Say „Cyma Forma" and you think of an instrument that started with looking at sound rather than playing it. This Paris-based company began in an unusual way — its two founders (both named Vincent) started out experimenting with cymatics: running sound through water, sand, and even a laser connected to a speaker, watching vibrations trace visible patterns. That's how they discovered so-called Lissajous figures — shapes that have shown up in nearly every one of their designs since. To control those patterns more precisely, they hacked an old intercom, reverse-engineering the electron-gun inputs of its CRT tube, and wired it up to their own fully analog sound generator — six oscillators, frequency sliders, and a filter. That homemade experiment became the seed of their first real instrument.
Out of that seed grew ALT — a fully analog „soundscape" synthesizer for drones and generative melodies, Kickstarter-funded and available in stores (including Thomann) since late summer 2025. Its five stereo analog voices can be locked to scales (major, minor, pentatonic, Byzantine, chromatic), the signal runs through a filter inspired by the famous Korg MS-20 and a built-in delay with an infinite-feedback-loop „More" function, while an onboard microphone and light sensors let you shape the envelope and control pitch almost like a theremin. In 2026, the company also unveiled RND — a single-button synthesizer designed with French artist Bambounou, generating an entirely random patch from eight synthesis engines every time you press it.
At Wired Tunes we're following Cyma Forma as one of the most interesting young French synth manufacturers — every ALT and RND unit is designed and hand-assembled in their Paris workshop. It's the choice for anyone chasing generative and ambient sound and wanting an instrument that's more than just another clone of the classics.
