why every Rodeo instrument runs on a Daisy Seed, why the first motherboard was built around the Seed2 DFM, and why I moved it back to the classic footprint partway through.
Build log
Building it in the open
Notes from designing an open-source synthesizer platform — the decisions, the boards, and the parts that went wrong. Every entry goes out as one email.
01 process
I set out to build a synth. I ended up building a platform.
Rodeo began in April 2026 with one question: could I build a real synth? Halfway through designing the carrier board I realised I was building something any instrument could sit on.
Follow along?
Every entry goes out as one email, roughly monthly. The Kickstarter is announced here first.