“Canada’s only festival focussed on the art and music of the modular synthesizer”
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, September 8, 2025 — This September 19–20, electronic musicians of all styles—from classical to punk, and everything in between— will gather in Brandon Manitoba to share their art, music and technology over two jam-packed days of innovative performances, informative presentations and interactive activities at six free-to-attend, family friendly concerts and events spread across downtown Brandon and the BU campus.
Following the SUPERBOOTH25 in May of this year, the SUPERBOOTH BERLIN is excited to be able to confirm the date for the next edition of the world’s largest trade fair and festival for electronic musical instruments:
The SUPERBOOTH26 will be happening from the 7th to the 9th of May 2026 at the FEZ-Berlin.
The 2026 date will also mark the ten year anniversary of the SUPERBOOTH as an independent festival and trade fair for electronic musical instruments — all the more reason to celebrate!
Reflecting back on this year’s SUPERBOOTH25, the SUPERBOOTH is happy to report that this year’s edition was again a big success overall that brought together more guests and exhibitors than any previous SuperBooth, with over 8800 attendees, as well as 301 exhibitors from 31 countries celebrating the practice and culture of electronic musical instruments across three days.
With overwhelmingly positive feedback across the board from visitors, exhibitors and the press, the SUPERBOOTH’s singular combination of a trade fair and festival has once again proved its unique appeal and staying power, even beyond the world of hardware synthesizers, since software and pro audio — with 38 exhibitors from 9 countries in the pro audio area — have now also firmly established themselves at the SUPERBOOTH.
"Gamechanger Audio’s brand-new pedal line, The AUTO Series, is now available online and across all dealer channels, starting with three classic effect pedals – AUTO Reverb, AUTO Chorus, and AUTO Delay.
Each AUTO Series pedal turns your performance into sound design, with your touch, dynamics, and note choices automating the effects parameters and shaping tones in real time – The AUTO Series reimagines what a pedal can be.
Learn more: https://gamechangeraudio.com/auto/
Image: Ugis Olte
Camera: ABB-904014-29GJ
Sound: Nick Moss Rogers
Bass: MOTOR Synth MKII
Percussion: PLASMA Voice Module"
Press release follows:
"Gamechanger Audio Launches the Revolutionary AUTO Series Pedals
Gamechanger Audio’s brand-new pedal line, The AUTO Series, is now available online and across all dealer channels, starting with three classic effect pedals – AUTO Reverb, AUTO Chorus, and AUTO Delay.
ABOUT THE AUTO SERIES
Gamechanger Audio is thrilled to announce the launch of its new AUTO Series. This innovative pedal line features the AUTO Delay, the AUTO Reverb, and AUTO Chorus, designed to revolutionize the way musicians experience and interact with classic audio effects. By introducing a new layer of parameter automation that responds and reacts to the player's touch, dynamics, and note choices, The AUTO Series provides an unprecedented level of effects control and creative expression.
At their core, each AUTO Series pedal offers a meticulously crafted palette of sound algorithms, providing a vast range of foundational tones. The primary advantage is the ability to automate these sounds later, but even on their own, they already deliver exceptional quality, making them highly versatile and impressive standalone tools.
Each pedal's AUTO Section has two on-board signal analysis engines, engineered to transfer musical nuances onto the effects parameters. The DYNAMICS tracker is fine-tuned to capture all details of playing dynamics, and animate parameters based on the player's picking style as well as each instrument's loudness and decay. The PITCH tracker detects note choices, and changes in the instrument's tone. These automations can be linked to any of the four effect knobs, setting the parameters in motion.
The entire automation section is engaged with the AUTO footswitch. This allows for the automations to be prepared with the patch cables and then toggled ON or OFF as needed. The small PARAMETER AUTOMATION knobs directly below each of the main EFFECT PARAMETER knobs determine the amount of automation and direction for each parameter individually. The automation functions can be fine-tuned using calibration and several effect engagement modes.
The Design of the AUTO Series pedals draws inspiration from the world of modular synthesis. The series' unique patchbay interface allows to create a straightforward and robust connection between the two on-board trackers and any of the effects parameters using 3.5mm (1 ⁄ 8 inch) jack patch cables. A batch of six patch cables are included with each pedal.
The AUTO Series PITCH and DYNAMICS trackers are extremely precise and versatile, flawlessly tailored for all styles of guitar playing, yet not limited to string instruments. All pedals feature an input level switch that lets you choose between instrument level (INST), line level (LINE), and Eurorack synthesizer level (EU) input.
