Richie Hawtin has announced a new “educational electronic music instrument”, the Bullfrog.

Designed in collaboration with Latvia-based boutique hardware synth company Erica Synths, the semi-modular Bullfrog is intended to give users a handle on synthesis, and comprises eight modules including a VCO, noise generator, and two envelope generators.

Sound is generated using a patch cable (with ten cables included) or voice cards (with three swappable cards and three pre-configured cards included). This approach is aimed at shedding light on “the functionality of a subtractive synthesiser, and the principles of sound design with instruments like these”, according to the press release that announced the Bullfrog.

“We believe that the hands-on approach and problem solving that is innate to synthesis on a semi-modular synth like the Bullfrog, contains life lessons that go beyond what we can hear,” says Richie Hawtin. “The Bullfrog encapsulates the foundations of synthesis and is built with an immediate, intuitive design and a unique expandable architecture that grows and expands together with our user’s imagination.”

The Bullfrog will be available via the Erica Synths site and electronic music retailers from the 10th of August. Find out more here. 

Last year, Erica Synths donated revenue to Ukrainian humanitarian aid organisations. 

Meanwhile, Richie Hawtin recently announced a new PhD scholarship in electronic music at the University of Huddersfield, the Richie Hawtin PhD Scholarship in Electronic Music, Cultures and Production, which is due to start in September 2023.

Last year, Hawtin, aka Plastikman, rolled out a limited-edition run of knitwear with Zurich-based fashion house FRENCKENBERGER featuring the Plastikman logo.

Revisit DJ Mag’s 2019 interview with Hawtin here.