SUPERBOOTH 22: If it seems like less than a year since the last Superbooth, don’t worry, you’re not going mad. A Covid-enforced scheduling change meant that the 2021 version of the Berlin-based music technology event only happened around eight months ago, but Superbooth is now back in its regular springtime slot, and takes place between 12 and 14 May at its regular haunt of Fez-Berlin.
Initially part of the Frankfurt Musikmesse, which has now been put out to grass, Superbooth went solo back in 2016, and has been a fixture on the music technology calendar ever since.
As the event has grown in size and scale, an increasing number of big-name manufacturers have started to exhibit, but the beating heart of Superbooth has always been the smaller, ‘boutique’ companies, and it’s a mecca for those who want to experience the weird and wonderful side of electronic tunesmithery.
That, of course, includes us - as you’d expect, we’ll be reporting live from the Fez next week. Between now and then, though, there are bound to be plenty of teases designed to get us in the mood for some hot new gear, and we’ll keep you up to date with them all right here…
Polyend
Made in Polyend #madeinpolyend #polyend pic.twitter.com/5BOkTVL1P6April 25, 2022
With the words “Let’s Play,” Polyend has confirmed its attendance at Superbooth, and a 60-second teaser video tells us that there’s new hardware in the offing. It looks grooveboxy - in fact, it looks very similar to the company’s Tracker device - though whether all the sounds we can hear in this clip are being produced by this new product isn’t made clear.
Arturia
So Arturia is teasing something that's going to be announced on 10 May, just a couple of days before Superbooth kicks off. Big deal.
What we're really interested in is the news that the company will be rocking up in what it's calling the _Sound Explorers truck, which we're hoping will be some kind of music technology A-Team van full of synths and stuff.
As far as speculation about the new product goes, we learned recently that Arturia has some big plugins coming up, so maybe we'll get to find out what's going on with those. That video sure sounds synthy, we have to say...
Oberheim
A quick check on the Superbooth exhibitor list reveals that, yes, Oberheim is going to be there. And then there's the recent leak, which indicates that the company really is about to launch a new version of its classic OB-X, the OB-X8.
Surely Tom Oberheim wouldn't come all the way from the US without it, would he?