While Gamechanger are not hiding their intention of releasing a wide array of popular effects types under the “Automation” banner, the AUTO Series is debuting with three classic time-based digital stereo effects:
"Popella - is a music festival for young and old in Graz.
A children's music festival that is primarily dedicated to modern styles, responds to the lifestyles and interests of today's children and also appeals to parents.
This year, the MODULAR SYNTHESIZER ENSEMBLE was a guest at Popella in the Postgarage Graz. After a 4-hour workshop, the children played a live performance on the huge sound system in the large club room. It was powerful, not only because of the great sound system, but above all because the kids put on a masterful performance - listen for yourself.
www.popella.at
www.modularsynthsizerensemble.at"
"The whole scene of Thief (1981) with TD's re-edition of 'Thru Metamorphic Rocks' theme, renamed as 'Igneous' in the OST release.
The film version is by far more extensive than Thief CD version.
Enjoy that sequence !"
TD = Tangerine Dream.
Curious what they were using back then. According to this thread, they used the following on tour during that time period:
Live in East Berlin, 31st Jan 1980
Chris Franke: Custom modular synthesizer (comprising of about 50% Moog and 50% Projekt Electronik): Moog Oscx2/R.M./VCF/VCAs Projekt Elektronik VcEnvx2 & Proj. Elek. 2VCO/W.Noise/R.M./Waves (for Drums) Digital sequencer & trigger selector Programmer for above (SCI model 700 programmer) Synth sound bank (for above) Moog 960 sequential controller x2 Projekt elektronik sequence controller x2 Moog 3-band parametric Moog 12 stage phaser Moog 920 programmer Moog 16-channel vocoder Rhythm robot sequencer Emu Oddity voice card 12 analogue drum sounds Drum envelope unit Drum EPROM sampled sounds and more...
Edgar Froese: custom Moog modular synthesizer (3 box units comprising Moog modules and sequencers plus sequence controllers from Projekt Electronic) Prophet 5 rev 2 PPG Sonic Carrier 1003 programmable duophonic DCO/DCF/DCA based synthesizer PPG Wavecomputer 360 polyphonic digital synthesizer PPG 350 keyboard sequencer Arp Pro-DGX monophonic preset synthesizer Korg PE-2000 polyphonic ensemble Roland MC-8 microcomposer Roland VC-10 vocoder Arp/Solina string ensemble Mellotron mk V
Johannes Schmoelling: - Minimoog - Yamaha CP-80 electric grand - Oberheim 4-voice - Elka Rhapsody 610 - Polymoog - Korg PS-3100 - Synthanorma sequencer
-----------
European tours (Nov-Dec 1980 & Jan-Feb 1981):
Equipment used:
Chris Franke: Moog/PE modular tower as above Minimoog Arp Odyssey mk III Elka Rhapsody 610 Prophet 5 rev 2
Edgar Froese: Projekt Elektronik modular synthesizer & sequencers (used by Peter Baumann during '76 and '77) PPG 340 A Generator Unit, PPG340 B Processor Unit, PPG380 Event Generator, PPG x 2 Terminals, PPG x 2 Computer Keyboards, Oberheim OB-X
He may have used some more keyboards during these tours but I'm not sure which ones (possibly the Arp pro-DGX, the PPG Sonic carrier or the PPG 360 wavecomputer?)
Johannes Schmoelling: Moog modular synthesizer (usually handled by Edgar Froese on stage) Minimoog Polymoog Prophet 5 rev 2 Yamaha CP-80 electric grand
-----------
British Isles tour (Oct-Nov 1981):
Equipment used:
Chris Franke: Moog/PE modular tower as above Minimoog Arp Odyssey mk III Elka Rhapsody 610 Prophet 5 rev 2
"The 'Modular Synthesizer Ensemble' is a social-acoustic and participative music project and offers the possibility to make music together in an ensemble without any previous musical knowledge.
The project makes it possible to design the process of creating electronic sounds with the analog Modular Synthesizer. The participants experiment, improvise and compose together and perform the results live in public.
In collaboration with the Miller-Zillmer Foundation which supports people regardless of their social and national background and promotes projects that are sustainable, that empower and create education, while adding value to the broader community.
Driven by a cultural led philosophy delivering interesting visions. We stand up for human rights and integration, for social inclusion, respect and tolerance, world openness and the protection of cultural assets. A foundation for important works of collaboration and engagement.
