Asking manufacturers what nobody knows about their synths

video upload by mylarmelodies

"Want some random synth facts? At London Synth & Pedal Expo, I asked Music Thing, Korg, ASM, Arturia, Genki, Elektron, Embodme and ALM Busycircuits - what does nobody know about your machine? 👀"

00:00 - Today's Video
00:13 - Tom Whitwell doesn't know how the slopes work
00:48 - Korg Minilogue's Hidden Arcade Game
01:16 - Leviasynth's Ergonomic Notch
01:46 - Keystep 37's Sneaky LFOs
02:04 - RYK's Hidden Defender Game
03:05 - KATLA's Audio Replacement Trick
04:03 - Elektron's Octatrack Fails
04:49 - Erae Touch's Secret Sequencer
05:22 - ALM's Many Easter Eggs

Genki Instruments Katla #8 (MPE update!) | Winterdagen

video upload by Winterdagen

"Can a perfect synthesizer be made any better? Well yes, apparently it can :) The amazing people at Genki Instruments just made Katla even more expressive by adding MPE capabilities in a firmware update.

I have to say I always thought MPE was a bit gimmicky. I even had a Roli Seaboard Rise in my studio which I'd never properly used. The new Katla update was the perfect reason to change that. And oh boy have I missing out! I absolutely love being able to slide between notes and add expression with pressure and slides. I thought it'd be too complicated to play, but it actually really isn't.

It seems the team at Genki Instruments have hit a home run again. Without any real setup I got the MPE controller hooked up, and in no time I came up with this patch, which feels so expressive to play! I'm looking forward to exploring more MPE patches on Katla ❤️

A second batch of Katlas is available now at https://genki.is/"

What the Katla Does to a Melodic, Progressive & Electronica Track

video upload by Marcus Schmahl

"Genki Instruments Katla arrived in my studio. Electronic music meets the icelandic synth that came from a volcano. A really amazing synthesizer with a unique sound. I'll show you a little bit of the sound. More soon!"

KATLA Jam 3 - Oxi One + Saga Sequencer | 808 Beats

video upload by verstaerker

"Dive into a live, improvisational jam centered around the Genki Katla – a five-voice, voice-rotating polyphonic synth with organic, evolving textures. Controlled via the Oxi One and sequenced with the new Saga sequencer mode, this session blends minimalistic electro beats with a cutting organic sequence.

🎛️ Setup Breakdown:

Genki Katla (main lead sequence)
Oxi One (sequencing)
Yocto 8080 for 8080 drums
Eventide TimeFactor (Delay)
Eventide ModFactor (Ring Modulation)
PIN Portabella (Extra Sound)"

Katla 2 - organic sequence and chilled electro rhythms

video upload by verstaerker

"my second test of Genki Katla Synth. This time with a plain beat on the Octatrack , wich also sends the simple midi-sequence to the Katla.
‪@genkiinstruments‬ ‪@WeAreElektron‬"

Katla at Superbooth 2026

video upload by Tweeeeeak!

"Listen with good bass headphones... 😁
No talking, just loading and tweaking some patches.

0:00 - Bass/Lead 1 0:51 - Bass/Lead 2 1:21 - Sequence 1 2:27 - Bass/Lead 3 3:08 - Bass/Lead 4 3:53 - Sequence 2 4:39 - Bass/Lead 5 5:39 - Sequence 3 6:02 - Drone 1 7:07 - Drone 2"

Katla 1 - First Soundtest

video upload by verstaerker

"Katla arrived and i'm getting to know him
‪@genkiinstruments‬
playing it with the Oxi One sequencer wich also sends aftertouch to modulate filter and Katla-params"

Genki Instruments Katla #7 | Winterdagen

video upload by Winterdagen

"I'm a huge fan of sawtooth lfos on the filter cutoff. Sometimes for proper rhythmic stuff, sometimes for more freely timed plucks like in this patch.

On Katla it's so easy to add some extra movement to otherwise simply repeating lfo modulation! I turned up the keytracking a bit on the lfos, making each note have their own lfo speed, and I've routed the envelope to the lfo speeds making them go faster as the pad swells in. It's so easy to dial in sounds like this on Katla because every modulation destination has its own bipolar slider, and keytracking has dedicated knobs per parameter you can apply it to. To top the patch off I added a healthy dose of Katla's incredible reverb and added some Katla modulation params."

