One of the wackiest synths to come out of this year’s Superbooth is the Cyma Forma RND, which boasts a single large button on its front face and not much else in terms of controls.

But don’t be put off by its somewhat limited user interface; though it’s a synth designed to make you “stop playing, start listening”, the RND is actually surprisingly capable…

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Developed in collaboration with French musical artist Bambounou, the Cyma Forma RND has a singular button, but there’s loads going on behind the scenes.

The RND is built around eight different synthesis engines: subtractive, FM, acid, noise, speech, Karplus-Strong, supersaw and additive. With each push of the button, four of these are layered and run their own unique sequence.

Each time the centre button is pressed, each of these parameters is randomised. “Press again. It’s gone, forever. Something new exists in its place,” says Cyma Forma.

The synth also comes with five filter types plus a reverb effect. It’s not entirely clear how the user is supposed to play with these, but the unit has a surprisingly comprehensive I/O setup – with four-track audio output over USB-C, four-channel MIDI in and out, 9 MIDI modes, MIDI clock in and out, analogue sync in and out, and a stereo mix output – so we’d imagine the answer lies there.

Also a benefit of the above I/O is while the synth is billed as ‘press once, previous sound gone forever’, you can record any sound into a DAW while you have it.

The number of parameter combinations resulting from the eight synth engines isn’t quite infinite, but for all intents and purposes, it’s close, with over four billion sounds available…

Availability & pricing

The Cyma Forma RND is available to preorder now, priced at $150 / £111. Shipping is expected in late June. You can also buy a flex case for an additional $66.

The RND will be available to check out at Berlin’s Superbooth this week, at booth Z245.

Learn more at Cyma Forma.

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