Synthi 100 @ Wintercircus (03/2024)

Concept

FTI – Flanders Technology & Innovation – was a big event in Flanders, promoting innovative research & enterpreneurship towards both consumers and busnisses. The opening event took place in the Wintercircus; our next-door neighboor. The opening party was hosted by Despacio – DEEWEE & LCD Soundsystem – on the magical ‘middenpiste’ of the new building. However, in the basement, the brand new immersive concert hall ‘Muziekclub Wintercircus’ was still empty.

IPEM collaborated with FTIGent on 16 & 17 March 2024 to host the ‘chill room’ in EMS Synthi 100 style; having multiple artists a take at it during the opening party. 9 artists were invited to perform a set, which could take in total 45 minutes (preparation, play & breakdown): Micha Volders, Köhn, Floris Vanhoof, Ambisynics, Sagat, Roman Hiele, Mika Oki, Ossia and Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė.

Why wasn’t this announced ? The Despacio event was unfourtunately sold out before even the idea of the ‘synthi chill room’ was born. But, we see it as the start of a new era for our synthi – so stay tuned for more synthi-centered events in the future!

Atmosphere

Live sessions: Lineup & recordings

Floris Vanhoof

Bio Floris Vanhoof

Floris Vanhoof – Everything Is Connected

Floris Vanhoof is interested in hybrid forms of music, film and other arts. Modular synth sounds and 16mm film projections are central to his work. Working with synths, whereby electronic sound modules are connected by cables, Vanhoof became convinced that all possible instruments and ideas can be connected. Today, he translates sound into image (and vice versa) by connecting media that are not always compatible.

How does our perception work and what new perspectives emerge that way? How does this change the way we look and listen? And how are observations coloured by our imagination?

The artist makes his instruments and installations himself. They are laboratory models that explore the interface between image, light and sound. As a media archaeologist, he also likes nothing more than to confront the modern, digital viewer with flickering 16mm film and slideshows – things that are doomed to disappear. He deliberately chooses those analogue technologies because of the transparency of the working process and the broad dynamic range. At the same time, Vanhoof aims to question our current viewing and listening patterns through things that used to be considered high-tech.

Köhn

Bio Köhn

Köhn – Experimenting with Sound Manipulation, Synthesizing, Sampling and Overdubbing

Jürgen De Blonde has been (de)constructing music as Köhn since 1997. He works at the forefront of Belgian avant-garde, experimenting with techniques like sound manipulation, synthesizing, sampling and overdubbing. As such, he injects a wide variety of influences into his work, resulting in a blend of hypnagogic pop, abstract noise and everything in between (i.e. IDM, glitch, shoegaze, krautrock, ambient, musique concrète, etcetera).

De Blonde was also part of the legendary post-rock band De Portables, and he is now a guest lecturer (on both Sound & Editing and 3D Sound) at LUCA School of Arts in Ghent, where also runs the LUCAsound Lab.

At FTI Gent, he is one of nine musicians to play the EMS Synthi 100. In fact, De Blonde has already made music on the legendary synthesizer! “It’s a beautiful and gigantic piece of furniture that looks like the control panel of a spaceship. It also feels like playing Battleship when you’re pushing pins in the patch bays – you don’t use patch cables but connector pins. It all looks impressive and a tad intimidating at first, until you get to know the machine.”

Micha Volders

Bio Micha Volders

Micha Volders – Creating a Harmonious Aesthetic from Broken and Destroyed Sounds

Micha Volders is a Belgian producer, musician and imagemaker. Since his teenage years – he’s a kid of the 1990s – Volders has been experimenting with 4-track cassettes, lo-fi recording and electronica. Later on, as an avid illustrator and stop-motion adept, he also obtained a master’s degree in animation.

As a musician, Volders is particularly interested in creating a harmonious aesthetic from broken and destroyed sounds, regularly using homemade or modified equipment and unorthodox recording methods. With his background in film, he often visually contextualises his music, in a search for tactile sound worlds.

Besides his own projects, such as Vermin Twins and Meteor Musik, he has produced albums for Gruppo Di Pawlowski and The Germans, amongst others. Since 2021, Micha Volders has been releasing his work under his own label Mutropia.

Ambisynics

Bio Ambisynics

Ambisynics – Experimenting with Live Music in Any Way, Shape or Form

Ambisynics is a dynamical and anonymous band, which consists of Ghent University’s Institute for Psychoacoustics and Electronic Music musicologists. They play any instrument, both old and new electronic analogue nano, within an ambisonic experimental setup at De Krook. Or in this case, inside the brand-new Wintercircus music club with its legendary EMS Synthi 100 synthesizer.

With Ambisynics, instruments may vary. Band members too. But they all have one thing in common: sharing their love for experimentation and live music in any way, shape or form.

