As the dust and electrons settle on another Synth East it's good to spend a little time reliving those moments of synthesizer loveliness. Here are your Synth East 2026 highlights.
2. Synth East 2025 Norwich Synth Club Performances
Two performances from members of the Norwich Synth Club. The first group are called A Vector in Hilbert Space and the second group are called D A C 3.
For more information about the club go here: / norwichsynth [Facebook]
3. Synth East 2025 All-Star Patch-Off
Draw two modular artists out of a hat and persuade them to improvise live on stage - that is the Patch-Off and these are your stars:
Paulee Bow - / @magicalsynthadventure3216
Finlay Shakespeare - https://finlayshakespeare.bandcamp.com/
Nicki from Dots - https://www.iamseeingdots.co.uk/
Gaz Williams - / gazwilliams
Steve Davis - https://theutopiastrong.bandcamp.com/
Robin Vincent - https://moltenmusictechnology.com/
Visuals by Sloon - / sloon_visuals
4. Synth East 2025 Magical Molten Modular Synth Adventure
Saturday night performance by Paulee Bow and Robin Vincent posing as the Magical Molten Modular Synth Adventure.
Paulee Bow - / @magicalsynthadventure3216 Robin Vincent - https://moltenmusictechnology.com/
Visuals by Sloon - / sloon_visuals
1. Mutable Instruments Beads - exploration and tutorial by Tom Leclerc
2. Mutable Instruments Beads (no input) by Robin Rimbaud-Scanner
First play with the Mutable Instruments Beads texture synthesiser. And here's
a wonderful surprise - if you leave both audio inputs unpatched, then after 10
seconds it begins to granulise a collection of stored raw waveforms taken from
Mutable Instruments Plaits wavetable module. So here's a piece using Beads as
the lead voice on this cinematic piece, with no other inputs. I added other
instruments afterwards for rhythm and bass, and the singular pulse that holds
throughout is from the Make Noise Mysteron. This is just an idea to show Beads
in a very musical context
3. Heidi Concrète (featuring Mutable Instruments Beads) by Robin Rimbaud-Scanner
An experimental piece using Mutable Instruments Beads, the texture
synthesiser, processing an audio file. No addition effects or processing were
used. This is simply a live exploration of a single audio file with Beads. The
original voice introduces and closes the piece so you can compare the two
sonic worlds before and after Beads. The voice is taken from a scanned phone
call in the early 1990s that features on my Delivery (1997) album.
4. A Little Beat with Mutable Instruments Beads (Wavetable Mode) by midcentury
modular
This is Beads running in the internal wavetable mode (and a kick drum from
plaits). I've got a gate going into freeze that acts as a mute when the kick
comes in (sort-of side-chain like), and I'm also manually pressing it to mute
and sustain the random sequence.
The pitches are not from an external cv source but generated internally with
the peaky random distribution into the time knob. The pitch changes with this
parameter seem to be somewhat harmonically related (though I'm not sure what
specific scale) to the root set by the pitch parameter.
5. Overdriven Ambient Looping with Mutable Instruments Beads by midcentury
modular
This video is some improvised choir sounds (from the Ableton Operator synth,
played with a midi keyboard) ran into Mutable Instruments Beads in the
delay/looper mode (with "sunny tape quality") Throughout, I add to the buffer
by tapping out of freeze mode and back in. When the feedback is up, things
stick around, so you can progressively add more and build up the buffer. I'm
also experimenting with overdriving the input (by turning up the audio level
going into beads from ableton with the top left 1U knob)
6. Mutable Instruments Beads (Scorched Cassette Mode) and Ciat-Lonbarde
Plumbutter Deerhorn by midcentury modular
This patch is my attempt at using Beads to add some Cocoquantus-like magic to
the Deerhorn. I think the downsampling, lower-bitrate and whatever other DSP
tricks are happening in the Scorched Cassette mode are crerating a somewhat
similar vibe to the 8-bit dolby loopers in the Coco, and I think this adds
some really nice fizzy textures to the warm, raw-oscillator tone of the
Deerhorn). Beads is also pitching down the two tones from Deerhorn to add a
bit more melodic content.
There is some very subtle modulation coming from the orange out on Deerhorn,
but it's not really doing a ton and could probably be left out and you
wouldn't be able to tell much of a difference. There is some audio-rate
modulation coming out of one of the white deerhorn outputs into the density
input, which is modulating some of the AM stuff going on when density is high
towards the end of the track.
