Title link takes you a Buchla 200e mp3 (2.87M) via mritenburg.
"my demo is recorded in one pass with no efx or multi-tracking. My system is identical to the the system shown on the front page of the buchla.com site."
I mirrored the mp3 here as well.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
19 comments:
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MATRIXSYNTH - EVERYTHING SYNTH
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MATRIXSYNTH - EVERYTHING SYNTH
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Hmmm, isnt this kind of strange. This machine has been out for quite some time and we never heard a single tone from it (because its sound couldnt be faithfully reproduced in the mp3-format or something equally stupid...).
ReplyDeleteThen, all of a sudden, the samples from the 200e start pouring in from everywhere - and stranger still - they all sound EXACTLY the same!
A couple of questions arises: 1. Are all these samples really made by different people and with different machines. Listen for instance to this sample (in the latest buchla-post) and compare it to all the other ones here (except the ones made by Ezra Buchla - which we can assume really comes from the 200e - they however were so badly recorded that they could have been made with a kitchen toaster, but lets not go into that now). Instead listen carefully to the part of this latest file that starts at 1.043 and goes on to 2.404, i for one am sure that that sound comes from another sample of the 200e that was posted here. (sorry but i cant remember which one).
2. Is this machine capable of ANYTHING except generic metallic strummed Buchla noises? I havnt tried the 200e - but i know from firsthand experience that the original 200 could do much, much more than these boring files we're hearing here.
Any ideas?
Me again...
ReplyDeleteI listened to this file really careful a couple of times now and i am now convinced that this is a mix of some of the other samples we've heard here. I am sure that this is small snippets of other samples posted here put together in a rather skillful manner in order to fool us... This is, i promise you, the Bahn sage of soundfiles!
You are obviously not subscribed to Analogue Heaven. This clip was posted on Analogue back in February or something like that. Search for the composers name in the Analogue Heaven archives. If anything, this demo was ripped off by another.
ReplyDeleteMy bad. The samples are mainly coming from the Buchla 200e group. There are obviously owners of the system on the group. When someone posts a sample I usually shoot them a private email and ask them if I can put up a post here. In regards to the first question I think the Buchla just easily lends itself to what you hear. I'm begining to think of these samples as classic Buchla samples. What's interesting is I remember hearing Plan B samples sounding similar and we know the person behind Plan B, Peter Grender is heavily influenced by Buchla. Just check out his buzzclick-music. As for 2, check out the samples in these posts:
ReplyDeleteFun with a Buchla 200e - Samples by Chris Muir
Buchla 200e Sample by JB
Suzanne Ciani on 3-2-1 Contact
The Suzanne Ciani video is currently down due to bandwidth issues, but make a note of the URL and check back later. She plays a Music Easel and a 200 modular, not a 200e as the video was way before then, but you'll hear the Buchla sound more traditional.
I think Chris Muir summed it up perfection in the comments of this post:
"The trouble with posting Buchla examples is that you're damned either way: if it could possibly be done with another synth the comments are like '$20K for that? I could patch that up on my Acme Modular.' and if it's too unusual it's 'See... Buchla's are only good for bug music'."
:)
from one anonymous to another one...
ReplyDeleteI think the sample sounds great, and it's in no way a sum of previous samples, since it has been around for a while longer.
The" quality" of the compositions varies, and this is due to the fact that the authors admittedly created DEMOS of their 200e and not compositions, such as the much more interesting buchla 200 pieces you might be referring to(subotnick's "touch", to name one).
The buchla is not an easy machine to operate.
It requires years of dedication and passion put into it, before you "know" what you're doing.
The point is, that it's a different instrument: from the way it looks to the way it sounds.
And frankly, i am more impressed by a "quick" demo such as the ones we heard so far than any other well done demo i heard here of other lmore conventional synths, and that's mainly because i love the 200e as an instrument itself and i am quite bored with any conventional synthesizer.
Also, no offence,but if you think these samples sound exactly the same, you are not paying enough attention to the different demos.
There are differences between them, even though i agree with you that the 200e (and the 200 back then) is really good at creating metallic/percussive sounds.
If you want to judge the 200e as an instrument and you are familiar with the 200 as you say, i suggest you take the time to find one and judge for yourself.
knowing Don's design conventions it should come natural to somebody who's familiar with his creations to expect a certain common ground, mixed with innovations which, i can guarantee you, are both present in the 200e.
or maybe, beteween you and me, i am just trying to convince myself i need one ;)
anyway i hope this helps.
AC.
When I first got my 200e, every patch I made sounded a lot like all these posts. It's just the nature of the beast.
ReplyDeleteIt's actually the same guy. He posted it on the 200e group and said any AH memebers would probably remember it. I thought I posted it before, so I searched my posts and couldn't find it. I asked him if I could put it up this time. He said yes, so I did. I might have asked him in the past and never heard back so the post didn't go up them.
ReplyDelete> The buchla is not an easy machine to operate.
ReplyDeleteIt requires years of dedication and passion put into it, before you "know" what you're doing.
Bullshit. Even if you had never touched a synth before in your life you could have a damn strong grasp of the thing in a weekend.
I don't know about that, Synthbaron. I've been using Buchlas for 20 years & I still feel like I haven't quite scratched the surface yet. Then again, I might be kinda dumb.
ReplyDeleteSo you're saying it takes years to make anything but pluckity pluck sounds? Ok.
ReplyDeleteNo, the 200e makes pluckity pluck sounds. The 200 makes mallety rubber band sounds.
ReplyDeleteClearly: The Buchla 200e is more fun to play with than to listen to.
