Trent Reznor’s Atari 2600 Synth, Teenage Engineering Meets Pixar, More: Synth Journal
The best of the rest of this week’s synth news!
4,2 / 5,0 | 
Love Hultén has done it again, this time with an Atari 2600 synth for Trent Reznor. And boy, is it gorgeous.
Synth Journal
Love Hultén Custom Synth for Trent Reznor
Now here’s a synthesizer that Trent Reznor won’t want to destroy. The latest from custom instrument designer Love Hultén is this beauty, an Atari 2600-themed sound station for none other than the Nine Inch Nails frontman himself.
Trent Reznor is 60 years old, putting him right on the cutoff for Generation X (1965-1980). And there’s very little that will get a Gen Xer more excited than an Atari 2600. First released in 1977 and staying in the cultural zeitgeist at least until the console crash in 1983, its faux woodgrain and clunky, hand-cramping joystick are the stuff of childhood dreams. So it makes perfect sense that Trent Reznor would want one combined with a synthesizer. Love Hultén to the rescue.
According to Love’s Instagram, this one-off Trent Reznor synthesizer features an Analogue Solutions Ample synthesizer, an Erica Synths and Ninja Tune Zen Delay, and an Industrialectric RM-1N reverb pedal, all built into a cabinet with a keyboard
Of course, it’s the Atari 2600 that really sets it off, complete with cartridge slot and mini monitor on the cabinet and joystick inset next to the keyboard.
Here’s hoping Trent Reznor puts this in his foyer or man cave, and doesn’t smash it up on stage like a DX7.
Analogue Solutions’ Ample is available from Thomann* for $2,599 / £2,333 / €2,669. Erica Synths’ Zen Delay is also available from Thomann* for $585 / £522 / €595.
Teenage Engineering Meets Pixar
Teenage Engineering has posted on its blog that the company’s unusual Choir singing wooden dolls have been used in the soundtrack to the new Pixar movie, Elio. A story about a boy who meets aliens, composer Rob Simonsen wanted something that was alien yet familiar in sound.
“We were looking for an otherworldly sound – something that sounded relatable, that echoed vocalizations, communication that humans could understand, but felt like it was from another world,” Rob said. “I came across these choir dolls and heard their sound. It was beautiful – electronic, but human.”
TE made a custom firmware to be able to control 24 of them at the same time, and sent them on to Hollywood, where Rob and his team recorded them for the soundtrack. You can see that in the video below. The company also made three custom dolls to represent characters in the movie.
X Audio Systems XTRIKE
Here’s an odd one. XTRIKE is a new wavetable synthesizer from X Audio Systems. It’s still in prototype phase, and things may change, but the overall concept is one of a percussive instrument. Instead of a keyboard, it features a soft pad that you strike. There’s also a magnetic bender to further alter the sound.
A percussion synth might suggest something monophonic but XTRIKE is actually four-voice polyphonic with the ability to tune and play chromatically. So something between a percussion synth like Behringer’s Syncussion SY-1 and a more traditional one with a keybed.
It will also offer effects, a 16-step sequencer, and a 20-second looper with its own effects section.
XTRIKE is now in pre-launch on Indiegogo. Sign up with your email on the X Audio Systems site (link below) for €200 off the launch price. Price to be announced.
Error Instruments and This Is Not Rocket Science kHarper
Error Instruments, in collaboration with This Is Not Rocket Science, has a new module out. Called kHarper, it’s a combination of a harp and Karplus-Strong synthesis with a unique panel with four touch strip strings, each one a voice. Each ‘string’ features a knob at the top to set the tone and a CV-in jack below. You can also pluck the strings by patching in a gate or with a keyboard controller via MIDI in.
kHarper offers two sets of three sound engines, Pond/River/Ocean and Herring/Koikarp/Dolphin. These can produce sounds that range from plinks to wild, distorted tones.
kHarper is available as a Eurorack module or standalone. It reportedly costs €350, but there’s no link on the Error Instruments site to buy, so I assume it’s currently sold out.
Bob Moog Foundation Synth Legends
Here’s something that shouldn’t be missed. On April 19, 2005, Bob Moog, Tom Oberheim, Dave Smith, and Marcus Ryle gathered in Los Angeles under the banner Synth Legends to speak about their individual and shared histories. Moderated by Roger Linn, the symposium (synthposium?) was the last public appearance by Bob, who died four months later.
The Bob Moog Foundation will be streaming Synth Legends in its entirety on its YouTube channel at 8 pm (EDT) on August 21st, the 20th anniversary of Moog’s passing. Tom Oberheim, Denise Smith (Dave Smith’s widow), Marcus Ryle, and Michelle Moog-Koussa of the foundation will be in the chat to answer questions from the audience.
Visit the Bob Moog Foundation (link below) for more information.
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