The best of show at Superbooth 2026 is an easy pick. Bastl Kalimba, with its combination of acoustic and physical interaction with fluid digital synthesis and sensing, is a triumph of instrument design. Czech-based Václav Peloušek, also known by his artist name Toyota Vangelis (with the mystic automaker merch to match), is really onto something here with his team at Bastl. It’s not so much that instrument design is back as some of the industry has strayed from those core ideas. There’s no reason electronic musical instruments need to lack physical interaction, or to erase or totally flatten tradition. The truth is, just as we’re finding new ways to riff on the keyboard and keyboard instruments, there are basically endless possibilities for what we can invent here. And people are getting the message. As I write this, the Kickstarter campaign is trucking toward three-quarters of a million euros — it had blown past the original goal by ten times before Superbooth even wrapped.…