Thanks to a perfect storm of German federal administrative blunders, UK passport renewals, and the extortionately priced logistics of moving my life and studio from Berlin to London, 2026 is shaping up to be the first Superbooth I will miss in nearly a decade.
So it was with some satisfaction that I learned of the London Synth & Pedal Expo 2026 taking place in Hackney Wick on March 21 and 22. And since the very last music production industry event I attended in London before moving to Berlin in 2016 was a modular synth expo in Hackney Wick, it felt like a nice bookend to my time in Germany.
A lot has changed in that fateful decade, for both the world and our industry, so I‘m looking at this event in that context, not least because in a world of AI-generated content, the only mildly competitive thing I have left to offer editors is my experience and perspective.
From classic modular to modern classics, the London Synth Expo offered up a stack of hands-on synthesising and sequencing goodness for all the family to play with.
Hosted and organised by Delicious Audio Events, KMR Audio, and the SEO-friendlyly-named guitarguitar, the event was held in No. 90, a large bar and event facility.
I did a bit of a double-take when I saw this. I know the space, and I know how much interest in synth hardware has surged since my last London event, so I wasn’t surprised when the organisers told me Saturday was sold out and asked me to bring my freeloading ass along late in the afternoon (phrased more politely, of course).
And they weren’t kidding. I arrived at 3.30 pm, and it was still rammed, despite this being the first year to charge a (very reasonable) entrance fee.
The event was split into two distinct rooms: one for pedals, one for everything from synths and drum machines to modular toys and esoteric wireless MIDI controllers. And it’s pretty extraordinary how much they managed to pack in – nearly 50 different manufacturers in the synth space alone, from industry standards like Arturia, Moog, and Korg to synth-show favourites like Melbourne Instruments, 1010 Music, and Dreadbox.
The intimate, windowless nature produced a buzz and excitement you struggle to get in larger, brighter rooms. Anybody who’s been to Superbooth, for example, knows that the hype is always in the cramped smaller tents.
This event felt more like walking into a record fair than a trade show, which is not a bad thing.
The best thing, though, was the chance to see some exhibitors you won’t find in the grounds of FEZ-Berlin this year. For example, the highlight of the show for me was unquestionably the TMA1 from The Monk Project.
This engaging generative sequencer offers up over 20 different sequencer models. Hook it up to a MIDI keyboard, and you can play 16 channels of expressive, never-repeating live jams ranging from club banger to Vangelis-style score.
They cover a range of styles and concepts. Cool-but-practical Drummer and Amen for percussive duties. Bassline, Acid, and Fingerpicking for basslines, acid, and six-string guitar-style. Trendy modern classics like Euclidean and Step. And some truly mind-boggling options like Birds, TicTacToe, and Turing, all of which sho