This Is Not Rocket Science BigFish: Nord Modular-Style Digital Synth With a Unique Keybed
Ahead of Superbooth comes the announcement of This Is Not Rocket Science BigFish, a spiritual successor to the Nord Modular with four levels of interaction.
This Is Not Rocket Science BigFish
This Is Not Rocket Science are a unique modular synth company from the Netherlands. It looks like we’ll have to strike the modular qualifier from their name, however, as they’ve announced a new synthesizer synthesizer, complete with keybed and everything. Called BigFish, it looks like a unique and exciting instrument indeed.
The company posted to its Facebook page that BigFish is in the works. “The synth we have been working on for many years now – and the reason we are building keyboards – is taking shape.”
This Is Not Rocket Science BigFish: Modular in Nature
The post goes on to say that BigFish is “modular in nature,” and this fits with what Stijn and Priscilla of TINRS told me last year when I spoke with them about their Fenix IV modular system.
“We’re making a Nord Modular follow-up,” said Stijn. “Modular in a keyboard.”
He went on to liken it to 100 Fenixes in a box, “but it’s digital, it’s polyphonic and you can make gigantic sounds with it.”
It will also have a built-in editor. “The biggest difference to the Nord Modular is that it contains its own editor,” said Stijn. “You never need to have an app or anything connected. So it won’t rot away like that system (Nord Modular) sadly did.”
As for what kinds of sounds it will have, that remains to be seen. But in 2017, the company previewed a Eurorack synthesizer voice also called BigFish. In his original article, Robin Vincent explained it like this: “The oscillator has seven different waveshapes or voices, each generated with a different algorithm. There appears to be some organ-type sounds in there as well as some chord generation. There will also be some physical modeling going on and an FM synthesizer amongst others.”
According to the TINRS website, “BigFish also uses ideas from the Blok system of modular software synths that Stijn built and used to teach audio design with at a university for many years.”
This Is Not Rocket Science BigFish: Four Levels
It sounds like BigFish will be more than just a modular synth in a keyboard, though. On the TINRS website, they describe the new instrument as having “four levels of making: making music, making sound, making synth and making DSP.”
For musicians, they’ll be able to play it as is, while sound designers will enjoy creating new sounds. Synth designers will be able to make “new synthesizers modular style” with the onboard modular software synth, while programmers will be able to access DSP to make synths directly on BigFish. So something like a hardware Reaktor, perhaps?
This Is Not Rocket Science BigFish: Bink Keybed
One reason that development of the BigFish has taken so long is that the company needed to create a new keybed to realize its ideas. Called the Bink Keybed, they’re building it in collaboration with Amsterdam company Binkhorst Creations. According to a brochure on the Binkhorst site, the new keybed offers mechanically stable keys, user-adjustable tension and aftertouch, full travel sensing with easy SDK, and sustainable materials.
The keybed will also be available for other manufacturers to use.
This Is Not Rocket Science BigFish: Pricing and Availability
BigFish sounds very exciting. It’s also been a long time coming. “This is the BIG one,” the TINRS website says. “The big project that all other projects have been leading to. This is our multi-year project of the beautiful synthesizer that Stijn has been dreaming of for a very long time.”
The synth is still a way off. This Is Not Rocket Science is estimating spring 2027. There’s no mention of price yet.
Stijn and Priscilla will be at Superbooth 2026, so if they announce anything more related to BigFish, we’ll let you know.
More Information
- This Is Not Rocket Science BigFish product page
- More about This Is Not Rocket Science
- More about synthesizers
- Buy synthesizers at Thomann*
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