Buchla & Associates is now offering 7 different Buchla 200e modular synthesizer systems. The systems vary in size and price, ranging from about $10,000-40,000.
Let’s pretend for a moment that the recession doesn’t exist and see what these Buchla bad boys have to offer.
System #1
The first system contains 8 panel units and sufficient blank panels to fill the voids.
- 1 Model 201e – 12 Powered Cabinet
- 1 Model 225e Midi Decoder/Preset Manager
- 1 Model 227e System Interface (2 panel units)
- 2 Model 261e Complex Waveform Generator
- 1 Model 281e Quad Function Generator
- 1 Model 291e Triple Morphing Filter
- 1 Model 292e Quad Dynamics Manager
Total Panel units – 8
System Price – $9950
The Addition of a Router, a Source of Uncertainty and an Arbitrary Function Generator bring us to the second suggested system:
System #2
- 1 Model 201e – 12 Powered Cabinet
- 1 Model 210e Control and Signal Router
- 1 Model 225e Midi Decoder/Preset Manager
- 1 Model 227e System Interface (2 panel units)
- 1 Model 250e Arbitrary Function Generator (2 panel units)
- 2 Model 261e Complex Waveform Generator
- 1 Model 266e Source of Uncertainty
- 1 Model 281e Quad Function Generator
- 1 Model 291e Triple Morphing Filter
- 1 Model 292e Quad Dynamics Manager
Total Panel units – 12
System Price – $14,000
Here’s a fully loaded 18 panel unit system that features the 222e:
System #3
- 1 Model 201e – 18 Powered Cabinet
- 1 Model 210e Control and Signal Router
- 1 Model 222e Multi Dimensional Kinesthetic Input Port (4 panel units)
- Model 225e Midi Decoder/Preset Manager
- 1 Model 227e System Interface (2 panel units)
- 1 Model 250e Arbitrary Function Generator (2 panel units)
- 3 Model 261e Complex Waveform Generator
- 1 Model 266e Source of Uncertainty
- 1 Model 281e Quad Function Generator
- 1 Model 285e Frequency Shifter / Balanced Modulator
- 1 Model 291e Triple Morphing Filter
- 1 Model 292e Quad Dynamics Manager
Total Panel units – 18
System Price – $19,650
System #4
Here’s a system with 24 panel units, all crammed into our new 201e-24 cabinet. This is not a system to be packing around from gig to gig, but it’s certainly great for the studio.
- 1 Model 201e – 24 Powered Cabinet
- 1 Model 210e Control and Signal Router
- 1 Model 222e Multi Dim Kinesthetic Input Port1 Model 225e Midi Decoder/Preset Manager
- 1 Model 227e System Interface (2 panel units)
- 1 Model 250e Arbitrary Function Generator (2 panel units)
- 1 Model 256e Control Voltage Processor
- 4 Model 261e Complex Waveform Generator
- 1 Model 266e Source of Uncertainty
- 2 Model 281e Quad Function Generator
- 1 Model 285e Frequency Shifter / Balanced Modulator
- 2 Model 291e Triple Morphing Filter
- 2 Model 292e Quad Dynamics Manager
- 1 Model 297 Infinite Phase Shifter
Total panel units – 24
System price – $26,800
System #5
System #5 substitutes a 206e mixer / preset manager for the 297 Infinite phase shifter and two smaller cabinets for the monstrous 201e – 24.
- 2 Model 201e – 12 Powered Cabinets
- 1 Model 206e Mixer / Preset Manager
- 1 Model 210e Control and Signal Router
- 1 Model 222e Multi Dim Kinesthetic Input Port
- 1 Model 225e Midi Decoder/Preset Manager
- 1 Model 227e System Interface (2 panel units)
- 1 Model 250e Arbitrary Function Generator
- 1 Model 256e Quad Control Voltage Processor
- 4 Model 261e Complex Waveform Generator
- 1 Model 266e Source of Uncertainty
- 2 Model 281e Quad Function Generator
- 1 Model 285e Freq Shifter / Balanced Modulator
- 2 Model 291e Triple Morphing Filter
- 2 Model 292e Quad Dynamics Manager
Total Panel units – 24
System Price – $27,050
Their next system offers one 12 panel unit and one 18 panel unis:
System #6
- 1 Model 201e – 18 Powered Cabinet
- 1 Model 201e – 12 Powered Cabinet
- 1 Model 206e Mixer / Preset Manager
- 1 Model 210e Control and Signal Router
- 1 Model 222e Multi Dimensional Kinesthetic Input Port (4 panel units)
- 1 Model 225e Midi Decoder/Preset Manager
- 1 Model 227e System Interface (2 panel units)
- 2 Model 250e Arbitrary Function Generators (2 panel units each)
- 1 Model 256e Quad Control Voltage Processor
- 6 Model 261e Complex Waveform Generator
- 1 Model 266e Source of Uncertainty
- 3 Model 281e Quad Function Generator
- 1 Model 285e Frequency Shifter / Balanced Modulator
- 2 Model 291e Triple Morphing Filter
- 3 Model 292e Quad Dynamics Manager
Total Panel units – 30
System Price – $33,300
And finally, the gourmet system, with all but the kitchen sink squeezed into two 18 panel unit cabinets:
System #7
- 2 Model 201e – 18 Powered Cabinets
- 1 Model 206e Mixer / Preset Manager
- 1 Model 210e Control and Signal Router
- 1 Model 222e Multi Dimensional Kinesthetic Input Port (4 panel units)
- 1 Model 225e Midi Decoder/Preset Manager
- 1 Model 227e System Interface (2 panel units)
- 2 Model 250e Arbitrary Function Generators (2 panel units each)
- 1 Model 255 Control Voltage Processor
- 1 Model 256e Quad Control Voltage Processor
- 1 Model 260e Duophonic Pitch Class Generator
- 6 Model 261e Complex Waveform Generator
- 1 Model 266e Source of Uncertainty
- 4 Model 281e Quad Function Generator
- 2 Model 285e Frequency Shifter / Balanced Modulator
- 2 Model 291e Triple Morphing Filter
- 4 Model 292e Quad Dynamics Manager
- 1 Model 297 Infinite Phase Shifter
Total Panel units – 36
System Price – $39,80
So there you have it. These are out of the price range of people that spend their spare time blogging about synths – so leave a comment and let me know which one you’re going to be buying!
