Erica Synths & Richie Hawtin announce “Bullfrog” educational subtractive synthesizer
Erica Synths has partnered with Richie Hawtin to create Bullfrog – a hardware synthesizer that is designed to be both inspirational and educational for both beginners and professionals.
The Bullfrog combines the excitement of sound design for electronic music with an extensive learning experience.
The Bullfrog is a semi-modular subtractive synthesizer which consists of a number of modules that generate sound including a VCO & Noise Generator, modules for treatment such as a VCF and VCA, as well as modules that generate control and modulation signals like Envelope Generators and Sample & Hold.
The Bullfrog doesn’t make any sound unless it is patched using Eurorack patch cables. In practice, you need to connect the modules together with cables or by inserting voice cards that create internal connections between the modules in a specific way, adding extra functionality with devices like a sampler/looper, sequencer, groovebox, and so on.
The idea is that users will better learn about the functionality of a subtractive synthesizer and the principles of sound design by understanding different techniques to generate different sounds. The Bullfrog also comes with a comprehensive user manual which is designed to accompany the learning process and accelerate a user’s development.
Rekkerd notes thoughts on Bullfrog by Richie Hawtin:
“Electronic Music is as popular as ever and its traditions and frequencies now stretch around the world, uniting people across language and cultures. For me, one of the most exciting parts of creating with a synthesiser is the playful experimentation that inspires and pushes the imagination. Whether the intention is to create abstract frequencies or sounds inspired by real-life, the route one takes is personal and often surprising. It is within these investigations where the beauty of synthesis really comes alive, and which often unlocks a new sense of creative purpose. This journey of discovery is what originally pulled me deep into the world of electronic music and continues to be part of the fascination I find when working in the studio or performing on stage. As a teenager I felt like I was searching for the right outlet to transit my creativity and in synthesis I found a path.
These memories and concepts are at the heart of our Bullfrog synthesiser. Whether someone’s experience with Bullfrog points them down a career in electronic music or not, our goal is to both nurture a passion for electronically produced sounds and promote a fun easy learning path into basic sound synthesis.
We believe that the hands-on approach and problem solving that is innate to synthesis on a semi-modular synth like the Bullfrog, contains life lessons that go beyond what we can hear. The Bullfrog encapsulates the foundations of synthesis and is built with an immediate, intuitive design and a unique expandable architecture that grows and expands together with our user’s imagination.
This instrument feels at home anywhere – as an educational tool in music and physics classes, as an addition to your basement studio or even as a tool for performance on a stage.
Learn. Produce. Perform.”
Bullfrog will be available on August 10th, 2023.