Check out this peculiar-looking string synth from This Is Not Rocket Science and Error Instruments

Superbooth 2026: This Is Not Rocket Science and Error Instruments have teamed up to tease SmartLab, a very cool and quirky six-voice string synth instrument.

A standalone instrument rather than a module, SmartLab combines concepts from the two companies’ previous works, such as its collaborative White Rabbit module. It is currently in its prototype phase, with a planned release for July/August this year.

SmartLab features advanced granular synthesis alongside more than 36 physical modelling engines, distributed across two sound engines. It has an expressive touch interface including motion recording, allowing users to capture gestures and replay them as evolving modulation, similar to a looper, but for movement and sound shaping.

SmartLab also functions as a sound processor, offering over 15 experimental effects including delays and textures inspired by organic, fluid soundscapes, which Error Instruments describes as “somewhere between an ambient machine and the playful unpredictability of a bubble-based synthesiser in the spirit of Rob Hordijk”.

Further key features include external LFO input and audio input support and a built-in microphone. The two companies are planning to start shipping SmartLab in June with a price of around €600, according to Gear News.

Hear it in-play below:

A number of other unusual synths have landed at this year’s Superbooth event, including the Cyma Forma RND, which has just a single large button on its front face and not much else in terms of controls, but packs in eight different synthesis engines.

Bastl Instruments has also unveiled the Kalimba, a Kalimba-inspired synth combining a familiar interface with digital synthesis, and producer Richie Hawtin and Erica Synths’ long-awaited Bullfrog Drums is finally here. The drum machine was teased back in 2024, and is not just for making beats, but for teaching people how to program and sample them too.

Head over to the Error Instruments website to learn more about SmartLab. 

Rachel is a DIY musician who began learning guitar and keyboard from her bedroom at 14. She has written news and features for MusicTech since 2022, and also has bylines across Kerrang!, Guitar.com, and The Forty-Five. Though a lover of heavy music, her guilty pleasure is 2000s pop.