No idea why the snapping gesture with the density knob caused the "knock on
wood" sound, but I think it was a pretty cool accident!
7. Noisy Experimenting with Mutable Instrument Beads, Blades Ripples and Plaits
This patch (at least as much as I remember it...been a while since I made
this) is Beads and Blades in a sort-of feedback loop. Blades is over-driven
and self-oscillating, and the outs are sent to control seed and freeze on
Beads (which is using the internal wavetable generator as audio input). After
trying out various ones, I found these two control inputs on Beads the most
interesting with audio rate signals. The outs of Beads are going into the
audio inputs of blades. Both modules outs are multed out and into veils which
is acting as a stereo mixer. Ripples (which is getting some noise into its
cutoff modulation input from Plaits) is providing some audio rate modulation
to some of the Veils channels.
"Beads is a reinvention of Mutable Instruments’ Clouds.
The concept is the same, live granular processing of an incoming audio signal, and the labels on the panel remain familiar.
The similarities stop here. The hardware and software have been redesigned from the ground up, with several goals in mind: a crisper and broader sound palette, more control, better playability, and direct access to exciting new features.
DOTTING THE I’S AND CROSSING THE T’S
Beads’ vastly improved specifications allow a higher audio quality, a longer buffer, the use of better interpolation and anti-aliasing algorithms, and key DSP blocks to run at a faster rate. Granular processing can now go to new territories, such as formants, wavetables, hard-sync-like sounds, or crispy noise.
The range of parameters, their response to the turn of a knob or a CV modulation have all been refined, for new possibilities such as reverse playback or percussive envelopes.
CONTROL, CHAOS AND CHARACTER
Control. To trigger or schedule grains, Beads provides new features to divide or randomize an external clock or trigger stream, spray bursts of grains in response to a gate, or get the grain rate to track a V/O CV or the frequency of an external oscillator.
Chaos. Each key parameter of a grain comes with its own attenurandomizer, which allows direct CV control, CV control of the randomization (spread) of this parameter, or internal randomization using some of Marbles’ algorithms.
Character. Beads provides four audio quality settings, which go well beyond buffer sample rate and bit-depth: they affect the clock of the converters, the amplitude limiting and saturation of the signal path, the tone of the reverb, and additional media-emulation effects. From a pristine digital device to a dirty cassette, through a mode reproducing some of Clouds’ characteristics.
MODES?
Beads can operate as a delay without the need to switch to a different mode: just ask it to play a never-ending grain. Its DENSITY, TIME and SEED controls are repurposed to allow various features such as tap-tempo, beat slicing, time-stretching, or comb-filtering at rates tracking V/O.
Without any audio input, Beads will granularize 8 internal banks of wavetables.
"A little preview teaser for the forthcoming world premiere of A Little Bit of Everything (Scanner Scans Bedford), which will be performed live on 12 June 2018 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall London on the South Bank Centre. The show will feature live electronics on Scanner on Moog synths and laptop in collaboration with the BBC Concert Orchestra. More details below:
David Bedford’s work transcends genre and style, reaching audiences in dynamic and refreshing ways. In what would have been his 80th birthday, the orchestra dives into a concert of his music including Tubular Bells and Symphony No.1.
The orchestra also performs a world premiere by electronic musician Scanner, drawing out the majestic and exploratory nature of Bedford’s composition.
Performers
BBC Concert Orchestra
Michael Seal conductor
Steve Hillage guitar
Scanner electronics
Repertoire
David Bedford: Alleluia Timpanis for orchestra
Scanner: A Little Bit of Everything (World premiere)
David Bedford: Symphony No.1
Interval
Mike Oldfield: Tubular Bells arr. David Bedford for orchestra"
"This live set was recorded to raise funds for the Red Cross Ukraine and originally transmitted on 21 May 2022, at the end of a long day of live music at FoxFest, a live music event curated by Werra Foxma Records. At the time I was rather suffering from a nasty bout of flu, so clearly wasn't at my best and as such I failed to fix the focus of one of the cameras, so my apologies for that. I hope you will enjoy it, despite that. The show was improvised, as always, so I also had little expectation of what was to follow."
Note: links to listings are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
video upload by
Robin Rimbaud-Scanner
"First proper play with the Wing Pinger, an outstanding new instrument from Meng
Qi. It can move from very gentle arping melodies to harsh noise in the blink of
an eye. You can play the keyboard and latch the notes on each and build up
layers of sound. Here I'm using it with the Bugbrand PT Delay and a little bit
of reverb from the Eventide H9. Try and listen in stereo or on headphones if you
can, to feel the sound move around you. More of this here:
https://scanner.bandcamp.com/album/wi...
