"In the 70s, Schrader was one of the first to work with the now famous Buchla 100 Modular Synthesizer (also played by Wendy Carlos, among others) and at the forefront of a movement which would change the face of the music world forever. Today, meanwhile, his analog equipment from that period is mostly considered "retro" at best and, although only 30 years old, considered as out-of-date by many."Previous post on Barry Schrader
Title link takes you there. Via Peter Grenader of Plan b, ear, and Buzz-Click.
Update: Barry Schrader's Lost Atlantis is all Buchla. I added it to the Synth CDs list on the right of the site.
Barry Schrader's website
Now that was a damn good read. "Lost Atlantis" is a great listen, and proof that you can make good music on a Buchla 200 without sounding anything like Subotnick.
ReplyDeleteFine interview but that intro is, shall I say, strangely qualified.
ReplyDeleteIt says he's "one of the first to work with the 100" and then mentions "in the 70s"? If the first 100 system was 1964 then what's that saying?
Maybe Carlos played one at some point but it's not at all a synth she's generally associated with.
Thanks for the comments! I already made some changes on the opening paragraph.
ReplyDeleteWhether or not Wendy Carlos was generally associated with the Buchla was not really the point, though. Rather, it would have been a nice indication of the synth's relevance at the time and there are quite a few sources who associate her with it. As I have now found out, however, she never even touched one, relying exclusively on the moog...
yes, Paul graciously invited me to do a talk about the big MOTM that NYU has. From what he told me that the present machine's history with NYU only dates to '71? I think. Probably built a bit before that but it's not one of the oldest machines afaik.
ReplyDeleteI once saw an old, very basic 100 on display @ Columbia U. They had several pieces of gear that would fit in display cases out for a retrospective some years ago. So that would jibe with Ussachevsky I guess.
I think Barry said quite a few interesting things there. Great interview! Maybe i should check out that cd after all.
ReplyDeleteAh, Peter Grenader, the man who conveys suspicion, the doubt about the photograph of Buchla 300. Read my English answer on my blog and you will see that Buchla 300 was used by Morton Subotnick in Ircam in 1981 in the device to create "Ascent Into Air" (1981 with the 4C. You will see even a new photograph where Morton Subotnick inserts with the keyboard its instructions in the 4C of Ircam. But perhaps that for you, the pseudo specialist in Buchla, this photograph is not true, that it is false...
ReplyDeletehttp://magelectrique.blogspot.com/