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While Robert Moog was attaching keyboards to synthesizers, Paris chose a different path. The Coupigny synthesizer (or GRM Modular) was controlled via a massive pin matrix, resembling a 'Battleship' game board. This allowed connecting any module to any other, creating complex feedback loops and slowly evolving textures unreachable by American counterparts. There were no keys — parameters were controlled by touch-sensitive sensors and envelope generators.

This unique instrument was the heart of the legendary 'Studio 54' (a room number at Radio France, not the disco club). It was here that Bernard Parmegiani and François Bayle created their masterpieces, and a young Jean-Michel Jarre learned the basics of synthesis. Coupigny was not just an engineer but a co-author of the sound: his oscillators possessed a unique instability and density ('fatness') that digital emulations still struggle to recreate.