What’s new in the DIY world of Music Thing’s Workshop System

It’s a Very Workshop System Jamuary. Music Thing’s patchable music lab-in-a-lunchbox has proved that small-batch personal hardware can attract a select, dedicated community sharing great stuff with one another. Let’s catch up with what’s been happening in that magical village of synth wonder in the past year. Don’t forget, the ideas and code here are all open — meaning this could inspire more.

Inside Kyiv’s hackerspace, a growing DIY synth and experimental noise scene

Despite bombing, drone attacks, and sleepless nights, Kyiv continues to support a burgeoning experimentalism in sound, driven by an appetite for noise and engineering. And it’s bringing more people into that community. Here’s a look inside.

Peter Kirn - October 16, 2025

A 1970s DIY modular from Elektor Magazine just got reborn

Erica Synths is reimagining a modular synth you’ve probably never heard of. In the late 1970s, Dutch publication Elektor Magazine put out something it called the Elektor Formant as a series of DIY kits. That modular system is getting a full reimagining and reboot from Erica Synths.

Peter Kirn - August 14, 2025

MD1: classic drum machine kits for Ableton Move, Note, and more

Peter Kirn - May 28, 2025

Befaco’s new, updated modules in hardware and free for VCV Rack

Peter Kirn - March 10, 2025

This is a bound book you can build into a complete modular system

Peter Kirn - December 17, 2024

NTS-3 is kaoss pad as kit, complete with SDK – plus updated NTS-1

Peter Kirn - January 19, 2024

Dreadbox’s new 200€ Dysmetria kit is an insane amount of analog groove fun

Peter Kirn - May 16, 2022

Superbooth Berlin preview: why the May edition will be an essential music culture event

Peter Kirn - May 3, 2022

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