Discover the best hardware experimental Synthesizer releases of 2023, including epic drone ambient machines, weird sound boxes, and more.
Synthesizer fascination. With Synth Anatomy, I always try to bring the latest synthesizers into the focus of my readership. I particularly enjoy writing about the latest experimental Synthesizer releases with unique designs, inspiring feature sets, and different operating concepts.
These are all elements that distinguish these instruments from classic synth releases. And often developed, built, and promoted under different conditions (budget, quantity, marketing…) as the products from the big players. For the fourth time in a row, I am celebrating these releases in a best-of article to bring them into focus again.
Best hardware experimental Synthesizer releases 2023
This best-of-series focuses primarily on small developers who, with little budget, bring their beautifully weird synthesizers to the highly competitive market. There are also one or two releases from big developers every year.
Not because it has to but because some bigger companies make a riskier move and explore new fields with experimental synths.
Like the last three years (2020, 2021, 2022), the order of the mentioned experimental synths doesn’t mean anything. A synth that is #4 or #9 doesn’t mean it’s better or worse. I just listed them randomly and left it up to you, my continuous-supporting readers, to choose which sound generators you liked best. Important: the choice is strictly personal. It’s not the ultimate best list, everyone can have a different choice.
Every year, bringing my favorite releases into an article is exciting. There weren’t many experimental synthesizer releases in 2023, more like two or three handfuls of excellent releases that fascinated many people and triggered their curiosity.
Error Instruments 2023
Before we go deep into every experimental synth release of 2023, a special shout-out goes to Paul Tas from Error Instruments. The Dutch developer has released new unique synth products throughout 2023, alone or in collaboration with others (TINRS…), which can be written in a dedicated article.
In order not to litter the article with Error Instruments releases, I will refer to Error Instruments as a highlight throughout the year. My highlights from Error Instruments 2023 include the new Brinta module, a circulating granular sampler with clever selectable functions and eye-catching visualizations.
Another exciting, beautifully bizarre instrument is the Passive Operator, released just before the end of the year. So, just in time for the recap. Passive Operator is a wild analog all-passive percussive Synthesizer that creates lovely weird noisescapes and unpredictable glitch rhythms… only by patching it.
It is not a synth for the masses but for everyone ready to delve crazy into sonic adventures. Two other releases are Bubbles, a freaky multi-voice stereo filter, and White Rabbit, a multi-FX processor from the sound hell, to name more. There was a lot to see and explore at Error Instruments this year.
More information here: Error Instruments / Articles
DecadeBridge Diamonds In The Dust
The English developer DecadeBridge, who offers his synths somewhat out of the way on Etsy, is almost a permanent guest on the best-of-list. This year, there were two lovely releases: Diamonds In The Dust and Cadence, two portable 4-oscillator drone synths.
My choice fell on the Diamonds In The Dust synth because it appealed to me more regarding sound and features.
On the sheet, it’s a 4-voice analog drone synth. Thanks to its interesting routing options, built-in VCAs, and CVs, you can also create pseudo rhythms, etc. A small, drony box that shows its true potential through exploring and patching.
2024 we will see the new DecadeBridge Albers Synthesizer, so there is already new experimental food for the upcoming year.
More information here: DecadeBridge / Article
Wirehead Instruments FREAQ FM
We travel to distant Australia to get out of the drony sphere. This is where the developer Wirehead Instrument has its home.
With the FREAQ FM, the developer released a portable, fun, two-voice, 8-bit FM Synthesizer this year powered by an algorithmic polymetric sequencer.
The FM sound of the FREAQ FM is not necessarily experimental. It’s more like an 80s FM synth, but the experimental character emerges when you work with the sequencer and the engine together.
Since you have direct access to both the engine and the sequencer simultaneously, you can drive from beautifully tuned melodies to random, melodic chaos. And all just by tweaking the hardware.
Here, the experimental character is more about exploring than about the engine or sound. It’s definitely one of the fascinating, unusual Synthesizer releases of the year.
More information here: Wirehead Instruments / Article
Soma Laboratory Terra
After a long wait, the Terra Synthesizer came onto the market this year. A Synthesizer from synth pioneer Vlad Kreimer that does everything differently. No white/black keyboard, no traditional interface, a radically different operation concept…
Terra challenges every musician anew, regardless of whether you are a professional player or a hobby musician. Every user has to familiarize themselves with the instrument from scratch. This is rarely the case with new synthesizer releases.
The design is just as impressive in a novel way. It has an unusual organic design that reminds one of nature but also of an object that comes from distant galaxies. Just as unique is the digital engine. It’s wholly new and specially adapted to expressive playing.
It offers 32 different algorithms, ranging from additive, wavefolding VA, FM, drum synths, and lo-fi Casiotone to physical modeling synthesis for organic plucked, bowed, or hammered sounds. Terra covers a vast sound spectrum that can be played dynamically and expressively.
With Terra, Vlad Kreimer has created an exceptional, innovative Synthesizer that is incomparable to any other synth on the market. Thank you for pushing the market forward.