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- 2009 NAMM Preview: Noisebug
- Buchla 200 Modular Synth
- NIN’s Alessandro Cortini On The Buchla 200e
- Why Buchla Synthesizers?
15 Responses to “The Buchla 200e, Or How To Spend $40,000 On A Synthesizer”
Please Wait
Thirty-six grand is nothing compared to the glass-floored room jutting over the Mediterranean it'll be sitting in. And the girls bringing in trays of elegant snack food aren't cheap either. And their hi-heels clatter on the glass floor so much! But that's nothing compared to the sheer guilt that I'll be forever guilty of funding the whole enterprise – jet skis and all – from that wretched, silly, three-minute pop song. I know, I'll write an album about how rotten and distorting it is to be rich and famous. But first, three interviews and a photo shoot with Shakira.
Actually, I don't need the most expensive version. All I want is the one with the circle of buttons on it.
I have tried, and failed, to imagine a life where I could possibly justify that sort of money for a synth. $40,000 is more than my annual combined housedhold income (wife and 2 children) and I have a comfortable middle class life in a 1st world country!
Don't get me wrong, If Buchla has a market for this stuff then I salute whole heartedly for bearing the torch in the this corner of the synth world, but it's definitely not for me.
I think there is a "supercar analogy" here..how many people can afford a Lamborghini (including services, etc) ? …well, only a few..
Equipment like a Buchla modular synth, has a bit of everything that you pay for it…you pay the name, you pay the style, you pay the handmade parts, you pay the innovation, you pay it because its unique..You don't pay only for the engine/circuits..
You should ask yourself…"Does it REALLY worth all that money"? For me, it doesn't. I can do much more things with PD, MaxMSP etc.. As for the sound…there will be some differences, BUT, they are almost unnoticeable differences compared to the major price difference!
A Buchla synth, is a collector's item, a wealthy musician's trophy, a semi – scientific tool for a really successful sound designer or a teacher.
The really disappointing thing, is that most videos i have seen with a Buchla modular on Youtube, really suck! Their owners doesn't (or doesn't know how to) use them creatively at all. We hear classic examples of modular synths but nothing groundbreaking…Buchlas are not made to fill the gap of an ancient Moog modular etc…they have a much more sophisticated / experimental use….
Also, there are still billions of people around the Earth, who die from starvation, so, don't be sad that you don't have a $$$$$ synthesizer! You probably still have money to buy other great synths and of course, something to eat. (except cables)
These synths are not for BUYING, they're for COVETING.
Meanwhile, the most important question goes unanswered: which one has the most LEDs?
So where's the virtual Buchla?
We've got virtual everything else….
Any Moog would eat two of those for breakfast.
I don't think so…each on its own…Buchlas are not famous for phat and raw sounds like a Moog synthesizer.They are mostly famous for sound design and complex analog experimental sounds. They have some unique modules that work like nothing else out there.
Oh..and they are MUCH more beautiful than classic Moog Modulars…
Ugh – "phat" and "raw" are so 1980s. And let's face it, "phat" isn't even a real word.
There probably is a virtual version of system #1. It is displayed on 12 networked PC screens, eight show one module each, and the other four screens are blank for future expansion.
Is it just me, or does system #3 look a bit "Klingon spaceship bridge after a bit of re-decoration" to anyone else?
It's a good look, though.
LOL
Ah, I geddit now. System #5 illustrated is actually the virtual musical toy version of the real thing, which is installed in a Russian spaceship and used for controlling jets, stabilisers, air-con etc.