Superbooth 2020: In this set of videos, Stijn Kuipers of This Is Not Rocket Science demos the latest prototype of their upcoming Fenix IV modular synthesizer.
Here’s what they have to say about the Fenix IV:
“The first Fenix was born and bred to satisfy one artist’ wishes for an all in-one system. Our Fenix IV is also born out of this desire with ourselves as the artists.
The density of Fenix I,II and III meant it provided loads of sound in one box. Before Eurorack boomed, most modular synthesizers required half a wall of space. Fenix provided all your options in a relatively small container.
When Fenix II was released, it packed the most punch for its size anywhere on the market.
With Fenix IV, we think we continue this tradition. We’ve extended the sounds by adding our best from the digital world. The intention is to provide a toolbox for you to make sound with, and not put too much of our flavor in the sounds themselves. Choices are made for maximum sonic variety.”
Video Demo:
Pricing and Availability
The Fenix IV is currently under development. You can find out more or get on the waiting list at the TINRS site.
Trypophobia ?
This was a very good allround ‘tour’ from first to second prototype and with a little glimpse into the finale release-in-the-future approach for delivering a nice build modulair synth. My little private audiostudio is named ‘Feniks Studio’ and I still do not have a modular synth in my collection and maybe this will be ‘the one’.
Ik kijk uit naar de ‘release’ van jouw modulaire synt, Stijn. Groetjes uit Hoeselt, België.
Cool. Who would have thought a few decades ago that analog synthesizers would make a big comeback let alone modular synthesizers.
In certain ways “digital” synths were only popular for a short time! Mid 80s to mid/late 90s? I know Acid house rediscovered analogue but there was a lot of S&S keeping the digital place alive.
This is a marvellous thing. It will be interesting to see what price they can get it out for.
eh. . . pretty sure “digital” synths are more popular today than ever before. as far as i know, they have only massively increased in popularity, every year since their introduction.
Perhaps digital but not necessarily “digital “. Think of all the VAs and the like. But outright “digital” with little or no analogue roots? Moog, no? DSI, no. I had a look at the Thomann top 20 keys and arguably only the Digitakt is really digital. The rest are analogue, VA or pretend pianos. (I haven’t counted the Kronos yet).
I’m not sure what you mean by “outright “digital” with little or no analogue roots?”. “Digital” and “analog” synthesis appeared around roughly the same time, and they are built broadly on the same basic concepts. The “first” digital synth appeared in 1957 from Matthews/Bell Labs–but the first Moog modular came many years after that.
Isn’t it pre-patched internally, i. e. semi-modular? It would make sense since we can’t choose the modules.
I’m always curious about why some people are drawn to modulars. I understand the fascination & huge sound potential, but the work load is semi-ridiculous! I prefer being able to save my programming work and learning how to get that right with any new synth takes about a year, in my experience. I admire anyone who has even a small modular in a rig containing other instruments. Doing anything more than using it for Berlin sequences or as a filter bank is no small deal.
The modular is indeed a different instrument all together than a fully realized pre-patched keyboard digital or analog, mono or poly synth….
Modular is pure synthesis.
Sound creation at it’s most raw and from that come a discovery about the importance of sound itself.
The art…and performance with a modular synth is a different animal altogether….the modular artistry is in the build, the patch development and the ultimately the performance of the patch in real time either live, live stream or to a recording device. Witness YouTube Eurorack community of enthusiast/artists making live pieces. This is the application of the instrument and the birth of new musical forms and sounds…
There are no face-melting keytar solos…just hands tweaking knobs as the machine executes the programs sequences via the patched voices.
For me a modular synth is a perfect labo environment learning console for synthesizer builders exploring and searching the best pathways that can be froozen into a ”fixed synthesizer”. It’s excellent as a labo tool for making a kind of prototype synthesizer.
Because, just face it : each new pathway configuration is in fact a totaly new synthesizer on it’s own.
It’s also all about time management : if you choose for a ”fixed synthesizer” you can explore all sonic possibilities and how to manipulatie all available knobs in the optimal artplaying conditions (without cracking noises inbetween them) and with also a lot of focus on music as an language and art form.
The ‘art of knobing’ is something different than ‘knobing on the fly’ and by accident making nice random sonic events. The ‘art of knobing’ is to be able to reproduce all this fantastic Nice Sonic Events thé moment you need them and based on the positions of all other knobs at hat moment Involved. When this is your purpose maybe we can say ‘Less (knobs) is more’.
If you choose for a modular synth it becomes a neverending story of cables and always different pathways of them but it it’s questionable if you get always ‘all’ out’ of every new pathway configuration or – in other words – every new ‘prototype synth’ you builded up.
And maybe it’s just for that particular fun to discover asca surprise that Nice events ad a ‘treasure’… Ni more no less…
My experience is that most of the modular synthesizer owners are soundmakers and only the best of them are able make music with it.
But ”hey”, it’s totaly okay to have fun without the ”’need” to be perfect of to get all out of it.