Synth East 2026 Kicks Off The Show Season in Europe – Synth Journal
Synth East, the first proper synth show in the U.K. and Europe held its fourth annual show, heralding in a bumper year of synth community gatherings, with SynthFest U.K. returning after a year’s hiatus!
Synth Journal – 26th February 2026
Synth East 2026
After NAMM does its thing in the sunny Californian climes, the focus shifts to Europe and the U.K. for some great synth shows, the first of which is Synth East, now in its fourth year and as popular as ever! Organised by former Gearnews writer, Robin Vincent, aka Molten Music Technology, this event is held, as its name suggests, in the East of England.
Synth East is an event spread across three days, with film screenings, live interviews and discussion, a synth expo, live music and workshops. Held predominantly at Norwich Arts Centre, the event returned with a packed line-up and big crowds of attendees!
Friday evening of Synth East was spent watching a brilliant documentary called ‘Studio Electrophonique‘, a gentle and touching film about a small, ramshackle studio built in the house of former RAF veteran, Ken Patten, located on the Ballifield council-estate in the Sheffield suburb of Handsworth.
Bands such as Pulp, ABC, Def Leppard, Clock DVA and The Future, who went on to become The Human League, all got their first taste of recording their work in this place and the film documents this beautifully. After that, there was a live podcast recording by the two guys behind Electronic Sound magazine.
Saturday saw the Synth East expo event, gathering together all kinds of manufacturers, developers and enthusiasts from KORG to Norwich Synth Club, ASM to AMSynths and my very own Pro Synth Network. There was lots to see, hear and play with and Synth East was peppered with live performances from people like Scanner, Steve Davis, Gaz Williams and Robin Vincent himself.
The evening gig was the legendary Cabaret Voltaire on what will be their last tour ever, so it was a full-on box ticker of a gig with Stephen Mallinder leading the band of rousing renditions of some of the best work. A fitting way to end the day.
The event was rounded off by a workshop on the Sunday where attendees learned how to build modules with Erica Synths. A fittingly nerdy way to end another successful year of synthing in Norwich! Huge congratulations to Robin, Electronic Sound and the Norwich Arts Centre!
SynthFest U.K. Returns!
Hot on the heels of Synth East, the biggest synth event of the year in the U.K. announced its return after a year away in 2025, with the event coming back to its home at Sheffield’s Octagon Centre on October 24th, 2026!
Last year, the event took a well-earned break to avoid clashing with Machina Bristronica, with both events now taking part the best part of a month apart in 2026. Promising to bring all the big names, and many of the smaller ones too, to the city that can easily lay claim to being the spiritual home of British electronic music, SynthFest U.K. will be a full-on day of synth splendour.
Organised by legendary music technology magazine, Sound On Sound, details of the 2026 event will begin to emerge on the official website in the coming months, where we hope to see the usual stellar lineup of manufacturers, community organisations and retailers, as well as super-informative seminars throughout the day.
Bookmark their website for all the latest info and make sure you sign up for their newsletter. There are also some excellent smaller events happening in the U.K, such as Synthesized at Cambridge’s Centre for Computing History, Machina Bristronica in Bristol and this March, a brand new show in Dawlish, Devon called Synth South West, organised by Pro Synth Network! Tickets are still available! Oh, and there’s Superbooth 2026 too!
Toto’s CS-80s Are Found!
Rob Rosen, the guy behind L.A.’s synth restoration and repair company, Rosen Sound, released a video last week where he revealed the two original Yamaha CS-80’s used by Steve Porcaro and David Paich of Toto.
As Rob explains in the video, he comes across numerous vintage synths where owners claim they were used on famous recordings, but rarely are. When it comes to the CS-80, they were used on so many legendary recordings, not least by the likes of Vangelis, that many people try and pass theirs off as one of these.
However, as Rob goes on to explain, he has done the hard yards and research, along with verification from the original owners, to prove, once and for all, that these ARE the Toto CS-80s. Steve’s CS-80 was stolen and subsequently sold on a number of times, with each person not knowing its origin.
Anyway, watch Rob’s video for the full story and hear these legendary and unique instruments sing again!
Tembo Launches on Kickstarter
Looking like a cross between Checkers and Ableton Live, Tembo is a new musical experience that promises to make music-making fun and uncomplicated in a stylish way. Created by Musical Beings, Tembo is about to enter its Kickstarter launch, so if it appeals to you, now’s the time to reserve yours.
But what is Tembo? Well, given that it hasn’t fully launched, full details are still somewhat sketchy, but the box features its own built-in, rechargeable power source and speaker, with a 5×8 grid that users interact with by placing circular magnetic counters on.
The position of these determines what sound plays and when, and, if I’ve interpreted the video correctly, can be turned in a circular fashion to manipulate level or tone. Sounds on each of the 5 rows can be manipulated, and users can even sample their own sounds to play with.
Tembo looks like a very interesting and simple device to use so I’m very interested to see its full specifications and to see it in use beyond some slick marketing video. Depending on price and availability, Tembo could be a great place for enthusiastic youngsters to start, as well as for seasoned musicians to quickly realise their ideas.
Join the reservation list at the Musical Beings website and watch out for the Kickstarter campaign launch in just under two weeks.
This might also interest you