A transcript of the interview prior to the Modular Synthesizer Ensemble performing at SuperBooth 2023 can be found on the Sine Community website at https://sinecommunity.com/modular-syn...
Made by: Sine Community
Produced by: Sono Audio Visual
Powered by: Synthesizer New Zealand"
Note: links to listings are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
Demos for volumes 1 & 2 above. Not sure when these came out but I'm seeing reviews for it online dating back to 2010.
- Skis 2 as envelope for Pizza - Magneto as an effect for Pizza sequenced by Hermod - Ensemble Oscillator for bass, Surface for strings, and Sample for drums
"« Tom Leclerc is part of Moss Explorers which is a multidisciplinary cultural and artistic association, between laboratory and exploratory discovery of new forms of dissemination and artistic expressions. This French collective of artists explores nature, mountains, and forests through sound and image. They hike and capture the beauty of wild nature in analog photography. Armed with their equipment, they film ambient sound performances that combine recordings of the natural environment where they take place and improvisations with a modular synthesizer. This is what we can see and hear from their excursions into the splendid untouched nature. This association also includes a real laboratory of arts and techniques, questioning new forms of cultural diffusion. Transmission and awareness are also at the heart of this particular facet. Real efforts are being made to popularize and document these techniques: production of light scenography, energy autonomy, printing, production, etc. Many areas are addressed by the collective. Keeping in mind systemic and ecological issues, the collective also sensitizes cultural actors. It is through this multidisciplinary approach that this project mixes the arts and can forge links between musicians.ne, photographer, visual artist, poet.sse and other artists as well as various craftsmen or public. Leaving free their imagination this collective allows the incubation and realization of the eclectic and conscious project. In this changing world, we need to systematically change the arts, productions, and broadcasting. Many concepts are addressed by the collective, especially in terms of digital and new ways of designing devices for live performances, installations, and performances. This comes in large part through a low-tech approach to digital art. Given the climate emergency, it is important for artists to be at the forefront of new techniques requiring sensitivity and accessibility. Awareness of the impact of art and digital technologies is also a point of honor, as is the knowledge of equipment and material choices. Beyond the technical aspect, there is a new way of living and creating. We can talk about 'project infusion' with the idea of soaking up a place in the long term in order to better understand the social fabric of these territories and to do the best for them."
--
Dennis Weijers is a Dutch musician with a background of classical music and noisy electronics. He combines the two worlds by performing contemporary music on accordion and modular synthesizer.
"The Modular Synthesizer Ensemble has become an integral part of the Superbooth Berlin events. After the successful cooperation of the previous years. Gammon and his ensemble of 12 individual modular synthesizers has again been part of SUPERBOOTH22.
The Modular Synthesizer Ensemble offers the possibility to make music together in a group without any previous musical knowledge. The participants experiment, improvise and compose together and perform the results live in public."
"This is the 2nd volume sound pack of 50 patches with sequences for the excellent Dave Smith Instruments / Sequential / Oberheim OB-6 analog synthesizer. All of these patches use VCO 2 as an audio rate modulation source via the X-Mod section. FM on this synth is a big part of what makes it exciting for me and I hope these patches help you see it in a fresh way. Other than the drum and sound effects patches, they are all tuned and transposed to be used with the standard 12 tone scale.
Sounds load into slots 350-399 as default. Everything heard here is totally dry, with no eq or compression.
Link:
polydata.bigcartel.com
Note these patches use the latest firmware with the "Vintage Knob" functionality. Additionally, each analog synth is slightly different, if your patches are sounding a bit out of tune, slightly adjust the "VCO 2" amount in the X-Mod section until it sounds right.
SUPERBOOTH22 and SOOPERgrail welcomed around 6000 trade visitors, day guests and over 170 international exhibitors at FEZ-Berlin. In the year of the 20th anniversary of the Superbooth, for the first time innovative guitar builders were represented in larger num- bers and with their own exhibition space under the name SOOPERgrail.
The expanded concept of the largest trade event for electronic musical instruments in Europe has proven successful, and Superbooth Berlin GmbH has overcome the worst obstacles resulting from the Corona crisis. This clears the way for next year‘s planning - the date is set: SUPERBOOTH23 and SOOPERgrail #2 at FEZ-Berlin: May 11-13, 2023. with even more innovative instruments and music, concerts, workshops, presentations, indoors and outdoors
Andreas Schneider: "For the anniversary version of Superbooth, as it turned out after all obstacles and difficulties, we can really only be grateful to everyone and congratulate everyone who was able to be there. The delicate little flower called #SOOPERgrail also made a successful start and the international events - above all the presentation with Hainbach for the Goethe Institute Tokyo and the partici- pation of Tom Oberheim and Dave Smith with their new instrument - were im- portant factors of culture and economy alike. We are already excited to see what will develop from this next year!"
