Telepathic Instruments Orchid

Co-founded by Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, Telepathic Instruments’ Orchid is a compact digital polysynth designed to get harmonic ideas moving quickly. Rather than overwhelming players with endless menus and modulation options, it centres on chord creation, immediate controls and a carefully curated sound engine.

Pads feel warm and expansive, leads remain clear without becoming brittle, and evolving textures retain a sense of musical control. Its limited keyboard range may occasionally feel restrictive, but that constraint is part of the instrument’s appeal, encouraging players to work instinctively rather than overthink every decision.

Orchid also stands out visually, with rounded edges and an approachable form that feels closer to a creative object than a conventional studio slab.

It is not trying to recreate a specific vintage synthesiser. Instead, it borrows the warmth, movement and musicality associated with classic instruments and places them inside a contemporary workflow built for songwriting, performance and fast-moving studio sessions.

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ORCHID

TELEPATHIC INSTRUMENTS

Black Corporation Kijimi MK2

The Black Corporation Kijimi MK2 is an eight-voice analogue polysynth inspired by the rare RSF Polykobol, but it pushes well beyond straightforward vintage recreation. Each voice features two analogue oscillators with continuously variable wave shaping, allowing players to move smoothly between triangle, saw and pulse forms.

Its resonant 24 dB low-pass filter can sound controlled and rounded or become aggressive when driven towards self-oscillation. The real depth lies in its modulation system, with two loopable envelopes, two LFOs and flexible routing across multiple destinations.

Polyphonic modulation means each voice can move independently, creating pads and textures that feel organic rather than mechanically repeated. Support for MPE and polyphonic aftertouch also makes Kijimi especially expressive when paired with the right controller.

Despite its complexity, most important parameters remain accessible from the front panel. It can produce warm pads, sharp leads and unstable harmonic movement without feeling like either a museum piece or a nostalgia exercise.

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KIJIMI MK2

BLACK CORPORATION

Wirehead Basilisk

Designed and built in Perth, Wirehead’s Basilisk is a compact generative groovebox that treats unpredictability as part of the creative process. Instead of asking users to program every note manually, it provides a set of musical behaviours that can be shaped, redirected and mutated in real time.

Two digital oscillators feed an analogue MS-20-style filter with drive, producing everything from thick basslines and acidic sequences to metallic blips and unstable textures. Five sequencing algorithms generate notes using approaches such as tonal bias, scale movement, short melodic runs and call-and-response phrasing.

Controls for density, clock division and sequence length let users define the conditions without completely dictating the result. Six performance parameters can also be locked on individual steps, creating sudden filter changes, detuned hits and rhythmic shifts.

Basilisk works especially well beside drum machines, modular systems and other generative instruments. It is less about composing a perfect pattern and more about finding musical accidents worth keeping.

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BASILISK

WIREHEAD

Vongon Replay

The Vongon Replay is a six-voice virtual analogue synthesiser built around immediacy, portability and musical results. Inspired loosely by early-1980s instruments such as the Juno and Polysix, it captures their warmth and simplicity without becoming a strict emulation. Twenty-two front-panel controls cover the essential synthesis parameters, keeping menu diving to a minimum and encouraging hands-on experimentation.

Its 2½-octave Cherry MX mechanical keyboard gives Replay a distinctive playing feel, particularly suited to rhythmic parts, arpeggios and fast melodic sketches rather than traditional piano performance. The sound engine handles warm pads, solid basses, bright leads and understated analogue-style movement, with many strong tones available through only minor adjustments.

A built-in multimode arpeggiator further supports its role as an idea generator. MIDI, USB connectivity and a browser-based editor add modern flexibility without cluttering the hardware. Replay succeeds because it knows exactly what it wants to be: a compact, playable synth that turns silence into something useful very quickly.

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REPLAY

VONGON

SOMA Laboratory Flux

SOMA Laboratory’s Flux is an experimental performance instrument controlled through magnetic fields, physical gesture and continuous movement rather than a conventional keyboard. Two magnetic bows are held between the fingers and tracked by a multipolar sensor, allowing pitch, vibrato and expression to be shaped through subtle changes in hand position and orientation.

Although it shares some visual and conceptual territory with the theremin, Flux offers a broader and more tactile interaction model. Pitch can move freely between semitones, making microtonal slides and vocal-like bends feel natural rather than programmed. Its DSP-based synthesis engine can shift between warm, singing tones, unstable drones, fractured harmonics and aggressive noise.

Flux rewards patience and careful listening, as small gestures can create dramatic sonic changes. It is especially suited to ambient music, cinematic scoring and experimental live performance. More than anything, Flux changes how a musician physically relates to electronic sound, turning performance into something almost choreographic and making electricity feel tangible rather than hidden inside a circuit.

