The Leicester Synthi 100

Project	The Leicester Synthi 100
Team	Paul Mazzitelli, Mark Towers, Sean Clark
Status	Active
Funders	National Lottery Heritage Fund
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Introduction

The Leicester Synthi 100 was acquired in 2018 by Krafthaus Arts CIC in Leicester through a grant awarded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Although not fully functional and in need of internal restoration, it is largely complete and in surprisingly good physical condition.

• The history of the Leicester Synthi 100

Project goals

Our primary goal for this project is to return The Leicester Synthi 100 to an operational state and use it as the centrepiece of our R10 Electronic Media Studio in Leicester. It will be a unique resource for education and music creation, and, to the best of our knowledge, will be the only Synthi 100 available for regular use by musicians and the general public.

Condition Survey

In 2025, Krafthaus Arts CIC was successful in obtaining further funding from National Lottery Heritage Fund to undertake a comprehensive condition survey of The Leicester Synthi 100 in order to produce a detailed restoration plan. This took place in April 2025, and we are happy to report that the survey was generally positive. The next step will be to obtain additional support to undertake the repairs and bring The Leicester Synthi 100 back to life.

• The Leicester Synthi 100 Condition Survey (April 2025)

Photograph Gallery

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Research Interviews

We have been conducting research into Electronic Media Studios (EMS), their products and, in particular, the Synthi 100. An important part of this research is a series of interviews with EMS experts, restorers, researchers and users of the Synthi 100. Interview questions we focussed on gaining insights into the history of EMS and the importance of the Synthi 100 and the value of our restoration project. So far, we have interviewed:

• Simon Emmerson
• James Gardner
• Christopher King
• Frances Morgan
• Nicola Sutcliffe
• Marcus West

This work is ongoing, and we will be adding more people to the list as our community expands. There will be a draft research report when the next phase of interviews has taken place.