The various areas of the anniversary edition each convinced with their very own at- mosphere, which always meandered between music festival, nerd get-together and a group trip with friends. The basis for relaxed encounters, lively exchange and a good mood was provided by the extended event area in the park, the large number of exhibi- tors and the summery weather.
Live: The stage program represents an enormous variety of musical variation. Early electronic instruments such as the Trautonium were on display. Hainbach presented how electro- nic music was made by artists like Stockhausen in the 1960s, and many concerts fea- tured modular synthesizers, which can be seen as modern successors to the featured instruments. From the stages you could hear great live electronic music from ambient to techno, a lot of experimental and innovative works. Surprisingly for many guests, there was a performance by Richie Hawtin on the last day of the event.
The Modular Synthesizer Ensemble gave the mostly young participants their first stage experience with a composition they had previously developed together in a work- shop lasting several hours. Within the framework of SOOPERgrail, there were many outstanding concerts and workshops, with individual instruments presented. In addition to traditional crafts, the artists and exhibitors also showed possibilities that enable expanded artistic expression. With the presented technologies, external devices can be controlled and microtonal music can be played.
The main stage for diverse guitar music was located in the circus tent. There was, among others, a blues concert by DobBroMan with spontaneous support from Thorsten Quaeschning of Tangerine Dream, the performance of Nagen & Kotzmann, who blurred the line between drone, ambient and free jazz, and Linalab, who brought along a drummer for her electronic post-rock, processed the sound of her electric guitar with a synthesizer, thereby ideally united the concepts of SOOPERgrail and SUPERBOOTH22.
Dokumentation: The lecture-concerts (Gesprächskonzerte) recorded during the event are now available on Superbooth Berlin‘s YouTube and Vimeo channels, and the recordings of the other concerts will be released in the coming weeks.
Lecture-concerts are a combination of concert and presentation, where new inst- ruments are introduced in a concrete musical context. This year, legendary synthesizer manufacturer Oberheim made a comeback and presented a new instrument in this for- mat that, like its predecessors, seems to have the potential to become a classic.
We would like to expressly thank all exhibitors, artists, media representatives, trade vi- sitors and last but not least the numerous private visitors for their great support and the wonderful three days and are already looking forward to SUPERBOOTH23 and SOOPER- grail next year.
Save the date now: SUPERBOOTH23 and SOOPERgrail from May 11 to 13, 2023 at FEZ-Berlin!"
We hereby inform you about the revised room plan for SUPERBOOTH22 & SOOPERgrail – BeSOOPER. Parts of the FEZ-Berlin are in the potential control of the city of Berlin as an emergency residence for refugees from Ukraine. Out of consideration for this circumstance, we have partially rearranged our event. Please find all details in the attached press release. Thank you.
Press release follows:
„We have revised our space concept for beSOOPER and discovered the Badesee (Bathing Lake), now there is even more air and space for sound and visions of new music.“
Parts of FEZ-Berlin are in the potential access of the city as emergency accommoda- tion for refugees from Ukraine - which is of course appropriate and important. Against this background, it has been decided to develop further areas in the park grounds, to do without the use of the West Wing and to divide the Seebühne (Sea-side Stage) bet- ween two new locations. All artists announced for the Seebühne will be presented on the beach stage at the Badesee (Bathing Lake) and the new stage in the circus tent.
beSOOPER will thus be even bigger, with even more space and activities both outdoors and indoors: more than 150 booths with all kinds of electronic musical instruments and guitars of all known and unknown types, about twenty performances, concerts, presen- tations and workshops per day, including some late-night activities in the Bungalowdorf (Bungalow Village).
The daily cultural program will start at the latest with the workshop presentation of the SOOPERGrail Modular Synthesizer Ensemble at 1:30 pm and will continue outdoors at full intensity and volume until at least 10 pm.
Most of the booths and activities for guitar enthusiasts are concentrated on the upper floor of FEZ-Berlin, while the SOOPERgrail concerts will take place in the circus tent. Many of the countless synthesizer and modular manufacturers can be found and expe- rienced in the now expanded tent village - as already very successfully realized in 2021. The well-known and popular catering partners for food and drinks can be found at all outdoor locations.
