Roland has teamed up with American fashion brand Supreme on special editions of two instruments from its Boutique line, the JU-06A synthesizer and TR-08 drum machine.
The Supreme-branded versions of Roland’s Boutique synth and drum machine form part of the brand’s Spring/Summer collection for 2024.
Both devices arrive in a new white colourway, and the JU-06A (paired with the K25m optional keyboard) has the Supreme logo emblazoned across its control panel, which may threatens to make the synth difficult to use, in our opinion. The TR-08 features a more reasonably-sized logo in its top-right corner.
Roland’s Boutique range aims to capture the spirit of historic instruments from the company’s history in a modern and affordable package. In terms of features, these units are the same as the originals. The JU-06A is inspired by the Juno-106 and Juno-60, sought-after vintage synths manufactured by Roland in the ’80s, while the TR-08 is modelled on the TR-808 drum machine.
Supreme is a well-known brand in the world of streetwear; the company makes accessories and skateboards as well as clothing, and regularly collaborates with other brands on crossover products such as the special edition Boutiques.
While Roland hasn’t officially confirmed the collaboration, the products are visible on Supreme website as part of its Spring/Summer 2024 collection. Supreme say that the Spring/Summer 2024 collection goes on sale on Thursday 15th February, 17th in Japan & South Korea. We’ve no word on pricing, and as is the case with all Supreme products, availability will be limited.
This isn’t the first time Roland’s released special versions of its products in partnership with well-known tastemakers; last year, the manufacturer put out a limited edition SP-404 MKII in collaboration with LA-based record label Stones Throw.
Today, musician Andrew Huang shared several images of a new synthesizer from Moog Music.
There has not been an official announcement on the new Moog synth yet, but it appears that this is an ‘official leak’ or sneak preview, via Huang.
“Thanks, Moog Music, for giving me some early play time with it. Excited to share more when it launches,” notes Huang, adding, “I think people are gonna flip over this!”
The synth appears to be a new polyphonic synthesizer. It features a ‘Unison’ mode, which is used to create rich monophonic leads, by using multiple voices to play a single note.
The new Moog keyboard also features a Chord mode feature, as show in in the image below:
This will be the first new Moog synth hardware since their acquisition by InMusic, 8 months ago. Based on the complexity of the instrument, though, this was in the works well before InMusic took over.
There have been rumors over the last year about two possible new synths from Moog: the Moog Mirror and the Moog Labrynth. Both are names that the company has trademarked or is in the process of trademarking. Speculation about the Mirror has been that it would use software to ‘mirror’ earlier hardware products, and that the Labrynth would be a new synth in the Taurus family.
Check out the images and share your thoughts on the new Moog keyboard in the comments!
Erica Synths shared this video demo of their version of the Hexinverter Électronique Mutant Machine percussion module for Eurorack systems.
The Hexinverter Électronique Mutant Machine began as a quest to create a rich-sounding Eurorack snare drum synthesis module to complement the existing Mutant Drums. The project quickly became too large and costly to justify the module being capable only of snare drum sounds. So, the decision was made to learn from the architecture of the TR-909’s snare and kick circuits, and to develop a module capable of generating multiple forms of analog percussion, and various other effects.
The Machine has its roots in classic analog percussion synthesis. The signals and waveforms are all generated by discrete components and ICs.
Hexinverter Électronique announced in 2022 that it would be shutting down, because global supply chain issues had made it impossible for them to manufacture and sell enough modules to be viable. Since then, Erica Synths has announced a collaboration with them to make Hexinverter designs available again.
Redesigned by Erica Synths, in collaboration with Hexinverter Electronique, the module features a manual trigger button.
The Erica Synths Hexinverter Électronique Mutant Machine is available now for € 320.00.
