Crazy Nintendo Synthesizers, Jean-Michel Jarre Writes a Book, More: Synth Journal
The best of the rest of this week’s synth news.
4,5 / 5,0 | 
We’ve got two wild Nintendo synths this week, one from Love Hultén and the other a glitchy take on the Game Boy.
Synth Journal
Nintendo Synth 1: Love Hultén NES-SY2.0
It’s not often you get a Nintendo synth announcement, let alone two in a week. But that’s what we’re working with in this week’s Synth Journal. You like Nintendo and you like synths? It’s your lucky day.
The first Nintendo synth is courtesy of genius artist/engineer Love Hultén, who showed off his latest creation this week. Called NES-SY2.0, the new custom piece features an Arcano Systems NES Poly Chiptune Synthesizer, an Arturia Keystep, Flamma FS22 Ekoverb effects pedal, and a custom-made MIDI visualizer worked up by artist p1xelfool.
As with all of Love Hultén’s works, the NES-SY2.0 is a recombination of existing instruments and effects, presented in a bespoke enclosure. This time, as befitting the theme, it looks like a giant Nintendo Entertainment System – and it even takes cartridges, according to the post.
You can see and hear it in action in the demo video below.
- Love Hultén homepage
Nintendo Synth 2 Melted Electronics Glitch Boy
Are you ready for Nintendo synthesizer number two? This second one takes inspiration from the Game Boy, the Japanese company’s nostalgia-encrusted handheld player from the 1980s. Called Glitch Boy and from experimental visual outfit Melted Electronics, it’s an 8-bit video instrument and chiptune synth. Oh yes.
On an Instagram post, Melted Electronics calls Glitch Boy a “weird hybrid between a retro gaming console, a video synthesizer and a chiptune musical instrument.”
According to Sonicstate, Glitch Boy loads NES-compatible ROMs from microSD and lets you manipulate the visuals and sounds in real time using the Game Boy-like controls, MIDI, audio input, or CV. Interestingly (for us), it’s also got a four-voice chiptune synth inside and comes in both handheld and Eurorack versions.
Glicth Boy will be available for preorder via Kickstarter starting on April 14. Regular price will be €170 but Melted Electronics will offer an early bird price of €150.
- Melted Electronics Glitch Boy Kickstarter page
- Melted Electronics homepage
Jean-Michel Jarre Machines Book
We all know Jean-Michel Jarre as the synth music pioneer, but did you know that he’s also an author? If you did, that’s more than me, as I was surprised to see the announcement that he had a book coming out. And it’s not a memoir either, but an illustrated history of electronic music!
Called Machines, the book will be “the definitive illustrated story of electronic sound, from WWI to the AI-enabled future, presented by the godfather of the genre,” according to booksellers Waterstones. The book will begin in 1913 with the publication of the Futurist manifesto, The Art of Noises (hey!), and continue up to the present day.
The book will also include descriptions of more than 80 instruments, “from the iconic ARP 2500 to rare, bespoke, one-off creations,” as well as biographical anecdotes from the man himself. It will also reportedly feature a number of special contributors, including Pete Townshend, Armin van Buuren, Gary Numan and Gillian Gilbert.
“This book is a journey through these machines: those I acquired, those I tamed, those I imagined, and those that shaped my musical language – and which together tell one possible story of today’s music,” says Jean-Michel Jarre. “When I step into the studio, they are there, lurking in the shadows, blinking silently. They contain every sound in the world. And like a gold prospector, my obsession is to extract a few nuggets from them. My personal El Dorado.”
Machines will be out in hardcover on October 8 with a price of £50. You can preorder from the link below.
- Machines preorder page
VEMIA Auctions – Is This the End?
The 62nd VEMIA auction will take place for a week starting this weekend. That’s April 4 to 11 for those of you playing along at home. This will be a special one as it’s purported to be the final one run by Peter Forrest, he of The A-Z of Analogue Synthesizers books fame. He’s reportedly in talks with someone else to take over. Hopefully, it can keep going. The auctions have been happening for 27 years! That’s quite a run.
I’m posting about it in Synth Journal because it’s a special thing, but also because it’s a chance to see some pretty amazing gear – even if only in pictures. Last year saw Aphex Twin’s former Yamaha GX-1 show up for sale. I haven’t seen anything quite so monumental this time but there are still some pretty amazing things on the block, including an E-mu Modular system complete with keyboard, a KORG PS-3100, and a Jenny Ondioline.
If you buy anything, let us know in the comments. We’d love to live vicariously through you.
- VEMIA Auctions homepage
Kraftwerk on the Old Grey Whistle Test
Last week, the official YouTube channel for the 1970s music program The Midnight Special posted a clip of Kraftwerk playing “Autobahn.” It was all done live and broadcast on July 12, 1975. Unfortunately, the clip has since been taken down – or rather, made private. I had planned to share it here, but I’ll have to share this unofficial one instead.
It’s pretty amazing how much sound they were able to get out of a Moog Minimoog Model D, ARP Odyssey, and two custom-made percussion synths – all played live!
While working on this story, I found out that Moog’s 2022 reissue of the Minimoog has finished its limited-edition run. It looks like the only one available now is the Geddy Lee model. They should really do a Ralf Hütter model. Fun fun fun.
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