More information here: Soma Laboratory / Article
Elta Music SOLAR 42
Attention, it’s getting more experimental and drony again. There was a comeback on the Superbooth 23. With the SOLAR 50, Elta Music showed an epic 50 oscillator drone synth in 2020. But this quickly disappears from the screens again.
In 2023, it makes a comeback in the form of the SOLAR 42, the successor. A more sophisticated version of this microtonal polyphonic ambient machine with fewer oscillators but more mature features that make the synth more extensive and versatile.
Including six drone voices, two V/oct morphing VCO voices, stereo signal path, dual POLIVOKS filter, five LFOs generators, a 5-step sequencer, stereo mixer with panoramic left/right channels, and dual cartridge effector… A solar-volution.
On top, each drone voice has a dedicated touch keypad and on/off button, a joystick, and more. Arseny Tokarev and his team at ELTA Music have turned the initial SOLAR concept into a deep experimental analog synth that goes beyond classic drone synths.
With SOLAR 42 advanced voice structure, you can now play massive drones, sequences, and more side by side on a single instrument. Impressive further development.
More information here: ELTA Music /Article
Arturia MicroFreak 5.0 Update
The Arturia MicroFreak was also further developed this year. So massive that it could be an MF 2, but in reality, it’s just a simple firmware that raises it to a new level of sonic exploration.
The MicroFreak is the most popular experimental Synthesizer currently available. And that from a big player, a surprise. The developers have managed to open up experimentalism to the masses with the MF with its super sweet spots, macro oscillators, and nice operation.
The free firmware 5.0 update that was showcased at Superbooth 23 surprised many. Even the most critical “before the screen reviewers” were almost speechless.
Arturia added four engines featuring an easy-to-use sampler engine with granular synthesis. That was not all; they gave us internal sample memory for up to 3 minutes. With this update, they have again turned the synth on its head and added tons of extra sonic value.
What other developers can only do with new hardware, the French do with a free update. This was definitely the best update of 2023 for me.
More information here: Arturia / Article
Tempera
Let’s stick with granular synthesis. 2023 was the year of hardware granular synthesizers. More granular synths were presented at Superbooth 23 than ever before. Many of them are still in development. But one was shipped recently and was under the Christmas tree in time.
I’m talking about Tempera, the second product from the Prague-based team that brought us the Vector Synthesizer.
The fascinating thing about Tempera is how the developers implemented granular synthesis and made it playable. Granular synthesis is often very cryptic, with many submenus and minimal visual feedback… That is a reason why I prefer granular fun on iPads.
In the case of Tempera, it is different. It offers a colorful interface with a grid of 8×8 touch plates. Each vertical row of the eight cells represents a loaded sample. You can load your stereo samples in the 8GB internal storage or sample in via the stereo inputs.
Once mapped, you can touch the samples with your finger and let the grains wander over the samples. From top to bottom, but also cross-sample from left to right. You can also animate the whole thing using the engine’s modulators and create evolving soundscapes.
With 4096 grains, 16 voice polyphony, and 64 total emitters per voice, the engine offers a lot of granular, hands-on fun. Great for creating ambiances and textures.
More information here: Tempera / Article
Kodamo MASK 1
The sound doesn’t have to be the main factor to be part of this best hardware experimental Synthesizer list. It can also be the courage of a company or a developer to bring a Synthesizer onto the market that polarizes and goes against the mainstream flow.
This applies quite well to the French developers at Kodamo. With the MASK 1, they have brought a very underrated hardware Synthesizer onto the market this year.
They have consistently pursued their own design here. Instead of packing as many knobs as possible onto one interface, the MASK 1 only has two knobs. Two for selecting and adjusting parameters supported by a series of buttons.
Very unusual but, at the same time, fresh for a Synthesizer from 2023. When I tested it at SynthFest France 2023, I was amazed at how easy it was to operate with just two knobs and the knobs.
The engine is also “experimental” flavored new. No analog, no wavetable, no FM… but bitmask synthesis. WT..synthesis? It’s an innovative method that splits a sine wave into many parts, which are rearranged differently. There is also multi-layering, plenty of modulation, effects, and more.
In terms of sound, the MASK 1 can do both: classic bass, leads, and pads, but also unusually digital ones with a lot of dirt and character. It’s less experimental from the sound, but the concept is. And for that, it deserves to be on this list. Great job, Kodamo.
More information here: Kodamo / Article
Pittsburgh Modular Taiga
It is not on many people’s list as an experimental synth, but the Taiga is one of them. Pittsburgh Modular’s latest Synthesizer brings two semi-modular worlds together, the West and the East coasts, and opens up a third—those of the experimental 0 coast by mixing both.
Taiga is one of the many semi-modular Synthesizers we’ve seen in the last 3-4 years. The hot period of semi-modularism. It does something fundamentally different. It’s fresh and novel at the same time. It is neither a clone/replica of a well-known original nor an inspired Synthesizer from the past.