Genki's CEO On How The €4990 KATLA Synthesizer Was Made

video upload by mylarmelodies

"Here's how KATLA was made - recorded at the Synth & Pedal Expo London (plus sounds at the end!). Katla is a unique synth - inspired by a titanic volcano in Iceland, with a huge gritty vibey sound. It literally has volcano in it(!) And after this interview, I thought about it a lot. Because behind the scenes, I've been working on a product and so much of what Óli said here resonated with my own experiences. I was really struck by how open, candid and frank Óli was, and I think there's huge value in learning from their journey. Hope you find this interesting!

Note that there was the Hackney half marathon happening in the background with people shouting and whooping constantly throughout the chat - but Izotope RX to the rescue!"

MORE ON KATLA
▶︎ It's since sold out, but there is a waitlist! https://genki.is/katla

VISIT THE LONDON SYNTH & PEDAL EXPO NEXT YEAR?
▶︎ https://synthandpedalexpo.com/london-...

CHAPTERS
0:00 A Volcano In A Synthesizer?
01:03 Depression, Iceland & A Big Idea
02:11 Nobody Knew What They Were Building
04:31 Fake Deadlines & Soccer Moms
06:09 The Godfather Of The Project
08:00 How Do You Sound Like A Volcano?
09:32 Spending Big & Hoping It Works
11:20 Linux, ARM Chips & Why Digital?
12:45 Who Actually Has Final Say?
15:50 4:30am Hack Sessions In Iceland
18:16 Trusting Creatives When Life Hits
21:28 We Were Beginners. We Didn't Know.
23:48 The Secret Ingredient: Grease
26:16 Where Does The Lava Come From?
29:23 Why Does This Cost £5,000?
34:11 Two Years, 100 Units, A Baby
36:50 Mylar Playing Katla Afterwards

Genki Instruments Katla #6 | Winterdagen

video upload by Winterdagen

"With a sound like this, melodies just come pouring out! ❤️ The movement in this patch comes from routing the LFO to the phase distortion, which sounds different than modulating the filter. So many on panel options to create moving and characterful sounds! I named this little piece 'Closing Credits', hope you like it."

Genki Instruments Katla #5 | Winterdagen

video upload by Winterdagen

"Time for a new video on the mighty Genki Instruments Katla lava synthesizer! While last rays of a setting sun were hitting my living room window, I was playing around with Katla's stereo CMOS distortion, and this beautiful gloomy pad emerged. You can drive Katla in no less than four different places. This took a little getting used to for me, but it makes for a super flexible synth engine. I've never heard internal drive sound this good on a synthesizer.

As always, thanks for having me Genki! I'm not getting payed to say nice things about Katla, and I think its beautiful sound speaks for itself:)"

Genki Instruments Katla #4 | Winterdagen

video upload by Winterdagen

I can't get enough of these kind of gentle key patches on the Katla synthesizer! For this patch I used a similar approach to the previous one, using the self oscillating filter as a sound source. But this time I played with modulating the wave folder, which at times in the piece almost feels like an extra melody coming in. I also once again tuned one of the voices an octave higher than the other ones, for unpredictable octave jumps in the melody, I just love that so much on Katla! For the next patch I'll try a more distorted one, promise."

See the Genki label below for additional posts.

Genki Instruments Katla #3 | Winterdagen

video upload by Winterdagen

"Time to put Katla through the arp test! Feeding Katla some arpeggiated chords, does it sound full enough? Are the envelopes plucky enough? Is it easy to keep interest up while playing with the synth parameters? I'd say absolutely, but you can judge for yourself!

I love the fact that Katla's envelopes can be both super slow as wel as super plucky. And Katla's super lush reverb really steals the show here:)"

Genki Instruments Katla #2 | Winterdagen

video upload by Winterdagen

"Here's another patch on the gorgeous ‪@genkiinstruments‬ Katla synthesizer.

For this keys patch I made use of Katla's voice rotation, with one of 5 voices tuned an octave higher than the rest, resulting in unpredictable pitch jumps in the melody, which I love. I didn't make use of Katla's oscillators for this patch, in stead the sound is coming from the filter with the resonance fully up, which tracks pitch very nicely when tuned with the simple calibration mode of holding down the two filter mode knobs.