And yes, there was an earth hum issue here with noise. I'm aware of this and
apologise!"
Note this listing is not for the same unit in the video above; it was just included in the listing as a demo of the Wing Pinger in general and hasn't been featured here before.
"The Wing Pinger is a remarkable new analog music instrument that allows you to combine melody and noise in perfect harmony. Thanks to a highly playable interface, this latest product offering from Meng Qi is actually many things all at the same time.
The Wing Pinger is designed for musicians and non-musicians alike. It’s composed of a pair of 4-pole resonant low pass filters and a network of peripheral logic circuits. The filters can be cross “pinged” and modulated, both directly and by generated step signals.
Plain and simple, this delivers an instrument capable of producing continually evolving music across the spectrum, from controlled to chaotic. The finely tuned parameter range and intuitive interface allow players to perform entirely on intuition, producing ever-changing and rich-sounding ambient, noise or meditative music with minimal or zero user interaction.
The Wing Pinger is also at home in any musical environment. For example, it can be used as a stand-alone instrument or with whatever gear you have. The unit is equipped with both MIDI and CV I/O and can ping literally anything that has an audio or trigger input and output or emits a decaying sound."
"One small synthesiser. One guitar pedal.
Recorded in a wooden fisherman’s hut in Captiva, Florida.
As simple as that, at heart.
Back in 2017, I spent six weeks on this isolated island, at the invitation of the Robert Rauschenberg Residency. This is an interdisciplinary artists' residency programme, based on Rauschenberg's belief that art can change the world, nurture and facilitate experimentation, collaboration and innovation.
In the morning, I worked on a book I’ve been writing, then in the afternoon I recorded, every day, for the duration. The results are this series of serene and fluid soundscapes, where I used only the Kilpatrick Phenol synth and an Eventide H9 effects pedal.
The surrounding landscape remains crucial, with osprey, woodpeckers and pelicans accompanying some pieces. Life literally outside the window!
It’s a muted, mediative collection of works, cosy, shimmering and hypnotic. Two pulsing dubbed out works take a darker grainy direction, but overall, it’s an ambient, sunlit bliss-out session.
This was filmed on a GoPro camera in Captiva Florida in March 2017
"Okay! Last exploration for awhile of Robin Rimbaud's Scanner Reel from https://freesound.org for the MakeNoise Morphagene. I really have to get back to my projects but this reel is addicting. The Buchla Easel is controlling various parameters on the Morphagene."
"It's arguably the hottest day of the year in the UK. I'm in the studio, a little exhausted from deadlines this week, so decided I deserved some playtime, so instead of lounging in the sunshine (which can be very dangerous), I set up this little patch on my small Verbos Electronics modular system. It's only a sketch that might appear within something else one day, but thought it worthy of sharing, if only to give my day meaning, after all 😀"
"A brief little playtime in the studio today, with two wonderfully inspiring and strangely named instruments. I combined the Mroztronium Grackler, which is a standalone chaotic voltage controlled instrument, which can produce sounds that resemble everything from birdsong to peanuts caught in your throat, with the Meng Qi Wingie2, which is a stereo resonator and 'excites' the sound from the Grackler. I'm playing on the keyboard of the Wingie2, whilst manipulating the filter on the Grackler. Nice and simple, but I like to think, rather effective in its modest way."
"A little musical exploration in the studio on a gloomy Sunday afternoon, with the Eurorack modular system keeping me happily distracted :-)
Tech notes if you are curious - Intellijel Metropolis is the engine driving the melodies, with the Verbos Complex Oscillator and Endorophins.es Furthrrr Generator Oscillator creating the melodies. These are filtered through a Cwejman DMF-2 Filter, a Doepfer A-124 Wasp Filter, and Schippmann VCF-02. The Furthrrr Generator runs through the 2hp Freez to offer up these tricky little melodic runs. The percussion comes from the TipTop Audio ONE sampler. A Rebel Technology Χρόνος modulates the Verbos timbre. The random radio samples appear live from the Befaker ARRadio, and everything is mixed into the Intellijel Linix and Mutamix. The reverb is in the DAW itself, Ableton Live, a combination of AudioDamage EOS and Soundtoys Echoboy."