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FLUX

SOMA LABORATORY

Torso Electronics S-4

Torso Electronics’ S-4 is a four-track sampling instrument that treats recorded audio as material to stretch, fracture and reshape rather than simply play back. Each track can hold a sample and process it independently using granular techniques, slicing, time-stretching, filtering, pitch manipulation and modulation.

Loops can be smeared into atmospheric textures, chopped into rhythmic fragments or pushed into unstable movement through real-time control. The interface is designed for performance, with encoders, buttons and visual feedback arranged to keep players engaged with the sound rather than buried in pages.

Modulation sits at the centre of the experience, allowing static recordings to develop into evolving patterns and shifting soundscapes. The S-4 can function as a structured groovebox, a live sampler or a textural instrument depending on how it is approached.

MIDI, USB and flexible audio connectivity make it easy to integrate into larger setups. Its greatest strength is making complex sound manipulation feel immediate, playful and physically connected to performance.

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S-4

TORSO ELECTRONICS

Synthstrom Deluge

Made in Wellington by Synthstrom Audible, the Deluge combines a synthesiser, sampler, sequencer, arranger and looper inside one portable, battery-powered instrument. Its grid of 128 RGB pads provides a flexible piano-roll view for writing patterns, arranging full tracks and launching clips during live performance.

The internal engine includes subtractive, wavetable and FM synthesis, alongside extensive modulation, automation and MPE support. Sampling is equally deep, with SD-card streaming, slicing, multisampling, time-stretching, pitch shifting and resampling all available without returning to a computer. Deluge can also sequence external instruments across MIDI while controlling modular gear through CV and gate outputs, making it a capable centrepiece for a hardware studio.

The OLED display introduced in later models improved navigation while preserving the instrument’s ears-first workflow. What makes Deluge special is the completeness of its creative loop. A user can sketch an idea, design sounds, record automation, arrange a song and perform it live without needing to move the project into a DAW.

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DELUGE

SYNTHSTROM

DayDreamer Synth 1

The DayDreamer Synth 1 is a hybrid instrument built around six genuine analogue voltage-controlled oscillators, six VCAs and digitally managed modulation. Unlike modern synths that automatically calibrate themselves at startup, DayDreamer embraces the instability and personality of traditional analogue circuitry. The oscillators require time to warm up and may occasionally need manual adjustment using rear-panel trimpots, a screwdriver and a tuner.

Players can stack all six oscillators for thick unison basses and leads or distribute them across multiple notes for chordal parts. Each oscillator has its own pitch control and LED, making voice allocation visible while playing. A diode-ladder low-pass filter provides smooth tonal shaping and can be pushed towards self-oscillation, while the digital LFO and envelope system control pitch and filter movement.

White noise, glide modes and a built-in PT2399-style delay expand the sound palette. Open-source hardware and software documentation also make DayDreamer appealing to musicians who enjoy understanding and modifying their instruments.

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SYNTH 1

DAYDREAMER

Endorphin.es Ground Control

Endorphin.es Ground Control is a performance sequencer designed to act as the central brain of a Eurorack system. It combines eight drum gate tracks with three melodic CV and gate tracks, allowing rhythm, basslines and melodic voices to be controlled from one module.

Its sequencing modes include X0X-style programming, 101-style note entry, step editing and live recording, giving users several ways to build patterns depending on how they prefer to work. Polymeters, ratchets, pattern chaining and arpeggiation make it easy to introduce movement and variation without rebuilding a sequence from scratch.

A built-in keyboard also gives Ground Control a more instrument-like feel, supporting spontaneous phrases and hands-on performance. Alongside CV and gate, MIDI and USB MIDI connectivity allow it to bridge modular gear with desktop synths, drum machines and software.

Ground Control offers considerable depth, but its greatest strength is speed. Patterns can be created, altered and performed without interrupting the momentum of a session.

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GROUND CONTROL

ENDORPHIN.ES

Endorphin.es Ghost

Developed with musician and producer Andrew Huang, Endorphin.es Ghost places a complete studio-style effects chain inside a Eurorack module. Reverb, delay, filtering, saturation and compression are combined into one signal path, allowing users to shape space, tone, weight and movement without patching together several separate processors.

The reverb section can provide subtle depth or expansive atmospheres, while the delay handles everything from rhythmic repeats to unstable feedback. Filtering helps focus the sound, and saturation and compression can add density, cohesion and character.

Ghost is particularly effective as a performance tool because its controls are designed for continuous, real-time adjustment rather than static processing. CV inputs allow external modulation sources to animate the effects, turning reverb, delay and tonal shaping into active parts of a patch.

It can work as an insert for a single voice, a send effect for several sounds or an end-of-chain processor for an entire modular mix. Ghost makes complex processing feel immediate and musically connected.

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GHOST

ENDORPHIN.ES