This starts with the oscillators and ends with the impressive bottom-located patch matrix. The Pittsburgh Modular team also newly developed the filter, which can be changed per step. The novel dynamic controller, a combination of VCA and lowpass gate, also gives its cross-coast touch to it.
The waveshaping and wavefolding are excellent here, quickly moving the sound away from the classic analog domain. You can immerse yourself deeply in the harmonically richer and weirder sonic side of West-coast synths like the Buchlas.
Musician Sarah Belle Reid showed that the Taiga can easily be led into wild, experimental fields challenging to reach with classic analog synths.
More information here: Pittsburgh Modular / Article
Bastl Instruments Kastl ARP
The Czech Republic is represented twice this time. In addition to the Tempera by the Vector guys, the Kastle from Bastl Instruments is on the list this time. This is the third release of the Kastle synth range.
Based on the same platform and design as the Kastle 1.5 and Drum: small, patchable, affordable, fun, and battery-powered. In 2023, Bastl Instrument took the Kastle into melodic areas.
The Kastle ARP has an easy-to-use engine that, thanks to nice Bastl tweaks, is more versatile than you think. Even though the sequencer bells sound when there is a melody in the description, there is none in the ARP.
Bastl relies on a sine wave, a fine-tuned LFO with pitch-skipping options, and other little features, allowing you to create melodies. But you must first patch and explore this with the classic Kastle mini cables.
The little Kastle ARP is a fun, experimental melody generator. Add a reverb, and you can create dreamy melodies from which you don’t get enough. Get wild, experimental, and noisy. No problem. The patch points and the tiny cables give you many sonic options on the go.
More information here: Bastl Instruments / Article
Neutral Labs Elmyra 2
Finally, another drone portion. Neutral Labs developed the DIY project Elmyra a few years ago to show its love for the Soma Laboratory Lyra 8. This was such a big success that the developer created the Elmyra 2.
The biggest difference to the original (v1) is the independence. Moving away from the Lyra 8 roots to an original feature set and design. The touch plates, however, also remained in version 2.
Elmyra 2 has become a mature drone synth with an original impressive hybrid engine: 4-voice digital/analog hybrid engine with a wavetable-based complex oscillator core, analog/digital filters, per voice modulations and effects, microtonal scale, four 128-step sequencers…
Neutral Labs has created one of the most exciting and extensive drone synths in recent years. It’s powerful, super flexible, and shows that drone synths don’t just have to have simple saw oscillators and a mixing knob. It’s a true drone sculpting machine.
More information here: Neutral Labs / Article
Summary
That was the year 2023. That passed back to us like a high-clocked LFO. I thought I had just written this article for the year 2022. In any case, the year 2023 has brought us many exciting experimental synthesizers—also, some from big players with experimental ideas.
Some may be surprised at how certain synths are on this list that they don’t see as experimental. I see the experimental world as broader than just another list of drone synths or noise-making devices. For me, the term doesn’t limit or end with the sound. Design, overall concept, and playability are also part of it.
As usual, many of these original releases have, unfortunately, flown under the radar of many major synth communities. I hope I was able to focus on some exciting new releases again with this article.
I’m already looking forward to 2024 with more new synthesizers—especially the fresh and crazy ones from small developers. Until then, I wish you all a happy new year, and thank you very much for your support in 2023.
Best Hardware Experimental Synthesizer Releases 2022
nice summary.
experimental synths are not my cup of tea, but I do enjoy reading how others approach electronic music making from different angles
I read on expecting what I consider the most advanced and strange synth of the year – the Norand Mono Mk2. Its concept and features are unique. Perhaps you save it for a different “best of” summary?
I always look forward to your annual experimental synths list! Thank you and a happy new year!!
The Norand is a very complete conventional synth. And I mean this in the best possible way. It does a lot, sounds great, but doesn’t go for the sputtering and grinding dying battery weirdness many of the ones in this list go for. 🙂
Then again, the Taiga, Kodama and Tempera don’t really fit this label either I think. The Norand would fit in with them in a list of the best affordable midrange synth of 2023. 🙂
what I wrote: experimental doesn’t have to be associated to sound only but also to concepts, designs etc.
I think this is really just your random list of synths you could remember on the afternoon you decided to write this.
As I clearly written: it’s a strictly personal list. Everybody or other media would list maybe other synths.
Roger that! I like seeing someone’s personal list, especially when written on a rainy afternoon.
I would still say the most experimental synth on the market is the Gamechanger Motor Synth MKII. Possibly a late 2022 release?
yes, it was part of the 2022 list https://synthanatomy.com/2023/01/best-hardware-experimental-synthesizer-releases-2022.html
Love this kind of experimental stuff. To me, the best quality/fun/price relation is offered by the Kastle ARP, this people make great little devices.
I was happy to see the Elmyra 2 make the list. I bought it on a whim when it was first released and have spent days and weeks noodling with it to the neglect of my big rig. It also integrates nicely with a larger Eurorack setup to bring a bottle of weirdness to the party. Similar to the Micro Freak it is an updatable platform and Neural Labs has already issued one update with a number of new features and has another planned for early 2024.