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Greetings from Signal Sounds HQ!

Never ones to break our word, we’re back a mere fortnight after our last newsletter with another roundup of what’s new in the world of synths, Eurorack and electronic music.

First up, thanks to everyone who dropped by and said hello at the London Synth & Pedal Expo earlier this month. It was great to meet so many peeps in person. Check out the videos from DivKid and Mylar Melodies to get a flavour of the event - it was lots of fun!

It’s been all go in Glasgow since we got back. Our showroom is bursting at the seams with gear at the moment, and we’ve been getting lots of visitors - not least the legendary Thom Yorke, who dropped by to check out some synths last week after a blinding gig with The Smile. If you’re ever keen to demo a specific bit of kit in person then just drop Luke an email and he can set it up.

A quick reminder that our Soma Pulsar-23 sale is still going strong, but they’re selling fast. Don’t sleep if you want to bag your favourite colour! Read on to find out all about our latest arrivals, and do get in touch if you have any feedback on the newsletter - we’d love to hear from you.

Until next time,

Jason, Aleks, Kyle, Luke, Molly, Robert & Tom

What's hot

Vongon’s new beige beauty is a six-voice virtual analogue synth inspired by the Roland Juno series and the Korg Polysix of the early 1980s. The Replay’s unique retro-futurist styling includes Rogan knobs and 2.5 octaves of genuine Cherry MX keys. Check out the walkthrough from Sarah Belle Reid to hear it in action

This is your last chance to pick up Maths’ little brother, Function - and in a tasty black and gold panel, no less. It’s a classic of the West Coast ‘patch programmable’ paradigm, generating functions that can be used for envelopes, LFOs, slew, S&H and more. When these are gone, they’re gone...

Talking of the West Coast, we’ve finally got a handful of the beautiful ‘Modern Edition’ Music Easels back in stock for all you Buchla aficionados. It’s been a long time in the making - this edition includes the 208C module, the new 218E keyboard and the Electric Music Box I/O module, all housed in a very attractive portable case and with enough room for an additional 200 or 200e series module for maximum flexibility.

Everyone’s favourite compact multi-effects unit is now available in 1U format, in black or silver. This has to be the best value option for effects in Eurorack by a mile, with hundreds of algorithms now available - from shimmering reverbs and tape-style delays to phasers, pitch shifters and even 808 drum sounds.

The limited-edition black colourway of Arturia’s hit compact synth is back! The latest MF firmware includes sampler and granular engines as well as the original line-up of wavetables, physical modelling, Karplus-Strong and more, all running through a lovely analogue filter and controlled by that unique touch-plate keyboard.

A new and revised version of the original Ultra Random Analog, which is a Eurorack classic for sample-and-hold, random pulses, slew and more. The Ultra Random Redux offers more accurate sampling of external signals and greatly enhanced sample holding time. Check out DivKid’s comprehensive rundown.

Restocks & preorders

Lots of packages have landed from the USA over the past fortnight: we’ve had a big restock of Toppobrillo modules (including the Multifilter 2, Sport Modulator 2, Cluster and Minimix), along with lots of Michigan Synth Works clones of Mutable Instruments classics, and a big box of Make Noise Spectraphons. The Groove Synthesis 3rd Wave wavetable megasynth is also back, in both desktop and keyboard versions.

Preorder-wise, we’ve got a few spots left for the Torso S-4 desktop sampler (expected in June), the Future Retro Vectra and Supercritical Redshift 6, plus at the other end of the budget scale, the upcoming Korg NTS-1 Mk2 DIY desktop synth which we’re expecting in May.

In the spotlight

There’s been an exciting development up the road at Instruo HQ: it’s now home to The Glasgow Synth Guild. They’re a team of builders making modules for Instruo and other brands, who are also selling a limited run of an exclusive design from Instruo head honcho Jason Lim: the Oct Tone sequencer. This video from DivKid explains all.

New on the blog

We had a great reaction to our 10 of the best modules under £100 blog last week - check it out if you’re looking for a fun way to plug that gap in your case!

Out and about

• Our pals at Attack Release are taking over Cafe Buena Vida in Glasgow’s southside tomorrow night, with Sonia Killmann and The Lost Past Society playing live. If you can’t make it, tune in to Radio Buena Vida from 7pm.
• Big night at SWG3 in Glasgow on Saturday with electronic titans Fatima Yamaha and Nathan Fake.
• Glasgow clubland legends Optimo are doing their first Sunday night party in years on Easter Sunday at the Berkeley Suite. Dress to sweat!

And finally...

Right after we went to press last time, ALM Busy Circuits dropped Cizzle, their funky new take on Casio CZ-style Phase Distortion synthesis. At the time of writing we've only got one left and it’ll be a few weeks before ALM’s next batch is ready, but in the meantime check out Tom’s demo to whet your appetite...