Don Buchla is another special pioneer whose impact on music technology has been far-reaching. (He turned 71 last week. Happy Birthday, Don!) He’s best known as the Chevy to Moog’s Ford — that is, the other rival US modular synth system in the 60s. Moog and Buchla were so close, in fact, in introducing their modulars and the innovations to follow that it’s often hard to say who was really first — and their approaches were different enough that it probably doesn’t matter. But Buchla also went on to be one of the key pioneers in alternative interface design. His gestural/spatial Lightning system, for instance, used IR-emitting wands to transmit position and acceleration over a decade and a half before the Nintendo Wii took gaming by storm.

If you want to catch up with Buchla’s various innovations, I suspect you’ll need to drink a lot of Red Bull. So it’s fitting that Red Bull, sponsors of the Red Bull Music Academy international educational programs, are interviewing Buchla for their series on musical innovators. Sit back in your recliner, because they’ve got two full hours of Buchla reflecting on music technology:

Red Bull Music Academy Interview

Via the excellent ambient/electronica blog Disquiet

Earlier this week:

Vintage Buchla Easel Action, and Inspiration for Modern Tangible Interfaces

Photo by fr1zz, via Flickr.

With talk of instruments like the Tenori-On, and looking to the future of tangible interfaces for music, it’s worth exploring past designs, as well. Take Don Buchla’s Music Easel — concocting sounds with this rare 70s instrument was a matter of plugging, touching, and patching. Digital sounds and music sequencers do plenty this can’t, but if it was possible to make the Music Easel’s functions tangible, why not digital instruments, as well? Artist Alex Tyson has been bugging us about this for a few days, and I finally got to watch it. It’s really lovely. (And, yeah, now I really want Alex’s camera, too.)

CHARLES COHEN AT THE BUCHLA MUSIC EASEL from ALEX on Vimeo.

Alex writes:

This colorful video features sound artist Charles Cohen improvising on a 1970’s Buchla Music Easel. This extremely rare instrument is one of Don Buchla’s 200 series. Buchla (a pioneer of audio synthesis) only manufactured 14 of these units. The entire film was edited from an hour-long set of free improvisation, with audio was taken directly from Charles’ mixing board.

All of the photography and editing was produced by Alex Tyson, a sound and video artist from Pennsylvania. The film was shot in 16:9 720p High Definition format, with only a 35mm LensBaby 3GPL.

Mmmmm… LensBaby. Yeah, this is motional porn as well as musical. (Update - looks like Tom at Music Thing is enjoying as well.)

For more Buchla improv action on a newer generation of hardware, check out Richard Lainhart on his Buchla 200e and Continuum setup, playing at our Handmade Music event hosted with Make Magazine and Etsy Labs. (Side note: if you’re using YouTube for documentation, don’t miss the latest tips for getting better quality — with help from Richard — over on Create Digital Motion. Got some clips myself I’ll be uploading with that information in hand.)

For many, the notion of producing sound by patching spaghetti-like nests of cords in hardware is a historical curiosity. Even among those who appreciate this hardware for what it is, conventional wisdom says such instruments aren’t really modern. (Don’t even ask the various universities who gave up on using and maintaining the gear entirely, relegating them to dusty closets — or much worse.) Modular synths are under pressure in 2007 to compete with lots of new technologies. Is it worth making music with them?

Composer/musician Richard Lainhart has taken up what is perhaps the most modern of modular analog synths — the Buchla 200e — not because of historic interest, but because “I’ve come to miss the immediacy and organic sound of analog modular synthesizers.” He’s not planning to lock himself in a room and make archaic, hours-long compositions with it, either; he chose it because its patch memory is “ideal for live performance.” And, as a person trained as a composer myself, that seems like the ultimate test of an instrument — if you can actually play it live.

Even if you’re not ready to shell out the money required to buy your own 200e (they cost about as much as a pickup truck), if you have any interest in synthesis at all, it’s worth joining Richard on his explorations. Get started by checking out the Introduction video for a look at his rig and how he uses it, then check out expressive applications like the video entitled “Chorale.” It’s immediately inspiring as a way of thinking about sound and performance. I certainly can’t afford this setup myself, but then that’s not the point. Once you see an exciting performance, you’ll find a way to do something of your own on what you can afford; that’s part of the grand tradition of music.

