Bastl’s Kastle 2 and Citadel Eurorack are now DIY kits, open source platforms

It started with Kastle 2, Bastl Instruments’ cute and clever handheld. It could be a multi-effect, a sample player, a synth. Then Citadel modules came along and did those things in Eurorack. Now, Bastl’s got a surprise: you can buy these as DIY kits, and a big chunk of the Raspberry Pi-powered platforms are being released as open source. Here are all the details.

Bastl Instruments’ budget, handheld boxes are pure magic; new videos

Bastl Instruments’ transformation of the Kastle into the firmware-swappable Kastle 2 line is one of the best things in gear right now. The Wave Bard sample player firmware debuted just before Superbooth, winning over audiences at the packed show with patchable breakbeat mangling charm.

Peter Kirn - May 12, 2025

Laurie Spiegel interview offers a way of thinking about community, imagination

What could community and imagination in music making look like? Laurie Spiegel’s reflections on the 70s and earlier decades, recorded in 2014, offer some clues, even for a very different time today.

Peter Kirn - April 7, 2025

Bastl Instruments Crust drum voice is free in VCV Rack, too

Peter Kirn - November 5, 2024

Eastbloc Dispatches is the podcast for the Eastbloc culture you’re missing

Peter Kirn - January 31, 2024

Bastl’s new Neo Trinity module: 6-channel modulation with recording

Peter Kirn - January 29, 2024

Lost in a queer party, in Local Suicide x The Hidden Cameras music video

Peter Kirn - August 22, 2023

Bastl – Casper Aikido module is a mixer and a quad VCA and a compressor envelope follower

Peter Kirn - February 8, 2023

Here’s Jan Hammer in an 80s power suit rocking his Miami Vice theme on the Fairlight CMI

Peter Kirn - January 22, 2023

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