Five weird and wonderful new machines at Superbooth 2019
Superbooth 2019 has just wrapped up, and there was a bunch of weird and wonderful new gear in all shapes-and-sizes.
Superbooth 2019 featured some truly interesting new gear announcements, from synths to complete standalone music production workstations.
These are our top five from Superbooth 2019.
Dadamachines Composer Pro
What is it:
The Dadamachines Composer Pro is a standalone music production and performance system with of a 16×12 RGB backlit grid that hosts four distinct modes – Song view for switching between project, Scene View for triggering different elements in the project, Machine View which focuses on a particular instrument in the project allowing for parameter and pattern changes, and Performance View for manipulating the project without editing any of the existing patterns. Dadamachines are yet to release any in-depth videos of the system, however by the looks of it – it’s already shaping up to be a very capable performance system. This definitely falls under the “wonderful” category.
Best feature(s):
Some of the exciting features that we do know about are:
- It’s running on 2 x ARM Cortex M4F Microcontrollers
- Can support 8-32GB of onboard RAM
- Maximum of 16 MIDI or Audio Tracks
- Quantized and unquantized recording
- Real-time note correction (Autoscale)
- Automation recording
- USB MIDI Host and USB MIDI Device + 4 x USB Host ports for extra devices
- 2 x DIN MIDI in and 2 x DIN MIDI out
- 2 x Balanced audio inputs and 2 x balanced audio outputs and an independent headphone out
- HDMI Out
Price:
Coming soon for EUR €1299 (Around R21k excl. duties)
Where to get
Gamechanger Motor Synth
What is it:
The Gamechanger Motor Synth is the world’s first electro-mechanical desktop synthesizer, it’s a unique take on synthesis – using eight electric motors to generate the sound. It’s made up of 2 main “oscillators”, each of which uses both optical and electromagnetic techniques to generate audio sources. It’s capable of four voices of polyphony and has various unique modulation capabilities. I’d say this one is more of a “weird” option, although I’m sure there’s someone out there looking for this type of sound.
Best feature(s):
- Very unique sound
- You’ve got control over the actual speed of the motors which generate the sound, when the pitch is changed there are physical aspects in motors which give it the particular character
- It’s got an internal multi-mode filter with drive
- MIDI DIN I/O and USB
- Very visually appealing front-panel which displays the eight motors in action alongside a digital oscilloscope
Price:
Estimated at EUR €1200 (Around R19,5k excl. duties)
Where to get
Korg Nu:Tekt
What is it:
The Korg Nu:Tekt is an incredibly compact DIY synthesizer kit based around the form-factor of the Korg Monotron series but hosting the advanced customizable oscillators that we’ve seen in the Korg Prologue and Minilogue XD. This is a great system for anyone looking for a compact synthesizer or users of the Prologue and Minilogue XD that are looking for a smaller desktop system to use while designing custom oscillators. The Nu:Tekt is very simple, offering only the essential sound design parameters such as basic oscillators alongside the custom oscillators, a filter, basic modulation and three internal effects. This is definitely a “wonderful” little synth.
Best feature(s):
- Incredibly compact
- Can load custom oscillators from Korg Prologue and Minilogue XD
- 16 slots to load custom oscillators
- It’s DIY although it requires no soldering making it great for DIY beginners
Price & Availability:
To be announced
Mind Music Labs Retrologue 2
What is it:
Mind Music Labs has teamed up with Steinberg to bring Cubase’s Retrologue plugin to life. Mind Music Labs pioneered ELK MusicOS, which is essentially a function designed VST-host in-a-box, offering a lot of the convenience of digital and computer-based synths with the hands-on feel of hardware. This is more of a proof-of-concept than a commercial product at this point, and I would say that it’s more of a “weird” synth considering a MIDI controller and Cubase can do the same – everyone has their preference.
Best feature(s):
- One to one control over all Retrologue parameters
- This shows the potential for future projects, I’d like to see more digital-heavy concepts come out of this – Retrologue is a virtual-analog synth plugin, so it’s a bit unexpected
Price & Availability:
To be announced
Novation Summit
What is it:
Novation Summit is a 16-voice bi-timbral synthesizer, based around their incredibly popular Peak synthesizer but adding some interesting new functions. Imagine having two Novation peaks and a five octave semi-weighted keyboard in a single unit, that’s the idea behind the Summit. The 16 voices can be split between two synth layers or used in a single polyphonic patch. This is certainly a “wonderful” new release.
Best feature(s):
- High-resolution Oxford oscillators
- Perform one synth layer via the keys while a MIDI sequencer triggers an independent layer
- Analog filters and distortion circuitry
- Added dedicated FM parameters
- Three keyboard play modes – Layer, Split and Dual mode
- Redesigned envelope faders for much more accurate control
- Per-part effects – Distortion, Chorus, Delay and Reverb
- Audio input which can be routed through the internal effects
Price:
USD $2299 (Around R33k excl. duties)
Where to get
Notable mentions…
JOUÉ have added “Fretboard” to their line-up of modular midi controller panels, as the name suggests it’s a guitar fretboard-style MIDI controller.
u-He has just announced Hive 2, a massive update to their synthesizer plugin. Hive recently saw wavetable oscillators added but Hive 2 has added a variety of new controls and an in-depth UI revamp. They have added drag-and-drop modulation, which integrates with the existing mod matrix. They have also added scale quantization to the modulation sources – which is fantastic for creating random melodic elements.
Superbooth 2019 Website