"A little experiment using the Elby Designs CGS734 Analog Shift Register running three oscillators, the Verbos Electronics Complex Oscillator, Endorphin es Furthrrr Generator Oscillator and Harvestman Hertz Donut Oscillator, the latter of which runs through the 2hp Freez, triggered by a Modcon Quad LFO. Intellijel Metropolis is making the melodies. Meanwhile two separate melodies lines flutter and appear from Hex Inverter Orbitals, also clocked by Metropolis - using Make Noise STO and Intellijel Dixie 2. Add a little reverb and a terrible iPhone film and you have it :-D"
"In anticipation of a special release of a radical remix album of the Scanni album (http://scanni.co.uk) I let the machines have their evil way again. This time I extensively used the Make Noise Phonogene in a very simple patch, alongside the Endorphin es Furthrrr Generator biting and easing its way into the soundscape. Despite the scale of the visual set up what you are hearing is remarkably simple, with the Cwejman DMF-2 and Three Sisters filters gently massaging the sounds. The Xoac Batumi is moving the sliced audio in the Phonogene and it's all happily mixed into the Intellijel Linix and Mutamix."
"A circuit bent modified Yamaha DD-10 Drum Machine, built by Shane Williams of X1L3. Although a DD-10 won't yield to rom glitching, a number of features have been added to it to bring it up to spec with some of the more unruly machines listed in the shop. It takes on it's own unique character and is now unlike any of the others. Two oscillators which can be set up as drones or set to follow the amplitude envelope of the drum machine output, an external input with bufferd/none buffered input selection which allows you to feed line level equipment and passives such as guitars, mics and contact mics into the effects chain. The effects chain consists of a resonant filter with high pass and low pass bands, a digital delay which is open to abuse and is the heart of the machines ability to create ambient, harsh and noise wall sound scapes as well as data crash type glitching and strange effect. It has a dual mode distortion with diode clipping and direct modes. All of these can be used to manipulate the internal sounds as well as anything fed into the external input. The external input can be used while the machine is active and the machine, oscillators and external source can be mixed up as desired in the mixer section. The pitch control features a coarse and fine dial. When the pitch is dropped via the coarse control it dives into dirt and sludge which plays well with the filter and distortion.
"A little live Eurorack experimentation utilising Microbe Modular Equation Composer, Mutable Instruments Plaits, Qu-Bit Electronix Wave and Erica Synths PICO Voice, performed live with Intellijel Tetrapad, Malekko Voltage Block and Mutable Instruments Marbles creating changes and shifts and lots of other nice modular machines to make them sound even finer :-)"
"The Playtron MIDI controller from Playtronica gives you the chance to play pretty much anything. Using alligator clips, you can connect up to 16 objects that can conduct electricity. You might have seen videos of people playing plants or fruit for example. However, if you use conductive copper tape you can also attach this to anything you like and still play them as if a musical instruments.
As a huge admirer of the work and writings of American composer John Cage, I thought it would be interesting combine some of my book collection with the definitive sound of his prepared piano, played live on the books themselves. It's certainly not an impressive piece of music here, and know that it sounds more like someone tuning a piano (🤣), but goodness, what fun it is to physically play anything at hand! And you can marvel at how one of the books in particular just wanted to slip away 😀
Find out more about Playtronica here
https://shop.playtronica.com"
"This is some of the most fun I've had with a guitar pedal in a while. The polyphonic STRING9 String Ensemble from Electro Harmonix transforms a guitar into nine different string ensembles and string synthesisers, so I can still tap into the heart of my love of electronics whilst using my handsome Danelectro 59M guitar.
This is just live documentation of my improvising with it in the studio. Nothing special, just pretending I'm in a progressive rock band, but without the cape and long hair. And deliberate bum notes to keep you on your toes. Happy listening!"
Electro-Harmonix STRING9 String Ensemble (EHX Pedal Demo Bill Ruppert)
"The polyphonic STRING9 String Ensemble transforms your guitar into nine different string ensembles and string synthesizers while requiring zero modifications, special pickups, or MIDI implementation. In a 9 Series first, the STRING9 includes the signature EHX Freeze effect to sample and hold notes and chords with infinite sustain."
"The polyphonic STRING9 String Ensemble transforms a guitar into nine different string ensembles and string synthesizers while requiring zero modifications, special pickups, or MIDI implementation. It relies on the same technology powering all EHX 9 Series pedals. In a 9 Series first, the STRING9 includes the signature EHX Freeze effect on 3 of the presets to sample and hold notes and chords with infinite sustain.
