Fareweill, Mr. Hordijk

trotz · Joined: Aug 06, 2007 Posts: 83 Location: mallorca

I am deeply saddened to announce that my friend and mentor, Robert Ernst Hordjik, passed away earlier today. He was an important part of my life and I am sure also of many others here. He will be greatly missed.

I first met him in the Chateau Sonore event he organized in Belgium, in July 2007. There, lots of similar souls shared our passion for electronic music and electronic instruments. There was a lot of G2 and modular talk, but also performances, instrument demos, concerts, rehearsals... That's when I first heard of the Blippoo, one of his first creations that made him famous.

A few years later he started his work on the modular system that has his name. I felt so grateful for his initiative in Belgium that I couldn't help but planning a follow-up, this time in Mallorca. This time, our meeting had a lot less participants but it was an even better opportunity to make friendships that will last for a lifetime. I believe that in this meeting, in a trip we made to the north coast of the island, between the mountains of the Serra de Tramontana and the Mediterranean Sea, is when Rob decided that he wanted to retire to Mallorca. I can't blame him. It was the middle of January and we were having a pic-nic on the side of a curvy road facing the sea and enjoying what we natives call "the little summer" which is something that happens from time to time in mid-winter when the sea suddenly calms and temperatures rise up to 20 degrees Celsius.

We had a Benjolin workshop, we talked a lot about his design philosophy, and I was happy to record the first series of videos about his modular System. The ones you can find in my Youtube channel. After that series of videos I asked him to build a modular for me and soon enough he came back to Mallorca to deliver it in person.

During this visits I introduced him to Biyi and they automatically made a great connection. Biyi went a few times to The Hague to assist him in the building of Blippoos and modular systems. He even built his own under Rob's supervision. We all three had the idea to start a company in Mallorca where Rob would make the designs, Biyi build the stuff and I would take care of the business side of things. It was all set-up. As soon as his obligations in the Netherlands were fulfilled he would come to Mallorca. The moment arrived but almost at the same time his illness and COVID made things extra difficult.

In one of our talks he said to me that the Benjolin, the Blippoo and the Modular System were his dearest creations and that he was honored to have made so many people happy with them. Let's honor his memory by using them and making the most beautiful sound imaginable.

Farewell, my friend. I love you.

blue hell · Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2022 1:15 pm Post subject:

Thanks for posting that Pedro.

This is very sad to hear, I had heard about Rob's illness but did not realize him to be that ill.

Apart from the Chateau sonore and later activities mentioned by pedro, Rob had been a very active member of the Nord Modular scene - which is how I (and many others) got to know him.

His Nord tutorials are famous, and he was involved in advising Clavia on the Nord Modular G2 synth design.

His interrest in all this was sound, new sound, good sound.

May you make great sounds for ever Rob.

seraph · Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2022 1:52 pm Post subject:

I am very saddened by the news of his departure.
I met him at Chateau Sonore. Once he came to Florence, Italy with Amy X Neuburg and we had dinner together. I had also entertained the idea to organize some of his workshops here but that did not happen.
A real gentleman. I am happy to have met him!

Lenny · Joined: Sep 06, 2022 Posts: 1 Location: Seattle, WA

I never got the chance to meet him, but thoroughly enjoyed working on the Benjolin V2 with him. I was still holding out hope to work on another product. It saddens me to realize we don't get to do that again. He was so opinionated but also willing to hear me out and was always working to make things better. Truly a blast to design with him. I hope he found some joy on Mallorca and that his last days were filled with some smiles.

RIP Rob!

mosc · Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2022 9:31 pm Post subject:

This is devastating.

Goodbye to a great friend.

Rob was brilliant, kind, generous, irreverent, a perfectionist, very cool, and very funny. He would often just start explaining very clever patches and circuits in great detail, and with immense satisfaction. He had wry smile and a gleam in his eye. He made you feel that everything was going to be just right.

Rob came to the first electro-music festival in Philadelphia back in 2005 and another later in New York. He also helped organize electro-music festivals in Den Hague, a castle in Belgium, Mallorca, and maybe others. He had a way of bringing people together.

