Sound Workshop

Expressive Synthesizer

We partnered with Sound Workshop to design the Flexur T2, a standalone Trautonium-inspired synthesizer built for expressive, immediately playable melodies. Most electronic instruments ask musicians to learn them before they can play them. The Flexur T2 inverts that with two floating touch bars giving players continuous, gestural control, paired with a knob-per-function synthesizer that puts every parameter within reach. The result is an instrument that rewards curiosity from the first note.

Sound Workshop came to The Workshop with a working prototype and a clear vision: a synth as immediate and expressive as an acoustic instrument. Over the program we worked across industrial design, brand strategy and identity, and the go-to-market story, shaping the pitch that carried it to investors.

Designed for intuitive play

‍Flexur is made to be played the moment you pick it up. Because the form is both familiar and novel, the interaction modes need to be easily understood by both the novice instrumentalist and experienced musician. Warm accent colors, varied knob profiles, and labeled groupings give every control its own shape and place, so after a few sessions your hands know where to go.

From prototype to instrument

‍Sound Workshop came to us with a working prototype and a clear vision: an expressive synthesizer that felt as immediate as an acoustic instrument. We worked to translate that intent into a resolved physical form with considered proportions, warm material choices, and a control layout refined through iteration.

The touch bar is the interaction

‍Most synths translate keypresses into sound. The Flexur T2 translates gesture. Two floating touch bars run the length of the instrument — one for pitch, one for volume — letting players bend, swell, and shape notes continuously, the way a violinist draws a bow. It's a fundamentally different relationship between hand and sound.

Form follows performance

‍The angled profile isn't just aesthetic preference, but ergonomic intent. The Flexur T2 sits at a height and angle that keeps wrists relaxed during extended play, with the touch bars positioned naturally at the front edge where hands rest. A compact footprint means it fits on any desk, and in any bag.