Around six weeks ago, I came back from Berlin. For most of the week, I was at Superbooth 2026 - an electronic music industry event where brands come to showcase their new (and not so new) gear to passionate synthheads and the press.

I spent my time following around Knarf from Les Sondiers, a French YouTube channel that talks about electronic music gear, synthesisers and home studio.

Years ago I used to be much more involved in the channel, and during those trips I would be the video guy: filming all interviews, also making a vlog to document our adventures, and sometimes even running the interviews myself. Since then I stepped away, and my goal in May was to just be there, absorb the energy of the event, and film nice things for fun.

During that week, I think I scratched a creative itch and also dipped my toes in the music-industry-and-home-studio-influencer-world again. It was fun. Here are a few things from that trip that I wanted to record and share:

A Lot Has Changed Since I Last Made Videos (Including Me!)

• It felt good to pick up the camera again. After a 3 year pause, I really enjoyed filming creative shots. I thought it would be hard, but I was quickly inspired by capturing the behind the scenes of Knarf’s influencer-slash-musician-slash-journalist tornado days. One minute playing with a drum machine, the next doing an interview of the manufacturer on the spot. I am a bit rusty and now shy when it comes to vlogging, though.
• I liked discovering “new¹” synthesisers. My favourite was the GSMusic Bree6 Keyboard - such a funny and intuitive little synth. I had my hands on an Oberheim OB-X8 (lovely sounds) and a Sequential Fourm (a lot of energy under the hood). But I felt a bit intimidated at times - other people behind you are watching, waiting. I was a bit hesitant. It’s hard to discover complicated new gear for the first time and form an opinion on the spot (which is kind of what viewers on YouTube expect from you).
• Tech has changed so much since 2020 (the last time I covered the NAMM show in California). Today, you can cover an event like Superbooth with only an iPhone and a couple of wireless microphones (the DJI Mic Minis). And when I say “you can”, I mean it looks great and the workflow is pretty much seamless! Back then, we needed a team of three: me filming with a DSLR, a friend handling sound on a Zoom H6, and Knarf running the interviews.
• One immersive best-of video beats 52 individual interviews that are all the same across all YouTubers. In a walkthrough video², you can tell a story and share your first impressions, I think it’s much more engaging for the viewer than yet another talkthrough by a brand representative (the 16th time the poor guy has filmed that exact same video that day!).
• Filming “behind the scenes” is actually more inspiring than I thought. I want to explore that more.

People First, Gear Is An Excuse

• I enjoyed BoBeats’ meetup. On the Saturday, the Swedish Youtuber gathered all the other YouTubers and their communities in the forest around the Korg wagon. We shared a drink and it gave people an opportunity to meet their favourite “content creator” and have a chat with them. It felt great to meet the community, but also meet other YouTubers. It can feel like a lonely adventure.
• Everyone was so approachable. It was a lovely event, which is somewhat big - both in size and importance in the industry - but feels very much like a small-community-vibes festival.
• Meeting members of the Les Sondiers community was fun, and also a bit unsettling! People walked up to me, said “Hey Tom!” and started talking. Half the time I wouldn’t even know their name! But it was lovely and interesting to learn about them and how they engage with their own creativity.
• I was pleasantly surprised by the diversity at Superbooth. I usually mostly run into men between 40 and 55 who are into synthesisers, and during that week in Berlin I got to see people of every gender, every background and every age, all interacting with each other. Passion is infectious and brings people together.

Paying Attention Feels Good

• My 2010 point and shoot camera makes me more present. I brought back from the dead my Sony Cybershot DSC-H55 and wore it on my belt, dad style. Easy to use, with a bit of a grainy nostalgic vibe (I refuse to call that anything from that era vintage!!!). It has no internet, no notifications, no social media.
• The Torso Electronics cushion-slash-electro-set party was cool: the manufacturer invited us to a chill electronic set in an intimate cafe. We all sat on the floor on cushions, taking in the vibes from a couple artists playing on hardware sequencers or modular gear.
• Disconnecting for a week was good. I was busy filming, engaging with people in the real world, touching music instruments, wearing wired headphones.
• I felt energised by being on a mission in a foreign city. It’s a great way to discover a new town (when you’re not spending all your time in the forest - where Superbooth is located!).
• I was curious about Berlin and its story. I liked discovering the city and witnessing bits of history scattered around like the Berlin Wall. But I feel I only scratched the surface. I’d love to see more of the neighbourhoods where actual Berliners spend their time.

Going to Superbooth was exactly what I needed: hitting pause on life stuff, rediscovering some forgotten creative things, and seeing something/someplace/someone new. It was inspiring. I might go back next year.