Rob Hordijk's Benjolin has inspired countless gear designers, but Glou-Glou took that inspiration and pushed it into genuinely new territory with the Bien Jolie, a desktop semi-modular synth that refuses to stay in one lane.
This is a three-oscillator analog synthesizer built around subtractive synthesis, but calling it just that undersells what's happening here. The Bien Jolie combines a resonant lowpass filter with three voltage-controlled oscillators and an internal pattern generator called the Wrangler, which lets you create evolving sequences and modulation patterns without needing external gear. The real magic is in how it blurs the line between instrument and effects processor: you can feed external audio through it and process that sound via the filters and oscillators, turning it into a weird, chaotic effects unit with genuine character. Built-in envelope followers and VCAs give it the ability to act as an auto-filter or unconventional compressor, while classic effects like fuzz, tremolo, envelope filter, and octave down are baked in. It syncs via analog clock or MIDI, and there's a passive expression pedal input for real-time control, plus CV/Gate connectivity for deeper modular integration.
The Bien Jolie has struck a chord with experimentalists and sound designers who appreciate its willingness to embrace controlled chaos. Some users note it rewards deep exploration and patching over quick, predictable results, which is exactly the point—this is a tool that encourages you to get weird with it. The compact desktop format and hands-on control layout make it approachable for tweaking, even if the sonic possibilities can feel overwhelming at first.
