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Knobcon Announces Programming, Guest Of Honor + Vendor List

29 Aug, 2026 Music News & Music Videos

Organizers of Knobcon – “The World’s Only Synthesizer Convention” – have announced the programming of events for this year’s event, being held September 11-13, 2026 at the Hyatt Regency Schaumburg, Chicago.

The annual event features a trade show, lectures, synth DIY, live performances, a Synth Banquet and more.

Knobcon 14 will span three days:

Friday, September 11th will features a welcome reception with live music, video art, and a cash bar.
Saturday, September 12th will offer exhibits and workshops, followed by the synth banquet. Multiple live music and immersive video spaces round out the evening.
Sunday, September 13 brings another day of exhibits, workshops, lectures and more.

Here’s the list of Workshops and Informative Sessions that they’ve shared:

The Basics of Synthesis

Marc Doty @automaticgainsay, the undisputed king of YouTube synthesizer videos provides as comprehensive a primer about synthesis which could be reasonably expected to fit in ninety minutes.

The History and Evolution of Reverberation, Echo, and Delay in Electronic Music

Bill Beith guides an exploration focusing on the history and use of reverberation, echo, and delay in the studio and live performance. This will address acoustic, mechanical and digital devices.

Virtual Insanity – The Development of Yamaha’s VL1 & VP1

Manny Fernandez talks about the creation of two legendary 90’s physical modeling synthesizers. Hear about their shared yet divergent development paths and the art & science of sound design for these groundbreaking synths.

Gear Collection Paralysis

Do you find yourself immobilized with the number of options in your collection of synthesizers or studio gear? How does one decide what gear to use or what to purchase or sell? Jon Sonnenberg will walk us through some reasons which cause this paralysis to occur, as well as offer some tips, suggestions, and solutions to this problem, while keeping a creative and healthy studio relationship.

Introduction to KiCAD

KiCad is a widely used freeware program used to produce printed circuit boards from schematic drawings. In this talk, Chris Nagorka of Kanawha Music and Art will show the steps involved to turn a handwritten schematic into design files ready for production, using KiCad software.

Live AMA with Terry Michaels

Knobcon’s Guest of Honor Terry Michaels joins host Suit & Tie Guy for a live AMA on his legendary circuit work for Electronotes which influenced decades of synth designs.

Build Workshops

Learn the basics of soldering, or take your hobby to the next level!

One of the highlights of Knobcon is the DIY Workshop where you can learn to solder or take your DIY skills to the next level. There are 4 separate workshops scheduled between Saturday and Sunday, each around 2 hours.

Workshops have varying levels of difficulty and you are guaranteed to leave with a working module with the helping guidance of the workshop hosts. Click here to learn more about each workshop and reserve your seat.

Some kits may be available for purchase on-site, however, you can secure your place in the workshop by pre-ordering your kit.

Guest Of Honor

This year, Electronotes circuit designer Terry Michaels will be the guest of honor, featured in a ‘ask me anything’ AMA session and the Synth Banquet.

Terry Michaels, AKA Terry Mikulic, designed the seminal relaxation-core oscillator published in Electronotes 62 by Bernie Hutchins: the highly accurate ENS-76. It is described as “the most influential analog oscillator design of the modern era”.

This circuit became the heart of hundreds of synthesizers, including Gene Stopp’s ASM-1, the Synthesizers.com Q106, and the muSonics Vanilla Oscillators.

His synthesizer work also led Michaels to found laser light show company, Laser Artistry, in 1976. The company operated as one of America’s elite laser show outfits until its final performance on December 31, 1999.

The annual catered banquet will be held Saturday, September 12, 2026 at 7pm in the Sapphire Pavilion. Tickets are available as an add-on to your Knobcon attendance. Seating is limited.

Knobcon Exhibitors:
Dozens of companies will have exhibits at Knobcon, where you can learn about the latest gear, try it out and even buy it.