As part of the series of live sessions we hosted at the end of 2025, we welcomed Toni Gutiérrez and Carlo Juranccelli for a special performance; a meeting built around improvisation, analog synthesis, and attentive listening. At the time, without knowing it, this would become the debut of their duo project, Free Norman.
Free Norman is focused on sonic exploration through analog and modular synthesizers. Their practice unfolds in real time, working with sequencers, drum machines, live processing, and modular systems that turn each performance into a unique, unrepeatable piece.
For this set, Free Norman arrived at the Altell of Teatre Lliure with an open and unrestricted approach. Rather than performing a fixed repertoire, the duo built an open sonic drift, where decisions emerged during the performance itself. Low-frequency drones, mechanical micro-pulses, and granular layers appeared and slowly transformed, creating a listening space that invited time to slow down and attention to focus on every evolving detail.
The project brings together two complementary trajectories. Antonus Synths, founder of Antonus Synths, has spent years dedicated to the design, construction, and restoration of analog synthesizers. His work around the legacy of the ARP 2600 has made him a reference within the international analog synthesis community. In Free Norman, he contributes the timbral architecture of the project: drones, bass foundations, textural layers, and hardware processing that serve as the basis for improvisation.
Alongside him, Carlo Juranccelli works from a perspective closer to music production, using synthesizers, samplers, and drum machines to develop dark, textural rhythmic patterns. His input introduces movement, tension, and direction within a language that remains open to accident and continuous discovery.
The philosophy behind Free Norman naturally aligns with spaces like South Plug Sessions: contexts where listening is central and technology functions as an expressive tool rather than a spectacle. This same approach has led the project to appear in events dedicated to synthesis and sonic experimentation, including collaborations with Antonus and participation in Sónar+D, where they are performing again this year.
Friday, June 19th
Sónar+D | ScenarioPati+D | 17:30 – 18:15
Sónar+D | ScenarioPati+D | 19:00 – 19:45