ReplyDeleteClearly: It is the only synthesizer yet that has ever synthesized the sound of one hand clapping.
ommmmmmm.
:)
Thought: We all harp on Buchla's plunky banjo noises (their trademark), and want to hear more than the banjos.
ReplyDeleteYet, take a harp. You're not gonna get violin's out of a harp, or opera out of a banjo.
Me, I just love the Buchla controversy.
To me, the 200e mostly evokes cheezy feelings like Dr. Who set design. -- which is really quite a lot of fun. Nothing wrong with that at all.
Buchla's Banjo's are just like Moog's holy filters. Charming aspects unto themselves.
Buchla 200e mp3's (now that I've sampled about 200 of em) have about the same variety as the last 200 moog mp3's I've heard.
Ah, but you did like Chris Muir's Doktor. Don't forget that. Those were different and so was the sample from JB.
ReplyDeleteRegarding, "the Buchla 200e is more fun to play with than to listen to" here's something interesting to think about.
Musicians vs. synthesists. Yes there is obvious overlap, but think about the approach to each. Personally I think of myself as more a synthesist that happens to coax what sounds like music out of synths. I genuinely get more satisfaction exploring sounds and tweaking things. A Buchla 200e looks like a dream for this. Think about it. All that power in that tiny box. Sitting there in the dark just exploring things. I'd have to get me an AH labcoat. I have the snifters and the cognac to go with it. No sherry please.
The two things that haunt the 200e are the price and the mysticism behind it. It is fun to talk about. Remember folks, this is just talk, ideas and opinions. Nothing is set in stone. Even the Synthbaron and the Doktor were converted, albeit for a just a nonosecond. : )
If you have experience with any one-module-per-function modular when you pull upto to the 200e, you will immediately see lots of familar looking knobs and patch points; However, the response of those knobs and patch points rarely follow the single-module-per-function world. The more experience you have with "east coast" modular systems, the more you will have to unlearn. I think the reason so many demos have similar sounds is those sounds are the first sounds that are obvious to the users - especially those users coming from the "east coast" mind set. There is nothing wrong with the "east coast" mind set, and I, for one, love a good -24db filter sweep. It's just with the "west coast" mind set and systems it's a different aesthetic. People don't get a Buchla instrument because they like Keith Emerson, Wendy Carlos, or Kraftwerk. Buchla owners tend to be odd balls. That does not make anyone better or worse, just different with different aesthetics. For instance, someone commented on Ezra Buchla's demos being poorly recorded. The fact is: He intentionally patched up his 200e to make those sounds. The distortion and noise? Deliberately created by the 200e and not a recording error showcasing the extreme possibilities of the now discontinued 259e waveform. generator.
ReplyDelete>So you're saying it takes years >to make anything but pluckity >pluck sounds? Ok.
> sherry
ReplyDeleteBrandy.
I'd love a Buchla. Just not a 90% digital one. And not at the used prices they go for. Whoever makes a fully analog Buchla at $500 a module will be a rich man/transseuxal.
Anonymous, what you note about east coast vs. west coast and how the interaction of the modules on a Buchla react differently than what lends itself from an east coast approach struck a chord for me. My first synth was a Matrix-6. When I purchased it new, I didn't have a clue about synthesis, but I just dug in and started experimenting. I didn't read the manual at first and just explored. What's interesting is I came up with these crazy patches and I began to learn how things intereacted with eachother. The intersting thing is instead of taking the standard module in isolation approach I saw the whole thing as a huge balancing act. If I adjusted one paramater followed by a second, that second paramater would have a totally different effect than just adjusting the second paramater directly, so instead of thinking the second paramater did x, it was more fluid than that. What each paramater did was completely dependent on everything else. It's hard to describe. It's almost like a huge lava lamp with different colors that result in totally patterns depending on the combinations of what you move around, but.. the same module does not always have the same result. When I finally learned about standard subtractive synthesis, my approach completely changed and became more modularized. I can't create the patches I used to create. It's a totally different approach.
ReplyDelete"someone commented on Ezra Buchla's demos being poorly recorded. The fact is: He intentionally patched up his 200e to make those sounds. The distortion and noise? Deliberately created by the 200e and not a recording error showcasing the extreme possibilities of the now discontinued 259e waveform. generator."
ReplyDeleteThat was me and i disagree with you here. Im sure he made it deliberately - But look at the file in an audio editor - this is clearly not distortion from the synth itself (it could be that too - but the signal is so hot that any distortion made with the 200e is definetly masked by the overdriven signal level).
Also: those of you who said things like: this is the way a Buchla sounds, and then compared it to the classic Moog sound, saying that that is the way a Moog sounds - and thus defending the 200e's limited repertoire (as we've heard it here, that is).
This is not a valid argument because although you mostly get fat, sweeped basspad-demoes from the Moog modulars or minis (and whatnots) they are also capable of doing sounds in the same vein as the 200e demoes we've heard here. (albeit not identical) So my point is why dont we ever hear the 200e produce a fat bass pad or a nice lead sound or anything else remotely useful to a musician? Is it because it cant make those kinds of noises (the original 200 sure did) or because of something else (like my first suggestion that the demoes we hear here are the same).
Finally i would like to say that i do like the sounds on some of those demoes and im not saying that the 200e is crap (VERY expensive crap) just because we havent heard it produce something else that metallic banjo sounds - but i would like some more diversity to prove me wrong here.
I think all the people who have buchla's feel they have nothing to prove to you or anybody else and they keep all the best recordings to them selves.
ReplyDelete