I made this today. Honestly all it is, is a 555 timer with the 9V/output soldered how they normally are and then I attached wires to all 8 legs of the IC, then soldered them to thumb-tacks, thus completing my touch-synth. Here's a short demo of what it can do:
555 Touch Synth (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOW2aTrnjf4#lq-lq2-hq-vhq)
Thats fuckin ace!