How this started

I started the Synthux Residency in July 2025 with a simple idea: what would happen if you took the structure of an academic design program and made it accessible, online, and community-driven?

Not a course. Not a hackathon. Not a loose collective.

A year-long commitment to actually building an instrument.

Each participant came in with an idea and agreed to keep showing up for it - week after week - while sharing progress, failures, and iterations along the way.

This week, at Superbooth 2026, Gerry Mayer and Cristian Pandele will present their instruments and successfully complete the first Synthux Residency program!

The process

We began by exploring early concepts and prototyping on the Spotykach hardware and software. Building on the foundations Vlad Litvinenko and myself put into Spotykach gave the residency a solid starting point to build upon. And, of course, things got messy from there on (in the right way!).

Soon enough participants released experimental firmware to the community, got feedback from real users, and kept refining. Ideas changed. Some directions were dropped entirely. Others only made sense after months of iteration.

Eventually, the work shifted toward interface design, interaction, and physical form - faceplates, layout, and all the small decisions that turn a prototype into something you actually want to use.

What it takes to get something real

Cristian and Gerry stuck with their instruments through all of it: broken builds, unclear UX, rewrites, redesigns. The kind of problems that don’t show up in a concept sketch but define whether something ever becomes real.

A few weeks ago, we sent the final PCB files to production.

That moment felt small on the surface, but it marked the transition from “this might work” to “this exists.”

About Midi Alchemist by Gerry Mayer

MIDI Alchemist is a synthesizer that plays up to 16 tracks from one found or created MIDI file, loaded on its SD card library. Select playback of any ofthe 16 tracks on the fly, and choose ingredients on the shelf to discover secret synth voice and effect combos!

Discover new sonic inspirations from your alchemical experimentations and combinations!

About Sporadic by Cristian Pandele

Sporadic is a biomimetic audio processor that translates mycelial network dynamics into delay-based audio processing.

As you lie on your back and watch the clouds pass by, infinite networks of mycelia work tirelessly underneath, dissembling and reassembling the fabric of reality. Sporadic is an open invitation to listen more deeply to the patterns and relationships that form our experience of sound.

Why this residency program matters

There isn’t really a clean category for what this residency is. It borrows from academic design programs, but it’s not institutional. It’s online, but it’s not passive. It’s structured, but it depends entirely on self-direction.

What I can say is this: without this process, these instruments would likely still be ideas. And that’s been the most interesting part to watch - what happens when people are given just enough structure and just enough pressure to keep going.

Superbooth as a milestone

I’ve been an academic teacher for over a decade, so I can’t help but see Superbooth as a kind of graduation ceremony. Not an ending, but a moment where the work leaves its protected environment and meets the outside world. I’m proud of what Cristian and Gerry built, and I’m looking forward to seeing how people respond to it in Berlin.

What’s next

We’re taking everything we learned from this first residency and applying it to the next cohort, starting at the end of June 2026.

If you’ve been thinking about designing your own instrument - and you know you won’t do it without structure, feedback, and a bit of pressure - this is for you.

👉 Applications for the next Synthux Residency are open.

Apply here → Synthux Instrument Design Residency 2026-27

The Spark: From a DM to a Partnership

The journey to Firmware 1.0 started four years ago on our Discord server. I remember the moment clearly: Vlad Litvinenko (Bleep Tools) shared a VST plugin he’d written for a quad slicer. The logic was brilliant, and I immediately jumped into his DMs to ask if he’d ever considered turning it into physical hardware.

That single question turned into a four-year obsession. Vlad and I began collaborating on everything—instruments (Simple Touch anyone?), educational materials, and the early DIY versions of what would become Spotykach. When we presented the first version at Superbooth 2023, built on our Simple Synth Designer board and wrapped in a hand-drawn faceplate inspired by traditional Ukrainian ornaments, we knew we had something special. We realized then that this shouldn't just be a "side project." It deserved to be a standalone instrument.

The Looping Playground

As we moved into full-scale development, our goal was to create a semi-modular dual-deck looper that behaved like a living organism. We designed Spotykach for hands-on performance, moving away from menu-diving and toward pure intuition.

The heart of the interface lies in the two LED rings that visualize your loops as they breathe. As you record, modulate, and manipulate your audio, these rings provide a physical sense of time. The faceplate itself is a tribute to the era of magnetic tape—the touch pads are shaped like spliced strips, giving you a tactile connection to your sound design. Whether you’re processing an acoustic cello or syncing it to a sprawling modular rig, we wanted Spotykach to be the centerpiece where your ideas finally take shape.

To Stumble, To Sip, To Create

We get asked a lot about the name. In Ukrainian culture, Spotykach is a traditional home-brewed liqueur—sweet, potent, and famous for making the drinker "stumble."

In the world of music, "stumbling" is usually seen as a mistake. But for us, the stumble is where the magic happens. We wanted to create an instrument that leaned into the off-kilter, the generative, and the unexpected. When you play with Spotykach, you aren't just repeating a phrase; you’re letting it trip over itself, move backward, and evolve into something you didn't see coming. It is a celebration of the "happy accident."

Refined by the Collective

Last year, we took a leap of faith. We opened the doors and invited our community into a pre-release phase to help us break, test, and rebuild the software.

For twelve months, your ideas pushed us to refine the core engines (remember when drift was green and glitchy?), sharpen the modulation, and iron out the clock sync and MIDI. Firmware 1.0 is the result of that collective brainpower. It has exceeded every expectation we had back when we were just looking at code on a Discord screen. It’s rock-solid, musical, and more "playable" than we ever dreamed.

Limited Edition and Hand Made

We produced a limited run of 300 Spotykach units at Synthux HQ in Rotterdam. As I write this, over 200 of them are already out in the world.

Every single unit is handmade. We’ve been living the process—from mounting components on the PCB and 3D-printing custom parts in-house to control light movement, to the manual design and hand-painting each box. We poured our heart and soul into the manufacturing to make sure every instrument feels as unique as the person playing it.

The Manual and Artwork

The manual deserves its own spotlight. I worked with Fabio Bartali, a Rotterdam-based graphic designer and exceptional synth nerd, to make something truly special. Fabio and I obsessed over every detail—editing text, perfecting drawings, and choosing a local printer to bring it to life. It’s printed with shimmering gold ink and features a custom artwork on the back.

That artwork comes from Tom Tebby, an artist I met at Superbooth 2025. Tom is a master of old-school collage—cutting, composing, and gluing paper by hand. He took inspiration from the Spotykach faceplate to create a custom piece that makes the manual feel less like a "data sheet" and more like a collector's item.

Technical Soul

While the spirit of the machine is about play, the engineering (which Vlad has spent years perfecting) is precise:

• Dual Independent Decks: Record, play, reverse, and overdub seamlessly. Switch between Reel, Slice, and Granular Drift modes while modulating incoming signals.
• Generative Modulation: Built-in, Eurorack-level modulation sources and envelope followers keep your loops evolving.
• Semi-Modular Workflow: Designed to sit at the heart of your setup, whether you're jamming dawless or integrating with a hybrid rig.
• Performance-Driven Interface: High-resolution LED feedback and "tape-splice" touch pads for immediate, tactile control.

Thank you for being part of this four-year journey with us. We can't wait to hear what you create—and where you stumble.

With excitement,
Roey Tsemah & Vlad Litvinenko