Crafting the Magical Synthesizer
I barely made it to the Magic Click performance on time, rushed through a frantic set, and wrapped up.
"Master! That song you just played—the way it rang out with that final ding at the end, it tickled my heart more than any real magic could!"
The evening sunset stretched long and orange across the road home.
Edelrin had been circling me like an excited puppy, gushing nonstop.
I'd been too out of breath from sprinting to the stage to think straight, but with her starry-eyed praise right there, I couldn't help the weird swell of pride.
Yeah, this is the rush that makes it all worth it for an artist.
I struck a pose, putting on a stern voice just for show.
"Well, with practice, you could pull this off too, Edelrin. If you actually practice, that is."
"Really? Could I make sounds that steal people's hearts, just like you?"
"...Don't say it like that—it sounds like black magic. Anyway, elves have sharper senses than humans, so you might even have an edge."
At my words, Edelrin clenched her fist like she'd conquered the world.
Her innocent enthusiasm was cute, but part of me was already scheming to train her up fast and dump my whole performance schedule on her.
The second we got to the mansion, I kicked off my shoes haphazardly and dove face-first onto the living room sofa.
"Ahh... I can breathe again..."
I buried my face in the plush cushions, eyes drifting shut, when I sensed Edelrin sneaking onto the seat beside me.
Without even opening my eyes, I waved her off firmly.
"Edelrin, where do you think you're sitting? Go to your room and run through those chords I taught you—100 times each."
"Ehhh? Now? We just got back to the mansion!"
Edelrin whined in protest, but Boksoon, perched smugly on my shoulder, nodded vigorously like she agreed, then fluttered her wings at Edelrin as if to say, Go on, scram!
"Pfft, who even knows who's the real owner around here~."
Luna chuckled from the kitchen, prepping tea.
Edelrin shot Boksoon a betrayed look, then hugged her guitar case and trudged off to her room. Soon after, Boksoon floated away to follow her.
...Huh? What's this now?
Quiet settled over the living room, and Luna came over to set a teacup down beside me.
"Here you go. So, time for our magic lesson now, right~?"
Her interruption to my peaceful break made me mumble into the sofa.
"Luna... can't you see I just finished a show? Please, just let me rest a little."
"It's been ages since we skipped lessons for all that disciple talk. Ria, you've got the talent, but you really lack persistence~."
Luna poked my back insistently.
When I kept radiating laziness, she stroked my hair soothingly and added,
"It's not like real studying—it's just you throwing out musical ideas, and me turning them into magic. Think of it like playtime and relax~."
The word play got me peeking up.
Our "magic lessons" were less about memorizing spells and more like brainstorming how to mash my modern music knowledge into this world's magic system.
Reluctantly, I sat up and pondered. In a world with zero music theory, what musical concepts could apply to magic...?
Then I remembered that self-proclaimed disciple from the plaza last time.
"Luna, speaking of—those weird instruments Kasian was using? What's the exact principle behind them?"
"Oh, that~? They're magic tools that channel mana directly. The instrument itself has spells engraved to convert the user's mana into sound~."
"So there's a separate spell for generating sound?"
Luna shrugged like it was obvious.
"Of course. There are tons—high-frequency attacks to subdue monsters, plain loud noises, even illusion spells that perfectly mimic specific sounds~."
Her eyes sparkled as she scooted closer.
"Asking about this means you're into magic instruments now, Ria~?"
...Could we make one? A synthesizer.
The pinnacle of electronic music, and one of the few tools I actually handled well back then.
If we could magic up an oscillator, I could flip this world's pathetic music scene overnight.
"I've been thinking of making a new instrument anyway. Playing guitar in the plaza every day is getting kinda stale, right?"
Luna let out a disbelieving laugh.
"Dunno~ From the crowd's reactions, you could play the same songs for years and they'd never get bored.... But if that's what you want, I'll help. I'm personally dying to see what wild idea pops out of your head next~."
Luna rolled up her sleeves, hooked.
Looks like I'd ignited the archmage's curiosity.