Rob shared his genius in many posts here on our forum. Several of his inventions are documented here. His Nord Modular patches are an advanced education in the art and science of patching. Our hosting these posts will serve as a memorial to him.

Rob's instruments taught us that there is emergent beauty and order in chaos. Some of his boxes were inexpensive, funky and with what seems a mind of their own. Wonderful. On the other hand, he made some of the finest analog circuits I've ever seen - stable and accurate. Starting out as a goldsmith, a jeweler, his synthesizers were works of art. He personally made everything, including the circuit boards and the racks that held the modules. I asked him once why not make the nuts and bolts himself. He said he had considered it.

Indeed, an artist, a force.

Well, Rob is gone,
Carry on Rob...

Posted below is a photo taken at the first electro-music festival in 2005. Left to right: Joker Nise, Howard Moscovitz, Jan Punter, and Rob Hordijk.

Posted Image, might have been reduced in size. Click Image to view fullscreen.

Posted Image, might have been reduced in size. Click Image to view fullscreen.

klangumsetzer · Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2022 3:42 am Post subject:

That is very sad news.
For all of you who knew Rob as a friend, I am sorry for your loss.

Through Rob's tutorials I learnt a lot about synthesis: an invaluable resource indeed.

A few years ago I ordered a modular system from him and had a very pleasant phone conversation about electronic music and synthesis.
The idea was to meet Rob in the Netherlands when collecting the system, but that opportunity is now gone.

Thank you for your contributions, Rob.

Tim Kleinert · Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2022 5:00 am Post subject:

Absolutely gutted. Crying or Very sad

I learned so much from him, not only synthesis, patching and DSP, but also psychoacoustics.

Also, the G2 was the initial spark, and also the platform, that catapulted me from somebody who barely could wrap his head around the concept of a DC offset Laughing

to somebody who cooks up his own plugins in Reaktor or JSFX these days. And to quote the man himself: "There's a lot of Rob in the G2."

Thanks for everything, Rob. You'll never be forgotten here.

cebec · Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2022 8:33 am Post subject:

Thank you, Rob, for sharing your gifts with the world! It was an honor to be able to meet you and hear you speak at e-m 2005.

You and the original NM list members were a huge part of the welcoming feeling of community that drew me in. I'll always remember our interactions here fondly.

Sending my condolences to all who were close.

Here's a picture he shared with us of a gift he received in 2005 for his birthday. I always loved this shot.

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Jack_Hertz · Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2022 10:43 am Post subject:

Aw, what sad news. I cannot say enough about how much Rob helped and inspired me. His contributions are immeasurable. RIP 🙏

cappy2112 · Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2022 1:43 pm Post subject:

I'm very sorry to hear of Rob's passing.
He was very nice and incredibly passionate about his crafts.

I'm fortunate to have met him in The Hague, along with Jan Punter, Wout Blommers, and Kies (RIP), and again here in San Jose with Amy Neuberg and Kofi Busia. (I probably still have these pictures)

The attached picture is from 2009, Rob and company came for dinner.
L-R Kofi Busia, Dave (nord) Peck, Rob Hordijk, Amy X Neuberg, myself.

RIP my friend.

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dorremifasol · Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2022 5:55 am Post subject:

Really sad news, as I posted days ago in another thread. I learned so much from all his posts and the G2 tutorials. Gone too soon. My condolences to his family and friends.
Thanks for all, Rob!

cappy2112 · Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2025 5:18 pm Post subject: Rob's Tutorials

I just came across these tutorials on Youtube and thought it might be
a nice tribute as well as for other people to see.

I've been going to a local Synth meetup (mostly modular) for a year now.
A few of the members have some of Rob's modules like the Rungler and Benjolin. The sounds these are used to produce are just amazing, Rob's knowledge of synthesis and design is quite amazing.

Demo at Noodlebar 22-12-2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBGjkpNS0F8

Rungler demo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_PgJ7BmGR8

cappy2112 · Demo at Noodlebar 22-12-2016