A rotary switch on the STRING9 allows the player to select the sound of their choice, as follows: SYMPHONIC: Re-creates the sound of a large symphony orchestra and features an octave down effect on the lower range of the guitar for a full sound
JUNE-O: Emulates the Juno® analog string synthesizer sound
PCM: Sound of a small string section sampled by a vintage PCM keyboard producing a warm vintage string sound
"Ears is Mutable’s take on the Music Thing Modular Mikrophonie module, Ears is a perfect match for physical synthesis modules like Rings or Elements, but it can also be the gateway between external audio sources and your modular system.
We don’t normally stock non DIY products at Thonk, but when Olivier offered us a worldwide exclusive on the first batch of his new Ears module… how could we refuse?!
This module brings together two of the most (if not the most..) prolific and creative designers in the open source Eurorack scene, Mutable Instruments and Music Thing Modular.
Ears is Mutable’s take on Tom Whitwell’s Mikrophonie module, Ears is a perfect match for physical synthesis modules like Rings or Elements, but it can also be the gateway between external audio sources and your modular system.
4hp
5mA draw on both the +12v and +12V supply rails
25mm deep"
Published on Sep 15, 2016 Robin Rimbaud-Scanner
And a couple of user videos:
"First play today with Ears, Mutable Instruments take on Tom Whitwell’s Mikrophonie module. Literally only the first patch set up wto test it out today. Qu-Bit Electronix provides a constant drone, taking a loop of my voice humming away, as Elements is played by Ears, with the various changes affected by my touch. Arturia BeatStep Pro offers up the melodic content. Simple but fun. This looks likely to live in my performance case for some time now!"
Experimenting with Mutable Instruments Ears Contact Mic Module
Published on Sep 15, 2016 Leafcutter John
"Ears is released on Friday 16th September 2016 and is available through Thonk. https://www.thonk.co.uk
In order of appearance:
1. Tapping the inbuilt pickup through clouds.
2. Ears triggering a René sequence into Rings...
.....Then plugging the audio output of Ears into the in of Rings.
3. Pinging an ossilating Wasp filer.
4. Running contact mic from fan into Ears - Wasp - Clouds.
5. Contact sound of Clouds button through Ears - Wasp - Clouds...
.....Then controlling Clouds hold using inverted Ears gate.
6. Music box Contact Mic - Ears - Wasp - Clouds.
7. Feedback through Ears builtin pickup - Wasp - Clouds.
8. Spring box - Contact Mic - Ears - Wasp - Clouds.
9. Bowed Cymbal - Contact Mic - Ears - Wasp - Clouds.
10. Percussed Cymbal - Contact Mic - Ears - Wasp - Clouds.
11. Stick-rub Cymbal - Contact Mic - Ears - Wasp - Clouds.
12. Stick-rub Cymbal - Contact Mic - Ears - Wasp LFO on cutoff - Clouds.
"A little exploration using the new TipTop Audio Z-DSP Tape Echo card, which is an utterly blissful addition to the studio. Running a Make Noise DPO through this directly in stereo to the mixer. The Winter Modular Eloquencer is playing a randomly changing melody. In addition I use Make Noise Pressure Points to play this very simple repetitive tone, triggering the Synthesis Technology E350 Oscillator, which is then running through the Make Noise Erbe-Verb. I mixed live radio signals throughout, not auditioning what was broadcast, just recording it directly live. Listen on headphones for the full stereo joys."
"A little improvisation in the studio using four inspiring little instruments. Beginning with the Mroztronium Grackler and Dirty Electronics Mute Synth creating abstract noises and textures, followed by a deep pulse from the Lorre Mill Double Knot and playing live on top with the Chat Lonbarde Sidrax. The film is out of synch and I apologise for that but it hopefully captures the mood. A tiny moment in a creative day."
"Described by the press as one of the most traumatising experiences modern media could deliver, The Unocist comes to your screens very soon. Terrifying, shocking and surreal in equal measure, The Unocist stars Uno from IK Multimedia in a battle to the death with synth eating zombies. Who can say which shall conquer? We can only say that your nights will be stirred by visions as yet unimagined, your days fraught with a compulsion to check around every corner, under every desk and bed. Ultimately, The Unocist is a story about the perils (psychological and physical!) of our own obsessive minds and the subcultures in which we dwell.
With many thanks to IK Multimedia for the generous gift of the Uno Synth. All sounds were produced entirely with the synth, and only the occasional Ableton Zombie plugin."
