Buchla and Friends 2025: Genki Showcased Katla, a new hybrid polysynth with five oscillators inspired by Iceland’s subglacial volcano.
Last November, Katla emerged online. This new synth by Genki Instruments, the creators of the Wave MIDI ring and other products, draws inspiration from Katla, Iceland’s largest volcano, manifesting themes of chaos and nature. Each unit will feature unique side panels made of lava rock.
In November, information about the synth’s features was limited, requiring you to examine the interface to discern each functionality. Last weekend, the Genki team presented Katla for the first time at Buchla and Friends 2025.
Katla
The information about the new Genki Katla is still patchy and incomplete. However, the developers have shared more about the project.
Katla is a five-voice polyphonic synth inspired by paraphonic synths. Each voice has its own independent filter, amp, mod envelope, and LFO. The synth also has unique voice modes, including unison and round-robin, which allow users to cycle through the oscillators.
At Buchla and Friends 2025, the devs said the oscillators are digital, but they are unsure if they will make them analog. Each oscillator offers waveform selection and octave selection. Filter and the stereo distortion part will, however, be all-analog.
Genki Katla will also host a stereo reverb processor. The Katla parameters, which add tape-like movements to each voice, including the oscillator and filter, are intriguing. Another interesting feature is the ability to mix each voice LFO and to add spread to the modulation.
The synth also offers preset storage, which is cleverly implemented. You have traditional presets for the entire engine and for each row, which means you can save your oscillator or modulation settings individually.
Sonicstate has released a video of the Katala prototype where you can hear the synth in action. There is still a lot of work to do. Once that is done, we can say more about the overhaul synth and sonic quality.
Article From November 12, 2024
Synthesizers don’t grow out of the ground like trees. They are created by talented developers who are inspired by certain things. Many of them find their inspiration in past instruments or old/new technologies.
Genki, a company from Iceland known for its Wave Ring, has now developed a new Synthesizer. The developers found inspiration not in classic synths like the Minimoog but in Iceland’s subglacial volcano.
Genki Katla
Katla is a new paraphonic Synthesizer from Iceland. According to the Genki developers, it uses a “digilog” engine, i.e., digital and analog, better known as a hybrid. Important note: the website doesn’t yet provide much information about synth. There are, however, pictures that show the user interface.
The interface shows four oscillators with controls over the level and octave but no controls for the oscillators. Next to this, it has buttons for the sub-oscillator. There is also a noise generator and a wave folder.
You can also see several play modes for the synth on the interface, including mono, duophonic/paraphonic, and quad. Plus, there are round-robin and unison modes.
Then, the Genki Katla filter section is analog and features both resonant lowpass and highpass settings with modulation. Interestingly, the lowpass filter has the biggest knob of the synth and offers selectable WASP and MS-20 modes. From here, the signal goes into a multi-FX section consisting of a chorus, an overdrive, and a real spring reverb.
The position of the spring reverb is wild. The appropriate springs are attached to the front panel, which invites you to interact with them.
Effects & Modulation
Modulation is also onboard. Genki Katla has two envelopes, one for the amp and another freely routable to the filter, pitch, or FX. Further, it includes a multi-wave LFO with rate control and multiple targets (pitch, LPF…) and a sample & hold option.
Aftertouch is also onboard, which is routable to the oscillator detune, lowpass filter, and a mysterious Katla parameter. Yes, Genki Katala has built-in patch storage. The synth does not have a screen but many buttons on the left to recall patches.
There is currently no sound demo of the Katala. Genki describes the sound as follows:
“KATLA’s digilog sound engine mimics the crackling of lava, rumble of seismic activity, and eerie silence of the glacier above.
First Impression
At first glance, it is a very wild, unusual hybrid synth. I can’t say much about the synth now, as there are no sound demos. I’m pretty sure it’s a very niche and premium synth for a little target group. Check the price tag, and you will understand it.
Genki Katla is now available for pre-order for 4990€, and batches are limited to 30 units.
More information here: Genki