Before diving into design, I probed for feasibility.
"Luna, first—tell me exactly how magic instruments work. Could we build the structure I have in mind?"
"Usually two ways: engrave sound-amplifying or converting circuits directly into the instrument, or link multiple pre-made magic tool circuits. The second's trickier but way more versatile. Got a specific structure in mind~?"
Her explanation mirrored modern electronic instrument circuits more than I'd expected.
I recalled synth structures and signal flows from my past life.
Exam prep memories were fuzzy after so long, but with magic as a cheat code, we could hack it together.
"Kinda iffy, but... gotta try bumping up against it."
I asked Luna to grab paper and pen from nearby, then sketched from basic waveform oscillators to volume envelopes over time.
Complex images swirled chaotically in my head.
"Tch... Imagining it all in my head just isn't cutting it."
I scratched my nape nonstop.
My pen hovered uselessly in the air.
Back then, I just tweaked pre-built gear, but coding waveform principles from scratch into magic circuits? Trial and error was inevitable.
"Luna, let's just build and tweak as we go—that'll be faster. Like you said, link multiple magic tools."
No sooner had I finished than Luna yelled "Hold on!" and whooshed out of the room.
She returned moments later, arms loaded with wide, flat boards.
"What's this?"
"Boards for engraving mana circuits. Cheap stone slabs work, but they're inefficient—mana leaks everywhere. These are high-purity mana conduction plates gathering dust in the mansion storage~."
I reached to touch the smooth surface out of curiosity, then froze with a practical question.
"Uh... how much do these cost?"
"Mm~ Stone slabs are pocket change, but these special-processed ones? A palm-sized piece runs about 1 gold."
...Ten million won?
I yanked my hand back in horror, but then remembered high-end analog synth prices from my past life and rationalized, Not bad, actually.
"Okay. First, we need a spell that outputs a steady waveform when fed mana. Got anything like that?"
"Sure, but what exact waveform~?"
Luna snapped her fingers again, and bluish mana particles gathered in the air between us, tracing geometric lines.
It was like an oscilloscope screen come to life.
"This one's a jagged sawtooth with harsh friction noise. This is a dull, rumbling square. Which suits your taste~?"
Luna alternated sawtooth and square waves.
How has music not exploded with convenient magic like this?!
I facepalmed internally, studying the rippling waves, then locked onto one smooth, flowing curve.
"This one. The sleek sine curve."
"This? It's so clean it might sound flat—sure~?"
I nodded firmly at her concerned question.
"Yeah. Just a test run anyway."
Inside, I cheered. No capacitors, comparators, or diode circuits—just one magic click for perfect waveforms.
"Hmmm, if you're set on it, Ria. I'll lock this wave as the base."
Luna said as she paused engraving the board.
"But plain waveforms won't make sound. Want me to add a vibration-to-physical-sound converter too~?"
"Later. Start with the waveform oscillator circuit on this board."
As Luna placed her hand on the board and focused, one corner glowed softly, etching geometric patterns.
"Next~?"
"Ack... who's whose master here?! Get serious.... Now, a circuit that ramps up vibration frequency based on mana input?"
Luna narrowed her eyes curiously.
"Tuning pitch by real-time mana control? That'll be brutal to play~."
"Don't worry—I'll add a mana-fixing controller later. Like this: Base it on 0 mana. +1a mana doubles frequency (one octave up). So +1/12a mana = 12√2 multiplier. You set the 'a' baseline."
Normally 1V/octave was standard, but this was mana, not voltage.
Letting mana-whiz Luna define it was smartest.
"Simple—let's say 1 mana pressure."
"Uh... what's 1 mana pressure?"
"About 100 mana pressure to stably hold an imperial-certified 1-circle light spell. Think of this as 1/100th. Wanna know more?"
Her eyes shifted to lecture mode, so I pivoted fast.
"No, later. We'd be here till morning."
Probably like volts or whatever...
Luna pouted disappointingly.
...Did I just dodge a bullet?