Love Hultén’s latest custom synth build looks like something Darth Vader would commission

“Something really dark and retro sci-fi” is what Hultén says his client wanted, and the Nostrx2 synth is precisely that. Designed keeping the interiors of the USCSS Nostromo spaceship from the 1979 Alien movie in mind, The Nostrx2 is built around the Syntrx2 from Erica Synths, albeit with a darker vibe. The custom build (which took a total of 12 weeks to put together) also features a modified LVX Meris modular delay system, an Analog Heat distortion filter, an all-black Arturia KeySteo 32-key MIDI Controller, and a monitor displaying glitchy visuals as you play from Critter & Guitari.

Designer: Love Hultén

It’s safe to say that Hultén’s turned custom synth-building into an art-form, creating some incredibly elaborate music-making art installations – some of them even with their own NFT visualizer. This particular build for a mystery client may be his darkest build yet, given that the Swedish audiovisual artist does tend to inject a sense of fun and whimsy into his creations.

The black and red colorway, combined with the boxy cabinets definitely gives the overall design a major Vader vibe, with elements looking almost like the panel on Vader’s chest. Combine that with the smoke and fog around the cabinet and it genuinely looks like the kind of synth you’d find on the Death Star!

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Love Hultén’s latest modular synthesizer folds up and fits inside a slim wooden suitcase




Known for his quirky gadgets and oddly pleasing visual style, independent tinkerer and creator Love Hultén is back with his latest creation – a custom modular synth that fits entirely inside a wooden suitcase… legs, cables, and all.

Titled the EC1, the synth was commissioned by songwriter and producer Eren Cannata, and is a rather aesthetic mashup of a Roland JU-06A synth, the Cyclone Analogic TT-78 Beat Bot drum machine, the T-Rex Replicator tape delay, and the Boss Waza Dimension-C chorus pedal. Combined together like a sort of funky Frankenstein’s monster, the modules fit perfectly into the wooden housing designed by Hultén. With a two-part design, the EC1 opens apart into the keys at the bottom and the modules on top. It even comes with the steel legs tucked away inside the synth that let you set it up so you’re ready to jam in mere minutes. If you want to watch the EC1 in action, Hultén even takes it out for a spin in the video above!

Love Hultén EC1 Modular Synth

Love Hultén EC1 Modular Synth

Another one of Hultén’s oddly pleasing creations, the EC1 comes with an earthy color palette of an olive green panel and keys along with wooden knobs encased in a wooden cabinet that has the ability to fold down into a flat-pack case. The flat-pack synth is about as easy to assemble as a moderately challenging IKEA piece and comes with everything you’d need from legs to supports, and even the bolts you need to hold everything in place.

Love Hultén EC1 Modular Synth

Love Hultén EC1 Modular Synth

Love Hultén EC1 Modular Synth

Once assembled, the EC1 comes to life after you’ve plugged the decidedly retro coiled cables into the modules. The synth has its own set of stereo speakers built-in, and what looks like a strange glowing gemstone encased behind a glass window that definitely gives the synth a wonderfully steampunk aesthetic! Click here to check out more of Hultén’s work!

Designer: Love Hultén

The post Love Hultén’s latest modular synthesizer folds up and fits inside a slim wooden suitcase first appeared on Yanko Design.

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