Ossia

Sagat

Roman Hiele, Roman Hiele, Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė

Bio Mika Oki

Mika Oki – Spatial Design Through Music and Light Sculptures

Mika Oki is dealing with spatial design, whether through the music she makes or the light sculptures she creates. The French-Japanese visual artist works with video, sound and electroacoustics to create abstract textures and mental imagery that perfectly intersect the worlds of club rhythm and ambient experimentation.

In the past, Oki has created 24-hour performance pieces involving dancers and poets, played infamous festivals such as Atonal (Berlin) and Nyege Nyege (Kampala), and started the Brussels chapter of LYL Radio. Recently, she served up Stuck in It, a song for the second compilation of Le Motel’s superbly forward-looking Maloca label.

Bio Roman Hiele

Roman Hiele – Mixing Roguish Electronica, Synthetic Jazz & Sonoric Underwater Fun

The impressive list of impressive labels on which (Roman) Hiele has already released records ought to say something about his impressive oeuvre. The labels in question are Stroom, Ultra Eczema, Ekster, YYAA Recordings and his own boutique Universal Exports. How to describe his oeuvre? That’s really up for debate, as nothing will ever completely cover the load. Let’s give it a try anyway: a mix of roguish electronica, synthetic jazz and sonoric underwater fun.

Also good to know: over the past ten years, Hiele has made music for films, theatre productions, performances, catwalks and art installations. And during FTI Gent, he’ll make some on the legendary EMS Synthi 100.

Bio Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė

Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė – Creating Tranquil and Other-Worldly Soundscapes

Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė is a Lithuanian sound artist, composer, singer and kanklės player. In her music, she creates tranquil and other-worldly soundscapes, weaving together elements of Lithuanian folk songs and acoustic + electronic sounds with improvisation.

She performs both as a solo artist and with her band Merope (a collab with Belgian guitarist and electronic artist Bert Cools). Her work is represented by the art platform granvat, whereas Merope’s latest album Salos (performed with the Vilnius chamber choir Jauna Muzika) was released on Stroom and granvat.

Jurgelevičiūtė has collaborated with a diverse array of musicians including Shahzad Ismaily, Tsubasa Hori, Gyda Valtysdottir, Solo Cissokho, Efterklang and Toma Gouband. She has also composed for theatre and multimedia. In fact, she recently wrote the music for Lisaboa Houbrechts’ Yerma adaptation – commissioned by the Stockholm Dramaten theatre.

HIDDEN

Mika Oki

Bio Mika Oki

Mika Oki – Spatial Design Through Music and Light Sculptures

Mika Oki is dealing with spatial design, whether through the music she makes or the light sculptures she creates. The French-Japanese visual artist works with video, sound and electroacoustics to create abstract textures and mental imagery that perfectly intersect the worlds of club rhythm and ambient experimentation.

In the past, Oki has created 24-hour performance pieces involving dancers and poets, played infamous festivals such as Atonal (Berlin) and Nyege Nyege (Kampala), and started the Brussels chapter of LYL Radio. Recently, she served up Stuck in It, a song for the second compilation of Le Motel’s superbly forward-looking Maloca label.

Roman Hiele

Bio Roman Hiele

Roman Hiele – Mixing Roguish Electronica, Synthetic Jazz & Sonoric Underwater Fun

The impressive list of impressive labels on which (Roman) Hiele has already released records ought to say something about his impressive oeuvre. The labels in question are Stroom, Ultra Eczema, Ekster, YYAA Recordings and his own boutique Universal Exports. How to describe his oeuvre? That’s really up for debate, as nothing will ever completely cover the load. Let’s give it a try anyway: a mix of roguish electronica, synthetic jazz and sonoric underwater fun.

Also good to know: over the past ten years, Hiele has made music for films, theatre productions, performances, catwalks and art installations. And during FTI Gent, he’ll make some on the legendary EMS Synthi 100.

Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė

Bio Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė

Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė – Creating Tranquil and Other-Worldly Soundscapes

Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė is a Lithuanian sound artist, composer, singer and kanklės player. In her music, she creates tranquil and other-worldly soundscapes, weaving together elements of Lithuanian folk songs and acoustic + electronic sounds with improvisation.

She performs both as a solo artist and with her band Merope (a collab with Belgian guitarist and electronic artist Bert Cools). Her work is represented by the art platform granvat, whereas Merope’s latest album Salos (performed with the Vilnius chamber choir Jauna Muzika) was released on Stroom and granvat.

Jurgelevičiūtė has collaborated with a diverse array of musicians including Shahzad Ismaily, Tsubasa Hori, Gyda Valtysdottir, Solo Cissokho, Efterklang and Toma Gouband. She has also composed for theatre and multimedia. In fact, she recently wrote the music for Lisaboa Houbrechts’ Yerma adaptation – commissioned by the Stockholm Dramaten theatre.