I'm a big fan of these singing filter sine waves, which always feel a tiny bit unstable which makes them sound magical. To top it off I'm modulating the panning of the voices, I blended in some of Katla's lovely noise for some warble and I added some of the amazing internal reverb, which reminds me a bit of my Vongon Ultrasheer. I love this sound so much and I've never heard any other synth make it quite like this!

You don't see me playing the keys in the video, but I played this patch for hours, instant inspiration really. This melody is came out of that improvisation.

Thank you for watching!

ps. sine waves generally don't translate all that well on phone/laptop speakers, so speakers/earbuds/headphones advised.

Katla is shipping as of this week, find more info at: https://genki.is/"

Genki KATLA - THE VOLCANO SYNTH!! Now Available

video upload by Starsky Carr

"What happens when a synthesizer completely breaks the rules?
In this video, we explore the Genki KATLA — a truly unique polysynth inspired by Icelandic volcanoes, featuring a rotating voice architecture, hybrid signal path, and some of the most unpredictable sound design possibilities I’ve come across.

This isn’t your typical analog polysynth. Each of the five voices can run independently with different waveforms, octaves, and modulation — creating evolving textures, harmonic movement, and generative-style sounds that feel closer to modular synthesis than traditional keyboards.

🎛️ What makes the KATLA special?
• Rotating voice polyphony (round robin-style synthesis)
• Independent per-voice oscillators & tuning
• Digital oscillators + analog filter signal path
• Looping envelopes reaching audio-rate modulation
• Phase distortion, wavefolding & multiple distortion types
• Tape-style wow, flutter & pitch instability effects
• Stereo voice movement & evolving spatial modulation
• External inputs for processing other gear

From lush ambient pads to aggressive, evolving sequences — this synth can go places most instruments simply can’t. It’s not about recreating vintage sounds… it’s about discovering entirely new ones.

💸 At around €5000, this is definitely not a beginner synth — but for sound designers, and anyone looking for something truly different, it well worth a look."

Genki Katla Sound Design: Making sounds from scratch and exploring
video upload by MR TUNA Music

Chapters: 0:00 - Intro 0:16 - Init patch 0:44 - Filter sounds 1:26 - Raising 1 voice 1:43 - Creating a basic pluck sound 2:24 - Aftertouch controls 2:45 - Bring in a little reverb 2:56 - LFO to filter cutoff 3:16 - LFO to reverb mix 3:46 - Keyboard cutoff 4:00 - Osc 3 Square wave 4:23 - Sub oscillator 4:54 - KATLA parameters 5:01 - Rústir wavefolder 6:08 - Rökkur stereospreader 6:37 - Skriða envelope randomizer 7:27 - Aska random modulations 7:57 - Glóð tape stops and flutters 8:35 - Skjálfti ??? 9:14 - Kvika slow tape modulations 9:38 - dark pads 10:20 - Móða voice detuning 11:20 - Katla sounds with aftertouch 13:28 - Thanks for watching

"Hey guys! Very very excited to be presenting the Genki Katla to you all... I am truly in awe of the sound of this very unique and powerful instrument.

I thought the best way to get to know the synth is to start from scratch so in this video we'll go full hands-on with the Genki Katla, exploring (almost) every parameter and building sounds from an initialized patch.

From some raw drone layers and gritty textures to evolving pads, rhythmic sequences, and atmospheric beds, we will see just what this instrument can do, discover new sounds, and maybe make some friends along the way 🙏

If you're into sound design, unique synths, or just love discovering new instruments, this one is for you!

HUGE thanks to Genki for letting me a part of this with them and showing off this super cool synth.

No money was paid, no agreements were made... these are my real thoughts on this very premium synthesizer and I will be sharing lots more."

Press release follows:


Genki Instruments announces availability of Katla as Voice Rotating Polyphonic Synthesizer inspired by its natural namesake

REYKJAVIK, ICELAND: having twice blown European musical minds thanks to show-stealing showcases at SUPERBOOTH25, May 8-10, Berlin, Germany and Machina Bristronica 2025, September 27-28, Bristol, UK, before adventuring across the pond for a repeat performance at Buchla & Friends 2026, January 24-25, LA, CA, USA, Reykjavik-based instrument developer Genki Instruments is proud to announce availability of the eagerly-awaited Katla as a Voice Rotating Polyphonic Synthesizer inspired by Iceland’s largest subglacial volcano as its natural namesake — readily representing the company’s first foray into analogue synthesis, albeit one that uniquely utilises a set of wildcard parameters to infuse it with organic, unpredictable behaviour as an instrument that is worthy of that legacy, excelling at generating rich, evolving, multi-layered textures, where each note stirs, swells, and erupts in its own distinct way — as of March 31…

