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In a studio wired for discovery, Robin Rimbaud – better known as Scanner – reflects on three decades of shaping sound at the edges of music and art. This three-part documentary, recorded by Kim Bjørn, explores modular synthesis as a tool for curiosity, chance, and constant reinvention.
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In the late ’70s, when modular synths were for the rich or reckless, a Dutch DIY magazine offered a third option: build your own. Mostly forgotten, the Elektor Formant now returns — revived by tinkerers, YouTubers, and Erica Synths — as a living piece of solder-scarred synth history.
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From a spare-time experiment to a mythic modular reborn again and again, the Fénix defies extinction. Meet the makers, builders, and players behind each resurrection—and hear how a hobby project rose into one of synthesis history’s most singular cult instruments.
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The Jupiter-8 invited musicians into a world of color, clarity, and hands-on discovery – an instrument that turned Roland from an underdog into a true heavyweight, and delivered a workflow so intuitive that even complex patches felt like pure play.
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Across 5U, Buchla, Eurorack, and albums such as Spacehop Chronicles 2, Bluetech opens up about expressive leads, warm tone, and the intuitive, ever-shifting processes that keep his sonic universe expanding.
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In a studio wired for discovery, Robin Rimbaud – better known as Scanner – reflects on three decades of shaping sound at the edges of music and art. This three-part documentary, recorded by Kim Bjørn, explores modular synthesis as a tool for curiosity, chance, and constant reinvention.
In the late ’70s, when modular synths were for the rich or reckless, a Dutch DIY magazine offered a third option: build your own. Mostly forgotten, the Elektor Formant now returns — revived by tinkerers, YouTubers, and Erica Synths — as a living piece of solder-scarred synth history.
From a spare-time experiment to a mythic modular reborn again and again, the Fénix defies extinction. Meet the makers, builders, and players behind each resurrection—and hear how a hobby project rose into one of synthesis history’s most singular cult instruments.
The Jupiter-8 invited musicians into a world of color, clarity, and hands-on discovery – an instrument that turned Roland from an underdog into a true heavyweight, and delivered a workflow so intuitive that even complex patches felt like pure play.
Across 5U, Buchla, Eurorack, and albums such as Spacehop Chronicles 2, Bluetech opens up about expressive leads, warm tone, and the intuitive, ever-shifting processes that keep his sonic universe expanding.
From Sequential’s overheated first attempt to its majestic two-keyboard redesign, the Prophet-10 became a legend in its own right – and you can explore its spirit today in Cherry Audio’s P-10, now available to readers at a special offer.
Thirteen years after his passing, Pete Namlook still feels ahead of us – merging vintage synths, early digital tools, and live computer recording long before the rest caught on. This is the gear and restless creativity behind the Fax Records ambient visionary.
German electronic pioneer Klaus Schulze helped define the Berlin School of synthesis with hypnotic sequences, analog depth, and fearless experimentation – from Tangerine Dream to solo cosmic odysseys that still resonate across ambient and techno.
Meet the Moog Model B – the prototype that bridged junk-box experimentation and the birth of the Minimoog. In this excerpt from The Minimoog Book, engineer Bill Hemsath refines his “little box” while Sun Ra, cosmic jazz visionary, carries it into interstellar sound history.
Flight attendant Wendy Uribe turned her layovers into synth-hunting missions – flying across borders to rescue vintage keyboards. Now, as The Wing Piano, she shares her love of classics like the Minimoog with 50 000 fans worldwide.
From a scavenged little “Min” built beside Moog’s factory graveyard to the sleek prototypes that paved the way for the Model D, here’s how the ABCs of the Minimoog took shape – one experiment, one leap, and one vision at a time.
From meeting Bob Moog to creating sounds that defined the Prophet-5, John Bowen’s journey traces the evolution of modern synthesis. Read how Moog’s first clinician went from demoing Minimoogs at NAMM to crafting factory presets informing electronic music history.
Now you can enjoy SYNTH GEMS 1 as an ebook – right here on your screen, whether on your phone, tablet or computer – as long as you have an internet connection. Sign up for our Core membership where you get access to SYNTH GEMS 1 and six other titles.
Since its beginnings in 1972, Roland has become one of the most influential music brands in modern history. In 400 photo-packed pages, this book tells the story of how they got there, and how they brought the music world along for the ride.
Get creative and inspired from 200+ tips and ideas and creator interviews. Learn about all the different effects types, what to get for your type of music, and how to get the most of what you already have.
Random voltage generators bring organic variation to synth patches. Learn how smooth, stepped, and trigger-based randomness can add life, unpredictability, and evolving textures to your sounds.
LFOs bring movement to synthesis by modulating parameters like filter cutoff and pulse width. Learn about waveform types, sync, delay, and how to shape modulation for evolving, expressive sounds.
Envelope generators shape how a sound evolves over time – from percussive hits to swelling textures. Learn the basics of AD, ADSR, and looping envelopes, and how they control amplitude, filters, and timbre in a synthesizer.
Waveshaping alters the harmonic makeup of a waveform to create new timbres. Learn how techniques like saturation, rectification, and wavefolding shape sound, and how modulating these parameters brings movement and complexity.
Filter resonance – also called Q or emphasis – boosts harmonics near the cutoff point, creating vowel-like tones and dramatic peaks. Learn how resonance shapes sound and brings filters to life in expressive, musical ways.
A filter’s slope determines how steeply it removes harmonics beyond the cutoff point. Learn how 1-, 2-, 4-, and even 8-pole filters shape sound with increasing intensity – from subtle roll-offs to dramatic tonal sculpting.
Filters shape sound by removing or reducing harmonics. Learn how low-pass, high-pass, band-pass, and notch filters work – and how adjusting the cutoff frequency creates dramatic changes in tone and texture.
Noise in synthesis comes in many "colors" – from white and pink to blue, brown, and beyond – each with unique frequency content. Discover how different noise types sound and why no two noise modules sound exactly the same.
Explore how different oscillator waveforms – like sawtooth, pulse, triangle, and sine – affect the harmonic content and character of a sound.
Discover the core concepts of pitch and volume in this first installment of our Basic Concepts series. Learn how oscillators, frequency, amplitude, and voltage shape the sound in a synthesizer.