Buchla
Encyclopedia
Buchla & Associates, Inc. is a manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, notably synthesizers and unique MIDI controllers. The 200e Electric Music Box and Lightning III are currently in production.
and came from a commission by composers Ramon Sender
and Morton Subotnick
. First built in 1963, this synthesizer
was composed of several "modules" that generated or modified a music event. Each box served a specific function: oscillator, filter
, sample and hold
, etc. This would have an effect on the pitch
, timbre
, amplitude and spacial location of the sound. The idea was to allow musicians and composers to create sounds suited to their own specifications. Previously, one had to utilize either discrete audio generators such as test oscillators
or via musique concrète
, recorded sounds from natural sources. Although it was a fresh and exciting idea and an excellent way to get new sounds, this was very time-consuming and arduous. The Buchla Box allowed musicians to bend and manipulate sound all in one device. This would lead to the many kinds of electronic instruments available today.
's Moog synthesizer
, it would go on the revolutionize the way music and sound is made.
replaced the previous model in 1970 and represented a significant advance in technology. Almost every parameter can be controlled from an external control voltage.
In the mid 1970s, Don Buchla began experimenting with digital
designs and computer
controlled systems. The results were the 500 series and the 300 series, both of which paired the new technology with existing 200 series modules to create hybrid analog/digital systems. The Touché was also the result of this research, .
Buchla 400, 700, and MIDAS (1980s)
Also in 1980s, Buchla released the 400 series and the 700 series software controlled instruments operated by MIDAS, a Forth language for musical instruments, and also equipped MIDI.
, CV selector, voltage quantizer
or tracking generator. Another module that sometimes gets cited for its uniqueness is the Source of Uncertainty. The Source of Uncertainty provides many different flavors of randomness, from noise
of different colors, to a LFO
-like fluctuating random voltage, and a couple forms of triggered static random voltages, all under voltage control. The Source of Uncertainty goes well beyond a noise and random module in a typical synthesizer.
It is also important to note that Don Buchla
and Robert Moog
simultaneously invented the modular synthesizer
in 1963, Moog in New York
and Buchla in San Francisco. While there had been previous synthesizer
experiments, Moog and Buchla's major developments that made the synthesizer portable and flexible was that of using control voltage to manipulate the various elements of the circuits.
Buchla's instruments, such as the Music Easel (pictured), use a different method of timbre
generation than Moog synthesizer
s. Moog units use oscillators with basic function generator
type waveshapes and rely heavily on filtering with 24dB resonant low-pass filters, while Buchlas are geared toward complex oscillators using frequency modulation
, amplitude modulation
, and dynamic waveshaping to produce other forms of timbre modulation. Many of Don Buchla's designs, including the Low-Pass Gates (later called Dynamic Managers) contain vactrols, photoresistive opto-isolator
employed as voltage-controlled potentiometer
s, which contribute to a very "natural" Buchla sound.
By the late 1980s, Don Buchla had stopped creating instruments and shifted his focus to alternate MIDI controllers. His controller designs have included the Thunder
, Lightning
, and Marimba Lumina
.
, a hybrid system using digital microprocessors that uses the same size modules and signals as the 100 and 200 series systems. The 200e modules convert all signals to analog at the panel, appearing to the user like an analog system, with patch cables. Systems can be built using a combination of 100, 200 and 200e modules. The 200e modules connect together through a digital communications buss, allowing the system to store the settings of the knobs and switches.
Buchla Music Box (1963)
The original Buchla Music Box was the brainchild of Don BuchlaDon Buchla
Don Buchla is a pioneer in the field of sound synthesizers, releasing his first units months after Robert Moog's first synthesizers...
and came from a commission by composers Ramon Sender
Ramon Sender
Ramon Sender Barayón is a composer, writer and the co-founder, with Morton Subotnick, of the San Francisco Tape Music Center in 1961. He studied with George Copeland, Elliott Carter, and Robert Erickson....
and Morton Subotnick
Morton Subotnick
Morton Subotnick is an American composer of electronic music, best known for his Silver Apples of the Moon, the first electronic work commissioned by a record company, Nonesuch...
. First built in 1963, this synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
was composed of several "modules" that generated or modified a music event. Each box served a specific function: oscillator, filter
Audio filter
An audio filter is a frequency dependent amplifier circuit, working in the audio frequency range, 0 Hz to beyond 20 kHz. Many types of filters exist for applications including graphic equalizers, synthesizers, sound effects, CD players and virtual reality systems.Being a frequency dependent...
, sample and hold
Sample and hold
In electronics, a sample and hold circuit is an analog device that samples the voltage of a continuously varying analog signal and holds its value at a constant level for a specified minimal period of time. Sample and hold circuits and related peak detectors are the elementary analog memory...
