Latvian module-makers Erica Synths announced this week that the company will be discontinuing their DIY Series modules. In their place, the company will be creating new educational kits designed to help beginning synthesists to better understand the basics of electronics. The company is offering a discount on the remaining inventory of DIY stock.

The new educational kits offered by Erica Synths will be both affordable and easy to use, and will include extensive manuals on how to build and operate each product. The kits — which will be perfect for both classroom and independent use — will also include recommended modifications and experiments for each design to encourage electronic exploration and sonic discovery.

“We want to provide exciting teaching aids for electronics classes and for people who want to get deeper into electronics,” commented Girts Ozoli?š of Erica Synths. “The new kits will be Eurorack-compatible, but there will be some inherent design compromises in order to make them understandable for beginners in electronics.”

Erica Synths’ Pico System III is another recent example of the company’s emphasis on education. The system has a simple, easy-to-use ‘back to basics’ product design. “Factory preset” voice-cards with preset patches enable users to change patches “instantly and radically,” making Pico System III a good fit for both educational use and experimental live performances. The system also comes with five DIY voice-cards so users can develop their own patches.

Pricing and Availability. The remaining inventory of Erica Synth’s DIY modules will be on sale (currently discounted 15%) while supplies last. The company is no longer manufacturing the current DIY module designs, and will be discontinuing their customer support of its DIY designs in 2020.

For more information, go to the Erica Synths website.