Clearly Katla’s inspiration runs through its ‘volcanic’ veins. After all, it is framed by side panels and knobs forged from authentic Icelandic lava, giving each instrument a tangible connection to the volcanic forces that inspired it. That this synth should surely roar is a given. Genki Instruments inevitably chose, therefore, to kit Katla out with four independent distortion destinations, the most unruly of which is a stereo CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) Drive effect — a characterful saturation stage, pushing tones from warm and rounded to fractured and snarling.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Going for some techno on the KATLA

video upload by Starsky Carr

"I've heard it do ominous and ambient so I thought I'd try a little #techno with the @genkiinstruments KATLA

... and F**k me does it work!! 🤣🤣

Matched with the ‪@oxiinstruments‬ ONE MKII they make a perfect couple!"

See the Genki label below for more.

Katla Volcanic Synth - Genki's New Instrument at Buchla & Friends

video upload by CatSynth TV

"We get an introduction to Katla, an enigmatic new synthesizer from Iceland-based Genki Instruments, at Buchla & Friends 2026. Named one of the largest volcanoes in Iceland, Katla is synthesizer that combines five digital oscillator voices with envelopes, analog filters and wavefolders, and a set of "Kalta" chaotic parameters, for an organic, "controlled-chaos", sound and performance. It also features side panels and knobs made from volcanic lava rocks.

To find out more, please visit https://genkiinstruments.com/katla

0:00 Introduction
0:27 A demo of Katla and its 'controlled chaos'
2:16 Conclusion

Merch: https://shop.catsynth.com
Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/catsynth
Patreon: / catsynth

And one from Bonedo Synthesizers:

Genki Instruments Katla Synth - Demo and Interview
video upload by Bonedo Synthesizers

See the Genki label below for additional posts.

Buchla & Friends 2026: The Most Insane Synthesizers

video upload by Sam Gutman

00:00 Intro
00:38 Nymira by Terraphones
01:16 Erea 2 by Embodme
02:06 A Wild ‪@BennJordan‬ !
02:17 Flux by Soma Laboratories
03:00 Ruby Moon through Omnisphere Effects
04:33 Demonbox by Eternal Research
05:31 Katla by Genki Instruments
06:36 Buchla Music Easel by Buchla
06:53 Rhodes Piano by Rhodes
07:10 Dvina by Soma Laboratories
07:25 Uranograph by Clank

Machina Bristonica 2025 - A Quick Look Round

video upload by Runningonair

"Just a little video about my trip to Machina Bristonica. Not by any means a full review, I wouldn't have it in me to attempt such a thing.

Links:
Equipment
https://sequential.com/modern-analog/...
https://www.genki.is/katla
https://groovesynthesis.com/
https://novationmusic.com/products/mi...
https://www.arturia.com/products/hard...

Artists
Sakr
https://sakrmusic.bandcamp.com/
Tim Exile
https://timexile.bandcamp.com/
Nadia Struiwigh
https://nadiastruiwigh.bandcamp.com/


https://runningonair.bandcamp.com/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/5fNUf...

https://paypal.me/runningonair?

BAF 2025: Genki Instruments Katla Synthesizer

video upload by sonicstate

"At BAF 2025, we caught up with Kari from Genki Instruments who introduced us to the *Katla Synthesizer*. Touted as perhaps the first Icelandic synthesizer, Katla takes its inspiration from Iceland's largest volcano, featuring side panels made of lava rock, ensuring each unit is unique.

Katla *is a five-voice polysynth that marries elements from both polyphonic and paraphonic synth designs. It offers a range of modes, including a notably dynamic round robin mode, as well as unison options. Each voice in *Katla comes with its own filter, enveloping a unique avenue for creative expression.

The synth is complemented by a suite of modulation sources, including loopable envelopes and integrated LFOs. Effects on board such as stereo reverb and distortion expand its sonic capability. Currently in a digital prototype stage, Genki hopes to incorporate analog components before its release later this year.

More Info:

https://genkiinstruments.com/"

See the announcement post here.