SynthFest U.K., Machina Bristronica and a Minimoog Signed by Peter Gabriel: Synth Journal
Plus new work from Love Hultén
4,8 / 5,0 | 
The final UK synth shows of the season are upon us with SynthFest U.K. and Bristronica. Plus, win yourself a vintage Minimoog signed by the legendary Peter Gabriel and other interesting tidbits!
It’s been a busy week here, what with two big synth shows in the U.K. and a glut of new product releases, such as Arturia’s Synthx V and Cherry Audio’s Atomika. As we always like to do, Synth Journal hoovers up the stories that might have fallen through the cracks.
Synth Journal
SynthFest U.K.
October is a busy month for synth shows as the rush to get everything in before the year’s end gathers pace! SynthFest U.K., organised by long-running magazine Sound On Sound, took place this past weekend at its regular home of Sheffield’s Octagon Centre.
Choc full of collectors, manufacturers, developers, publishers and retailers, as well as a healthy slice of educational stands, it delivered another joyous day of synth nerding and the opportunity to get hands on with the latest gear.
Star of the show, in my very humble opinion, was the TC-5000 from Analogue Solutions, another impressive instrument from the genius brain of Tom Carpenter that pays homage to Alan R Pearlman’s brilliant ARP 2500 user interface.
Other highlights included an auction from Soundgas, a brilliant seminar on the history of drum machines and the appearance of some electronic luminaries, such as Sheffield’s own Phil Oakey!
- SynthFest U.K. Website
Machina Bristronica
Hot on the heels of SynthFest U.K. is Machina Bristronica in Bristol. Organised by Elevator Sound, this large-scale, two-day event is fast becoming the U.K.’s Superbooth, with its festival vibe and numerous live stages.
Focusing more on the modular side of things, Bristronica is held in a large warehouse space in the heart of the city and is very well attended by visitors and exhibitors alike. Expect to see a load of new gear and hear lots of bleeps and bloops.
If you’re coming along, be sure to pop over to the Pro Synth Network stand where me and colleague Peter will be showing off a collection of vintage E-MU Emulators and related synths in honour of the EII’s 40th birthday. Emulator inventor, Dave Rossum, will also be in attendance!
- Machina Bristronica Website
Bob Moog Foundation Minimoog Raffle – Signed by Peter Gabriel
The Bob Moog Foundation, founded by Bob’s daughter Michelle, does amazing work in preserving Bob’s incredible legacy as well as performing outreach work to young people and musicians to teach them about the science of sound.
One crucial aspect of their funding is their series of prize raffles and this fall’s raffle is a bit special. Buying a ticket gets you a chance to win a vintage Minimoog Model D, restored by renowned synth restorer Kent Spong and signed by Peter Gabriel.
This raffle, however, is much more significant as the Moogseum in Asheville, North Carolina, was damaged in the recent hurricane. Whilst physical damage was minimal, the real devastation will come in the form of the temporary closure of the venue and dramatically reduced tourist footfall.
So buying a ticket, or tickets, is even more important this time around. Please, if you can, support the BMF so that they can continue to do the amazing work of preserving and sharing the work and legacy of the one man us synth nerds owe everything to.
I’ll leave the last word on this to the great Peter Gabriel himself…
“The Bob Moog Foundation provides the opportunity for children and adults to explore the science of sound through their educational programs. I am very happy to support their work by signing this legendary synthesizer.” – Peter Gabriel
Love Hultén’s GR-MEGA
On my bucket list, I have a few things that I’d like to achieve before I pop my proverbial clogs. One is to meet and hang out with Debbie Harry. Another is to record an album with Trevor Horn. I’d also like to be able to commission a synth by Love Hultén!
For now, though, I will have to make do with ogling his creations for others and his latest one employs the wizardry of Tasty Chips Electronics GR-MEGA granular synthesizer. Admittedly, this is one of their more simple conversions, but adding a keyboard makes this an even more appealing prospect.
As always, this is a one-off commission, so don’t expect to see this anywhere other than the commissioner’s studio or front room!
UDO Audio RBN-1 Ribbon Controller
The humble ribbon controller has mad a bit of a comeback in recent years. Just like polyphonic aftertouch, it would be fair to assume that the ASM Hydrasynth has had a significant part to play in that, along with Arturia’s PolyBrute.
And both of those expression features can be traced back to the mighty CS-80, a synth that was clearly in the designer’s minds when coming up with those two hugely successful instruments. It’s also been something that George Hearn of UDO has been keen to employ in his brilliant Super Gemini.
Now you can sate your ribbon appetite by purchasing one of George’s ribbons to use on any instrument you choose! Made from milled aluminium, a soft-touch, low friction ribbon material and with magnetic contacts, the RBN-1 plugs straight into your expression port for instant finger sliding joy!
It’s not that expensive either, listed at a smidge over £208, you too could be performing those classic Vangelis pitch slides on your favourite synth soon. In fact, this fits perfectly on Yamaha’s latest flagship, the Montage M8x.
- UDO Website
Audiomodern Soundbox
Audiomodern is fast becoming one of my favourite plugin developers of recent years. I particularly like their Chordjam plugin which helps me get the creative juices flowing very quickly. With Soundbox, they’re jumping head first into creative sampling and they’re doing it with their typical style.
The Soundbox engine is free, so you basically pay for the soundpacks, which is an interesting model. It’s even more interesting because those packs are incredibly affordable at just €39 each, with an introductory €10 discount!
Soundbox itself uses four powerful sample engines, allowing you to create complex, layered sounds with its fully customisable interface. Create your own, unique instruments quickly and with MPE support, they can take on a fully-realised level of expression.
Is this the next big sample platform that is coming for the likes of Kontakt or Falcon? Only time will tell, but in a world of me-too sample-based plugins, it’s great to see some originality and great visual design. Watch this space!
- Audiomodern Website
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