, etc. This would have an effect on the pitch
Pitch (music)
Pitch is an auditory perceptual property that allows the ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale.Pitches are compared as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies,...
, timbre
Timbre
In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
, amplitude and spacial location of the sound. The idea was to allow musicians and composers to create sounds suited to their own specifications. Previously, one had to utilize either discrete audio generators such as test oscillators
Function generator
A function generator is a piece of electronic test equipment or software used to generate different types of electrical waveforms over a wide range of frequencies. These waveforms can be either repetitive or single-shot, in which case some kind of triggering source is required...
or via musique concrète
Musique concrète
Musique concrète is a form of electroacoustic music that utilises acousmatic sound as a compositional resource. The compositional material is not restricted to the inclusion of sounds derived from musical instruments or voices, nor to elements traditionally thought of as "musical"...
, recorded sounds from natural sources. Although it was a fresh and exciting idea and an excellent way to get new sounds, this was very time-consuming and arduous. The Buchla Box allowed musicians to bend and manipulate sound all in one device. This would lead to the many kinds of electronic instruments available today.
Buchla 100 series (1963)
The Buchla 100 series Modular Electronic Music System was commissioned specifically by Subotnick in 1963 for use on his first major electronic work Silver Apples Of The Moon. He gave Don Buchla ideas and specifications for what the instrument should do. Along with Robert MoogRobert Moog
Robert Arthur Moog , commonly called Bob Moog was an American pioneer of electronic music, best known as the inventor of the Moog synthesizer.-Life:...
's Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
, it would go on the revolutionize the way music and sound is made.
Buchla 200 series (1970)
The Buchla 200 series Electric Music BoxBuchla 200 series Electric Music Box
The Buchla 200 series Electric Music Box is an electronic musical instrument manufactured by Buchla & Associates in Berkeley, California from 1970-1982. It is a modular analog system consisting of a collection of individual modules...
replaced the previous model in 1970 and represented a significant advance in technology. Almost every parameter can be controlled from an external control voltage.
Computer controlled instruments
Buchla 300, 500, Touché (mid 1970s)In the mid 1970s, Don Buchla began experimenting with digital
Digital
A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
designs and computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
controlled systems. The results were the 500 series and the 300 series, both of which paired the new technology with existing 200 series modules to create hybrid analog/digital systems. The Touché was also the result of this research, .
Buchla 400, 700, and MIDAS (1980s)
Also in 1980s, Buchla released the 400 series and the 700 series software controlled instruments operated by MIDAS, a Forth language for musical instruments, and also equipped MIDI.
Buchla's unique synthesizer designs
Buchla tends to not refer to his instruments as synthesizers, as he feels that name gives the impression of imitating existing sounds/instruments. His intent is to make instruments for creating new sounds. This convention is evidenced by the omission of a standard musical keyboard on his early instruments, which instead used a series of touch plates which were not necessarily tied to equal-tempered tuning. He also has different naming conventions than most of the industry: for example, one of his modules is called a "Multiple Arbitrary Function Generator." These differences run deeper than nomenclature though. The Multiple Arbitrary Function Generator (or MARF) goes well beyond what a typical sequencer is capable of performing and is capable of acting as an envelope generator, LFOLow frequency oscillation
Low-frequency oscillation is an electronic signal, which is usually below 20 Hz and creates a rhythmic pulse or sweep. This pulse or sweep is often used to modulate synthesizers, delay lines and other audio equipment in order to create effects used in the production of electronic music. Audio...
, CV selector, voltage quantizer
Quantization
Quantization is the procedure of constraining something from a relatively large or continuous set of values to a relatively small discrete set...
or tracking generator. Another module that sometimes gets cited for its uniqueness is the Source of Uncertainty. The Source of Uncertainty provides many different flavors of randomness, from noise
Colors of noise
While noise is by definition derived from a random signal, it can have different characteristic statistical properties corresponding to different mappings from a source of randomness to the concrete noise. Spectral density is such a property, which can be used to distinguish different types of noise...
of different colors, to a LFO
Low frequency oscillation
Low-frequency oscillation is an electronic signal, which is usually below 20 Hz and creates a rhythmic pulse or sweep. This pulse or sweep is often used to modulate synthesizers, delay lines and other audio equipment in order to create effects used in the production of electronic music. Audio...
-like fluctuating random voltage, and a couple forms of triggered static random voltages, all under voltage control. The Source of Uncertainty goes well beyond a noise and random module in a typical synthesizer.