Press

Humo: … In die muziekclub gingen er gelijktijdig met Despacio ook verschillende muzikanten experimenteel loos op de EMS Synthi 100, de synthesizer waarop Soulwax de plaat ‘EMS Synthi 100 – DEEWEE Sessions Vol. 01’ (2020) componeerde. Vrienden die daar gingen schuilen voor de galm, spraken van geslaagde geluidsexperimenten door o.a. Köhn, die je wél helemaal inpakten. …

IndieStyle: … De bovenverdieping werd voor het trio gereserveerd, terwijl in de muziekclub zélf een kransje artiesten zich aan de EMS Synthi 100 waagden. Een stokoude modulaire synthesizer waar de broers met hun band Soulwax in 2020 een album op componeerden. We zagen artiesten elk op hun manier de mastodont benaderen; Köhn via space ambient, Mika Oki via zoemende drones en Roman Hiele bracht Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė mee die via haar kanklės (een soort citer) een extra dimensie bracht aan z’n ambient soundscapes. Jammer genoeg vielen hun experimenten op de synthesizer meer dan eens in het water door het gekakel van mensen die een snelle verfrissing zochten aan de bar. De bar boven bleef de hele avond ellelange rijen behouden, jammer. De discrepantie tussen de abstracte elektronica van de artiesten en de lome set van het trio was bovendien erg groot. Misschien dat ze in een andere setting wél een goed publiek voor zich kunnen krijgen. ….

De Standaard: … Wie tussendoor even wou ontsnappen aan de beats of een toog zocht waar geen ellendig lange wachtrijen stonden, kon terecht in de kleine concertzaal van het Wintercircus. Daar was voor de gelegenheid de EMS Synthi 100 opgesteld, de illustere modulaire synthesizer die bijna veertig jaar stof stond te vergaren aan de Universiteit Gent. Met de hulp van de broers Dewaele kreeg dit technologische erfgoed een grondige opknapbeurt, waarna Soulwax er ook een plaat mee maakte. Zowel zaterdag als zondag mochten verschillende synthesizerliefhebbers zich uitleven op het toestel, wat vooral tot abstracte soundscapes leidde. …

Preparation phase

Repairs – our Synthi 100 was last serviced by Constantin in 2017. Since then, knobs started to crackle, oscillators stopped working, the frequency counter showed smoke instead of Hz, faders were unstable and some broken, light bulbs sprang, switches didn’t switch – you know, the usuual wear & tear for an almost 50 year old synthesiser. Together with FTI, we setup a repair effort to make it ‘battle ready’. Orson Wouters, Ivan Schepers, Johan Robaeys and Bart Moens all joined the effort towards fixing it; with additional advice from EMS experts Constantin Papageorgiadis & Jari Suominen. Eventually, the synth was once again fully operational and in top condition (well, mostly, still some stuff to do).

Pins – From our orignal 500 matrix patch pins in 1979, only 50 were still in working condition. The one and only Robin Wood from EMS helped us in acquiring a set of 70 brand-new pins; allowing the artists to fully utilise its patching matrix. Custom pins were created with 20kOhm resistor to allow CV input in the range of -5V to 5V and painted blue for a bigger contrast on the matrix.

External equipment – The sequencer never worked on #3030. EMS technicians could not fix it in the 70’s and 80’s; and eventually it was just disconnected. Both an Arturia Keystep Pro and 2 GLISS modules were added to our setup, as well as a custom JONES 24-pin to keyboard cable. In addtion, 8 analog inputs on the CV patch board were connected to an 8-channel CV multicable. Our spring reverb drivers are a bit funky – so in addition to those, we added an EMT140 reverb plate emulation as additional send/return effect. It sounds like the 60’s and really fits the theme. We have an authentic one in our labs, which is normally connected to the Synthi; but wasn’t moved for the occasion.

Rehearsals – During February & March, IPEM opened up the ‘Maker Space’ lab for the 9 artists. They all got a quick introduction on our Synthi 100 and its percularities. Artists were provided with the manual, prints to annotate patches, schematics etc. All artists were allowed to rehearse 2 to 3 days individually. All rehearsals were recorded as an 8-channel STEMs recording.

Time to move – Finally, we moved the synthi to the Wintercircus. Challenging to transport; an unusual sight to behold – but luckily, it’s just nextdoors.

Thanks to

A big thank you to the crews of all partners involved: FTIGent, Concertzaal Wintercircus & UGent (IPEM/ASIL)!

Special thanks to the repair team Orison, Ivan & Johan, as well as Robin Wood for the spare parts.

Whats next

In little over 4 years, in 2029, the Synthi 100 turns 50 years old – so stay tuned for some events leading up to this!