In the foyer of the FEZ-Berlin there is the general info desk again, as well as the familiar ticket entrance for all visitors and artists, exhibitors and press partners. Guests arriving by public transport via the S-Bahn station Wuhlheide can get their wristband already at the bungalow village, upon presentation of their digital or printed ticket. SUPERBOOTH22 // 12.-14. May 22: One-day Ticket 35 EUR, discounted 25 EUR (THU, FRI, SAT) Three-day Ticket 90 EUR, discounted 70 EUR (THU, FRI & SAT)
SOOPERgrail // 13. Und 14. May 2022: One-day Ticket 18 EUR, discounted 15 EUR (FRI or SAT) Two-day Ticket 30 EUR, discounted 25 EUR (FRI & SAT)
• The aforementioned discounts apply to the unemployed, students, pupils, physically or mentally impaired upon presentation of the appropriate proof at the entrance to the event. • Until further notice, access is subject to compliance with the usual Corona rules, it is as sumed that there will also be a mask requirement on the premises. In case of non-compli ance, we reserve the right to expel guests from the premises without refunding the ticket price after issuing an appropriate warning. • All tickets will be personal and subject to compliance with the applicable regulations. • Until further notice, tickets will only be sold in advance and online. • In the event of a pandemic-related postponement or necessary cancellation of the event, tickets will remain valid until the last planned alternative date in September 2023.
The war of aggression on Ukraine leaves us speechless.
We sympathize and stand in solidarity with the suffering and struggling people in Ukraine and with the refugees who are being forced to leave their homes.
Our donation goes to CADUS e.V. which helps war refugees in Ukraine and worldwide. We would like to thank all those who do the same, if possible!
"In den FSW-Tageszentren für Senior:innen werden zahlreiche aktivierende Erlebnisse angeboten, die Spaß machen und die Selbstständigkeit der Senior:innen fördern. So auch im Tageszentrum Winarskystraße, wo Senior:innen unlängst - gefördert durch die Stadt Wien Kultur - einen Einblick in die Welt der elektronischen Musik bekommen haben. Gemeinsam mit dem freischaffenden Musiker und Künstler Gammon, der die Einrichtung mit seinem sozialakustischen und partizipativen Musikprojekt “Modular Synthesizer Ensemble” besuchte, wurde in eine neue Welt „geschnuppert“.
"The Modular Synthesizer Ensemble at SUPERBOOTH 2021 in Berlin.
Workshop and Performance in the big Auditorium of the former GDR Pionier Palast now caled FEZ in the Wuhlheide.
Presented and supported by MILLER-ZILLMER Foundation.
"Syntronik 2 sets the new standard in modern virtual synthesizers. IK’s advanced sampling techniques, combined with a hybrid sample and modeling synthesis engine, power a comprehensive collection of rare and sought-after synths with stunning sonic accuracy and the deepest editing.
This is a massive update to the previous release, adding 11 new synths, exciting new, advanced, and much-requested functionality, and a huge number of all-new presets for the 22 original synths taking advantage of all these new features."
"Syntronik 2 features
33 powerful synths with familiar panel designs and easy-to-use controls
A collection of 54 iconic hardware synthesizers and string machines
Multi-sampled oscillators for ultimate authenticity
4 classic types of circuit-modeled filters to shape sounds
DRIFT™ technology for realism of subtle oscillator variations
Mix and match oscillators with filters for new original sounds
True 4-part synth to create rich sounds with Multis and splits
4 dynamic arpeggiators and new step sequencer for complex rhythmic textures
71 high-quality effects derived from T-RackS, MixBox and AmpliTube
More than 200 GB of sounds with disk streaming and over 5,500 presets
Browser search by category or keyword to find sounds in seconds
Optimized resizable interface and “lunchbox-style” effects panel
Load Syntronik sounds into SampleTank 4* for more expandability
Works as a 64-bit plug-in or standalone instrument for Mac/PC
Fully functional free Syntronik CS version also available"
New models.
The CATO captures the distinctive analog sounds of the Octave Cat SRM and its SSM filter. The pure-analog tonality of this synth is huge, and its modulation capabilities allow for truly unique and stylized timbres. Able to create gigantic Moog-style basses, the CAT can also go in its own sonic direction with its clever oscillator sync implementation.
