‘You can try weirder and weirder things’: once-mocked synthesisers enjoy new golden era

Formerly reviled music technology is more popular than ever as designers experiment for a growing group of enthusiasts

Queen refused to use them. The Musicians' Union tried to ban them. Then computers overtook them. Synthesisers have been mocked, despised and discarded throughout their history, yet somehow they are entering a new golden era.

A new wave of synth makers has emerged, creating machines that are more ambitious and often quirkier than their bleep-making predecessors, feeding the appetites of an expanding pool of enthusiasts.