This happens to be an excellent demonstration of the potential of the Haken Continuum Fingerboard controller, as well.

We’ll be watching, Richard.

O-Town Media: Buchla

Recently:
Buchla 200e + Haken Continuum Photo Teaser: Modern Classics?
Haken Continuum Fingerboard, Alternative Music Controller, in Action

Electronic musicians are used to getting their gear on the cheap, and there’s something beautiful about that. But that doesn’t take away from some of the short-run, brilliant instruments out there. Topping the list: Buchla’s 200e, which continues the stories tradition of the Buchla modular synths, and the Haken Continuum Fingerboard, which provides continuous control far exceeding the accuracy and expressiveness of almost any controller out there. Our friend Richard Lainhart just took deliver of his 200e, and captures it moving into the studio with the Haken.

18 unit modular + Haken Continuum + quad sound — it’s a beautiful thing.

I singled out the Buchla modulars as an underrated synth. They might also be on the “misunderstood” list. Conventional wisdom goes that the Moog Modular synth became more popular because it was more friendly to musicians. The design of the Buchla itself, though, is often equally exceptional in comparison to the Moog Modulars. In fact, what’s remarkable about these two modulars is that they each evolved in parallel, on opposite coasts, sometimes with similar ideas — and both are incredibly sophisticated sound production instruments. Looking at the Buchla is a reminder that none of the design decisions on the Moog were inevitable, and visa versa. I spent a couple of years in the studio at Sarah Lawrence College looking at the two side by side, so I had plenty of time to reflect on this (especially since I screwed up my patches half the time).

One bit of conventional wisdom that is true is that Don Buchla favored alternatives to the standard piano/organ-style keyboard added early to the Moog — though even for those working on the Moog, this was a controversial issue. That makes the Continuum the perfect modern controller for a Buchla. What’s interesting to me — keeping in mind, I love keyboards and always will — is that the world has gradually come full circle. Maybe in the 60s, people weren’t quite ready to absorb new sounds and new controllers (though Keith Emerson sure loved his ribbon controller). Now, in the age of Wii, that has unquestionably changed.

Stay tuned; I hope to catch up with Richard and take a closer look at these instruments. There’s plenty to be learned there, even for those of us who might not be able to afford this combination.

Thanks, Richard!

“This Week in Synths” by Matrix is on a short holiday; in the meantime, you can page through the archived stories. In its place, it’s worth considering two “top xx lists” for synths. Sonic State has done a Top 20 Greatest Synths List, featuring a quite nice video and rather high-end production values. The list itself is perhaps better read as a Top 20 Most Popular Synths, though, so you’ll be gratified to know our friend Matrixsynth responded with a list of the Most Underrated Synths.

Top 20 Greatest Synths at Sonic State, complete with extensive information, links, top-notch videos … good stuff.

Most Underrated Synths at Matrixsynth, complete with more of the obscure instruments we love.

As terrific as the list at Sonic State is, presumably because it’s based on voting, it skews in a certain direction. The omission of modular Moog and Buchlas, the lack of important moments in synthesis (like Yamaha first commercializing physical modeling), and the general emphasis on ROMplers tilts the list in a certain direction. There’s a decent argument for the keyboards that made the list, but I am curious what CDMers would compile.

Hard to argue with the #1 spot, though. See what you think:

1. Moog Minimoog. (Warning: pronunciation in the video rhymes with the sound cows make, instead of properly rhyming with “brogue.”)
2. ARP Odyssey
3. Sequential Circuits Prophet 5
4. Yamaha DX7
5. Korg M1
6. Roland D50
7. Korg MS20
8. Roland JV-1080
9. Access Virus
10. ARP 2600. (Interesting bit of trivia: Sonic State’s readers are right that there’s an ARP 2500, not 2600, in Close Encounters, though the 2600 is often erroneously connected to the film. But something I didn’t know — Wikipedia says in the entry on the film that “Phil Dodds, a tech from ARP Instruments Inc., is the man playing the keyboard.”)
11. Oberheim OB8
12. Roland Juno 60
13. Mellotron (Hey, do tapes count?)
14. Yamaha CS-80
15. Roland Jupiter 8
16. E-MU PROteus 1
17. Clavia Nord Lead
18. VCS3
19. Roland SH-101
20. ARP Solina

Of course, part of the reason lists have become so popular online is because they’re easy to argue with. And this list illustrates, as much as ‘boards like the Minimoog get love, how other synths just never do.

