Buchla 200e

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 Read more…

This is a simple application of the Buchla And Associates Model 222e Multi-Dimensional Kinesthetic Input Port.

The Model 222e Multi-Dimensional Kinesthetic Input Port, part of the Buchla 200e Electric Music Box, offers 30 outputs, based on location, pressure, impact, as well as the location of 2 wireless rings.

In this case – Left-right is 285e shift. Up-down is selecting red or green tables on the 259e.

This is a collection of Alessandro Cortini’s BlindOldFreak Buchla 200e modular synthesizer experiments.

“Blindoldfreak is simply whatever comes out of me and my machines, without thinking too much about it,” explains Cortini.

You can get an interesting peak into Cortini’s studio at trash_audio.

Image: Yotsuba&!

Saturday Synth Porn: A Buchla 200e, with new modules freshly installed.

via the Synthtopia Flickr Group

This gorgeous video captures a performance of Oraison, composed by Olivier Messiaen in 1937 for six Ondes Martenot, transcribed for Buchla 200e synthesizer and Haken Continuum Fingerboard controller and performed by Richard Lainhart in 2009.

Here’s Lainhart’s background for this performance:

From the time I first touched the Haken Continuum, I’d wanted to use it to play a composition by Olivier Messiaen called “Oraison”. I first heard “Oraison” years ago as a student of electronic music, and had fallen in love with its simple, beautiful harmonies and profound sense of mystery.

“Oraison” is not only a lovely piece of music, but has historical interest too – it may be the first piece of purely electronic music written expressly for live performance. Also of note is that Messiaen re-arranged “Oraison” for cello and piano and used it for the fifth movement of “Quartet for the End of Time”, which he composed in a German prisoner-of-war camp in 1941; the “Quartet” is one of the great classics of 20th-century music.

“Oraison” (”prayer”) is from a suite of pieces for six Ondes Martenot called “Fete des Belles Eaux” (”Celebration of the Beautiful Waters”), composed for the Paris International Exposition in 1937. The Ondes Martenot was among the first electronic instruments, and is still among the most expressive. The Continuum’s own expressive qualities seemed at least the equal of the Ondes Martenot’s, while allowing for polyphony and the possibility of performance of the work by a single player. I transcribed “Oraison” for my Buchla 200e/Continuum system, programmed the modern system in homage to the sound of the Ondes Martenot, and now offer this performance to you.

Fantastic, isn’t it? Leave a comment with your thoughts!