This single-button synthesizer might be the craziest concept to emerge from Superbooth 2026.]

SUPERBOOTH 2026: We last heard from boutique synth-makers Cyma Forma back in 2024, when the Parisian tinkerers unveiled ALT, a quirky analogue “soundscape synthesizer” with a Synthi-style pin matrix and patch-modulating light sensors.

Just in time for Superbooth, Cyma Forma has returned with its second instrument, another three-letter marvel that takes an even more innovative approach to sound design: RND (pronounced “Random”).

Undoubtedly the most minimalist synth we’ve ever come across, RND is a compact box with an interface made up of a single button. That’s it. No keys, no knobs, no faders, and no display, just one button that generates a randomized musical idea with every press.

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(Image credit: Cyma Forma)

Hit the button and all of RND’s parameters across every feature are assigned weighted random values. Once you’ve hit it a second time, you erase the current idea and create a new one, and those sounds are gone forever. According to Cyma Forma, the synth is designed to provide an “infinite source of sounds”, trading “control for inspiration” with an ethos based on a single fundamental idea: “stop playing, start listening”.

Designed in collaboration with French producer and DJ Bambounou and Nick Donaldson of Infrasonic Audio, RND is a digital synth equipped with eight distinct sound engines, covering a variety of synthesis types, including subtractive, FM, additive, noise, karplus-strong, supersaw, speech and “acid” (presumably a TB-303 emulation) along with five styles of filter and a reverb effect.

Each randomly generated idea is made up of four instrument tracks populated with a unique patch, and each track gets its own sequence. Sequences are also randomly generated using Euclidean rhythms and a randomly selected scale and time signature, but you can also sequence RND’s synth engines via 4-channel MIDI over USB.

rnd

(Image credit: Cyma Forma)

RND’s USB-C connection can also handle MIDI out, MIDI clock in/out, and multi-channel audio output, so you’re able to integrate with a broader set-up and record RND’s four tracks individually to mix elsewhere. You also get 3.5mm jacks for analogue sync in/out and a stereo mix output.

RND is a radical concept, and one that’s sure to divide audiences with its extreme simplicity – but we’ve got one-knob plugins, so why not a one-button synth?

Though most electronic musicians relish the sound design process and value the ability to tweak patches to their heart’s content, there’s certainly a case to be made that limitations can breed creativity, and RND seems to be pushing this idea as far as it can possibly go, offering an instant bolt of inspiration for the spontaneous music-maker that wants fresh ideas served up fast.

“RND is an inspiration machine,” reads a statement from Cyma Forma. “There are 4.29 billion random seeds, meaning 4.29 billion different musical ideas. If you want to make music but don’t know where to start, or if you’re stuck in the middle of a track of yours, or if you just want to space out, just press the button. You’ll definitely find something interesting.”