So for those unloved synths, here are Matrix’s picks (in no particular order):

The Buchla 500 at CalArts

A little bit of Buchla synth history via Peter Grenader of Plan b. That giant modular in the background is the Buchla 500, the rarest of the rare in the modular synth world. It is possible there were only three ever in existence. “The following flckr stream [link] was from CalArts studio B-304 taken in the fall of 1976 featuring Barry Schrader, Morton Subotnick and John Payne and a whole lotta Buchla 500. John as you may remember came up a couple of months ago on Matrixsynth in the posting regarding Mort’s use of the 300 at Ircam [link]. He went on in later years to become the Assistant Dean of the CIA School of Music and founder of it’s Music Tech department. Photo b_304.2 has a good view of the entire studio, save the three other JBL’s which are out of frame (it was a quad studio - there was one in each corner).

There are two more 500’s that I know off - at Evergreen and another somewhere in Europe (pardon the senior moment, i don’t remember where exactly). This is not to say there aren’t others…I’m just not aware of any. The one in the photo here was the first - the development system Don constructed while on staff at CalArts. I do know the 500 was adondoned quickly and resurfaced as the 300 series which included direct routing of computer control the various modules (259 VCO and 292C Gate for example) -and- the digital VCOs.”

Matrixsynth points to this gem, from the US educational kids’ program 3-2-1 Contact, produced by Children’s Television Workshop. (I can’t think of any science programs today for young people quite like it, sadly. Ordinarily I’d hold off for Matrix’s wonderful Week in Synths, but I just can’t wait on this one. Good Sunday evening watching.)

Suzanne Ciani, the synthesis pioneer, multi-Grammy nominee, and composer of everything from New Age music to classic 70s jingles and sound effects (including the distinctive synthesized Coke-unbottling sound), explains the fundamentals of acoustics and synthesis in terms children could understand:

A Prophet figures prominently, but other than that it’s almost an all-Buchla show. She’s a virtuoso at patching a Buchla patch. And between her and the host, I guarantee you’ll be extremely calm within the first few seconds.

The Rest of the Messe

As you know, the Frankfurt Musicmesse opened on Wednesday the 28th. There were quite a few exciting announcements including the Nord Wave, Arturia Origen Keyboard, the Dexter and of course the biggest announcement in my opinion, the Solaris hardware synth by John Bowen Synth Designs. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the interview by James here. Aside from the major announcements there was quite a bit more worth checking out in the synth world including this gorgeous MacBeth M5N, a white version of the M5 with a few updates including snappier envelopes, greater signal to noise ratios for the filters, and more. You can find links to more Messepics here, many courtesy of sequencer.de, a great synth site based in Germany. Some of the synth related gadgets include the Tiefenrausch monophonic analog synth, the Anyware Instruments ClockBox, the SteckBox (an EMS style pin matrix with light risters), and more.

Every week Matrix of Matrixsynth will highlight a handful synth related content that comes through the web for the week. Consider these the hors d’oeuvres of the synth world, a glimpse of what comes through the synthwaves for the week.

First up. “Yamaha One” via polaranta, of Syntezatory.prv.pl. Need I say more? At least once a month polaranta comes up with some of the most ridiculously imaginative and usually quite funny shots. Nice hi-tops. Yamaha CS20M pictured.

Under the Side Panel. What you are looking at is the uncovered side of a Korg 900ps. This image was sent into the Analog Heaven mailing list by punkDISCO, who discovered it on his Korg. If you look at the red circular stamps you will see what looks like a date, 52.8.26. The 52 appears to be the year “Showa 52″(Emperor Era). The year represents 1977: 1926 + Showa(52) - 1 = 77.

Reader Julian Sitkevich sends in some photos from the last NAMM. He proves just how dreamy the Buchla 200e can look in the dark; okay, I’m not any more tempted to shell out $20,000, but nonetheless. After the jump: the key to making soft synths look sexy is to add an Apple Cinema Display.