It is also important to note that Don Buchla
Don Buchla
Don Buchla is a pioneer in the field of sound synthesizers, releasing his first units months after Robert Moog's first synthesizers...
and Robert Moog
Robert Moog
Robert Arthur Moog , commonly called Bob Moog was an American pioneer of electronic music, best known as the inventor of the Moog synthesizer.-Life:...
simultaneously invented the modular synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
in 1963, Moog in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Buchla in San Francisco. While there had been previous synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
experiments, Moog and Buchla's major developments that made the synthesizer portable and flexible was that of using control voltage to manipulate the various elements of the circuits.
Buchla's instruments, such as the Music Easel (pictured), use a different method of timbre
Timbre
In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
generation than Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
s. Moog units use oscillators with basic function generator
Function generator
A function generator is a piece of electronic test equipment or software used to generate different types of electrical waveforms over a wide range of frequencies. These waveforms can be either repetitive or single-shot, in which case some kind of triggering source is required...
type waveshapes and rely heavily on filtering with 24dB resonant low-pass filters, while Buchlas are geared toward complex oscillators using frequency modulation
Frequency modulation
In telecommunications and signal processing, frequency modulation conveys information over a carrier wave by varying its instantaneous frequency. This contrasts with amplitude modulation, in which the amplitude of the carrier is varied while its frequency remains constant...
, amplitude modulation
Amplitude modulation
Amplitude modulation is a technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. AM works by varying the strength of the transmitted signal in relation to the information being sent...
, and dynamic waveshaping to produce other forms of timbre modulation. Many of Don Buchla's designs, including the Low-Pass Gates (later called Dynamic Managers) contain vactrols, photoresistive opto-isolator
Opto-isolator
In electronics, an opto-isolator, also called an optocoupler, photocoupler, or optical isolator, is "an electronic device designed to transfer electrical signals by utilizing light waves to provide coupling with electrical isolation between its input and output"...
employed as voltage-controlled potentiometer
Potentiometer
A potentiometer , informally, a pot, is a three-terminal resistor with a sliding contact that forms an adjustable voltage divider. If only two terminals are used , it acts as a variable resistor or rheostat. Potentiometers are commonly used to control electrical devices such as volume controls on...
s, which contribute to a very "natural" Buchla sound.
MIDI controllers (late 1980s)
Buchla Thunder, Buchla Lightning, Marimba LuminaBy the late 1980s, Don Buchla had stopped creating instruments and shifted his focus to alternate MIDI controllers. His controller designs have included the Thunder
Buchla Thunder
Buchla Thunder is one of many in the family of MIDI controllers consisting of tactile control surfaces which are manipulated by hand.A touchplate array is divided into fifty separate regions, or keys. Keys are sensitive to the contact, pressure, and location of manipulating digits. Parameters are...
, Lightning
Buchla Lightning
Don Buchla's Lightning I & Lightning II are in the family of MIDI controllers consisting of specialized devices which are used to manipulate data spatially.-Description:...
, and Marimba Lumina
Marimba Lumina
Don Buchla's Marimba Lumina is one of many in the family of MIDI controllers consisting of specialized control surfaces which are manipulated by specialized controllers. More than one version exists, with similar characteristics....
.
Oberheim OB-Mx (1995)
In 1995, he was brought on to the team that designed the Oberheim OB-Mx, the so called "Ober-Moog", in the 11th hour to help make it a working instrument. A hybrid analog/digital design, the OB-MX uses many of the lessons learned when researching for the 300 and 500 systems.Buchla 200e series (2004)
Finally, in 2004, Don Buchla returned to designing full blown modular electronic instruments with the 200eBuchla 200e
The Buchla 200e is a modular synthesizer designed by electronic music pioneer Don Buchla and built by Buchla and Associates.- History :The 200e is based on the earlier Model 200 system. Many of the modules in the 200e series share similar functionality and layout with Model 200 modules, and...
, a hybrid system using digital microprocessors that uses the same size modules and signals as the 100 and 200 series systems. The 200e modules convert all signals to analog at the panel, appearing to the user like an analog system, with patch cables. Systems can be built using a combination of 100, 200 and 200e modules. The 200e modules connect together through a digital communications buss, allowing the system to store the settings of the knobs and switches.
See also
- Harald BodeHarald BodeHarald Bode was a German engineer and pioneer in the development of electronic music instruments.- Biography :...
- Modular synthesizerModular synthesizerThe modular synthesizer is a type of synthesizer consisting of separate specialized modules connected by wires to create a so-called patch. Every output generates a signal – an electric voltage of variable strength...
- Moog synthesizerMoog synthesizerMoog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
- Serge synthesizerSerge synthesizerThe Serge synthesizer is an analogue modular synthesizer system originally developed by Serge Tcherepnin at CalArts in the 1970s and originally produced by Tcherepnin's Serge Modular Music Systems company.Serge synthesizers have been used by composers such as Michael Stearns and Kevin Braheny The...