Roma Modulare 2022, a whole day with modular synthesizers

After the forced and long pause due to the pandemic we have been capable of meeting again at Roma Modulare, the international event completely dedicated to modular synthesizers (with some not so hidden jump to more traditional instruments).

The event has been the chance to interact with other musicians, music professionals and music fans.

Stands have been made available to showcase new and old devices, to introduce new releases and, at the end, to make electronic music.

A real ideas lab meant to collect creativity from the whole world in its magic encounter wit technology.

The event has been hosted by the Monk, ideal venue given the available spaces and the facilities offered.

The exhibitors

Several have been the exhibitors that have brought to the show new as well as consolidated products and, indeed, a great availability to discuss and share information.

With everyone of them we have had the chance to discuss the product features and understand the design philosophy behind their proposals.

In the next months we shall report the details of every single discussion we have had. For now, given the available space, find the list of the companies that made the event so enjoyable.

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Milk Audio Store brought products by Qu-Bit, Noise Engineering, Manhattan Analog, Winter modular, Erica Synths, Make Noise, Intellijel, Verbos Electronics, Instruo, Expert Sleepers, 4MS, Xaoc Devices, WMD, 2HP, Sputnik Modular, Sequential and SOMA.

The edge of its stand was for Pro Audio.

Walking through the stands we met Alex4 Distribution, a big German distributor who brought Doepfer and Frap Tools products.

Full of devices, the Midiware stand showed Moog, Arturia, Novation, Universal Audio, Expressive, and Teenage Engineering products.

The proposals by Audio Gear Obsession are Eurorack compatible devices for sum and bus dynamic processing.

Bastl Instruments has a mixed approach proposing both standalone and Eurorack version devices.

Weird noise (so they say) is shown by Clank with their original and very special devices.

Enjoy Lab brings its own concept of signal processing for effects capable of changing the way we think about echoes and delays.

GRP Synthesizers spots its entire catalog just increased with a new small synth (GRP A1) with a big sound.

Jolin Lab with the new LFO and Waveshaper plus the other catalog products.

Filter 8 and Step 8, an 8 step sequencer/sampling register, are on the Joranalogue table. Also here with other products from the brands.

LepLoop with its stand dedicated to percussive modules and groove boxes has introduced the new LepLoop V3.

Effective and useful are the Nono Modular solutions for assembling live or studio modular systems.

Ritual Electronics has joined the show with samples from the whole catalog.

Tiptop Audio has shown interesting solutions realized in collaboration with Buchla.

Very interesting also the Alyseum proposal with its routers and switchers.

Looking to the future seem to be the Sputnik skiffs by Morph Modular.

Not compliant with the Eurorack standard, the Mixthesizer custom made mixer (specifically designed for keyboards) is an interesting solution proposed by FC Pro Audio.

The event was attended also by companies not specifically bound to the modular world. Those are entities with a strong and historical presence in the music scene of the Italian Capitol. Namely:

LRS Factory, a recording, mix and mastering studio capable of providing some of the most famous analog and modular synths to track with the real things.

AR2 Studio, a multimedia lab with a wide catalog of services and co-working spaces for musicians and creative professionals.

Electronic Music Division, the electronic music department of the Centro Studi Musicali Roma.

Saint Louis Music College, one of the most important education institutions in Italy and Europe.

Gino Disco showed a large number of vinyl albums.

Workshops

The workshops, held in a dedicated venue of the Monk, have been delivered by some exhibitors to show the features and functions of their new products.

We had the chance to listen to following workshops:

• LepLoop V3 by LepLoop
• The GodFather: Ideation, manipulation, innovation by Enjoy Lab
• Polyrhythms, polimeters, polytimes and other nice things by Frap Tools
• A new world of sequential synthesis with Step 8 by Joranalogue
• Arturia MiniFreak with Enrico Cosimi, national preview by Midiware

A whole day with electronic music and creativity

The location offered by Monk has been quite fitting for the event. Large spaces and a post-industrial look made a natural environment for both the exhibitors and the audience.

High enthusiasm and creativity were both evenly distributed among the exhibitors independently by their age or base location (many of them arrived from several foreign cities).

Many of the designers, builders and salespersons are young at their first job experience. Many of them come from a technical background.

There were also professionals with non technical background that have managed to learn music and electronics to be proficient in their jobs.

The high accuracy and quality of the proposals let us be positive for the future of music and the music industry.

In the next months, as stated above, we shall go deeper in understanding the proposals of the Roma Modulare 2022 exhibitors with dedicated posts. Let’s keep in touch!