JOE WALLACE: I’m Joe Wallace for Gearwire.Com on the floor of Musikmesse in Frankfurt. I’m here with Penko from Schneiders Buero. Tell me a little bit about the modular synth area, and you are responsible for helping put all this together.

PENKO: Yes. We are here in Europe, the only one analog gear seller, and we have here many modular systems. Since years -- Sorry -- Nowadays, there are more modular systems than ever, and for example here is my favorite one from Mr. Cwejman from Sweden. It’s a high-end studio quality modular system, very intelligent and it’s developed for nowadays. All the experience from the history is included and further more. That’s unbelievable.

JOE WALLACE: Now, your firm sells all of this equipment that we see in the modular area.

PENKO: Yes. Here we are the Super Booth and Superbooth.com, and we sell all-analog gear you see here. It’s modular systems, drums, synths, everything that you touch and pluck and without displays and without menu structure and without computer if possible.

JOE WALLACE: Now, how does it feel to have enough interest to keep modular systems alive and the people still want to use things that don’t have computers in them?

PENKO: That is the new tendency because the people are fed up to sit in front of a computer with a mouse and getting aches in the back, and so they want to make with the whole body music, and it’s the best with a modular system because you always pluck something and go around, and so you move and so the whole body can transport your ideas in the music, and they come back to this. Of course, a computer is necessary because we didn’t such a good tape recorder in the history like the computer, but for me it this the only job it has to do at the moment, and for fun and making music, I need something knobs which I can touch.

JOE WALLACE: Now, why is this your favorite system?

PENKO: You mean the Cwejman?

JOE WALLACE: Yes.

PENKO: The Cwejman is my favorite system because it’s high integrated, on the point synthesizer modules which are very intelligent. You can compare very fast between different positions and the high quality, it’s studio quality. You don’t hear signal to noise, nothing, and that’s never been before. That’s the reason, and it’s very, in a way, neutral, we say in Germany because it can sound like a vintage if you know how to make the knobs, and it can sound like totally modern granular synthesis thing which you say, everybody say, “Oh, which computer do you use? Which software?” and then you can say, “No. I use a Cwejman SI -- S1,” sorry.

JOE WALLACE: We’re in the modular synthesizer area of Musikmesse here in Frankfurt. I’m Joe Wallace for Gearwire.Com.