Title link takes you to another demo of the Buchla 200e, Vox Gong, by Chris Muir. The link is just under this image when you get there. Make sure to check out the other demos on site if you haven't already.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Vox Gong - Buchla 200e Demo
Title link takes you to another demo of the Buchla 200e, Vox Gong, by Chris Muir. The link is just under this image when you get there. Make sure to check out the other demos on site if you haven't already.
26 comments:
To reduce spam, comments for posts older than one week are not displayed until approved, usually same day. Do not insult people. For items for sale, do not ask if it is still available. Check the auction link and search for the item. Auctions are from various sellers and expire over time. Posts remain for the pics and historical purposes. This site is meant to be a daily snapshot of some of what was out there in the world of synths.
PREVIOUS PAGE
NEXT PAGE
HOME
© Matrixsynth - All posts are presented here for informative, historical and educative purposes as applicable within fair use.
MATRIXSYNTH is supported by affiliate links that use cookies to track clickthroughs and sales. See the privacy policy for details.
MATRIXSYNTH - EVERYTHING SYNTH
© Matrixsynth - All posts are presented here for informative, historical and educative purposes as applicable within fair use.
MATRIXSYNTH is supported by affiliate links that use cookies to track clickthroughs and sales. See the privacy policy for details.
MATRIXSYNTH - EVERYTHING SYNTH
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Excellent banjo!
ReplyDeleteThe even dumber thing is the title link wasn't even there. I just updated the post with it.
ReplyDeleteAnd here I thought this one was going to be banjo-free.
ReplyDeletespell banjo backwards what do you get....?
ReplyDeletethat's right....buchla
Ah... the troll worked.
ReplyDeleteIn just over an hour I've had three people post regarding my banjo comment.
You're so easy to manipulate.
Those shots of that 200e system give me a total hard on.
ReplyDeleteyes nice one chris :-)
ReplyDeletegreat to see you are syill giving us stuff to look at and listen to even after all the lame and unfunny now banjo comments..
Chris Rocks!
ReplyDeleteThat there Buchla is the only one I have ever had an opportunity to touch. You never forget your first, eh fellas.
;-)
-daddio-
Tapewarm
Nice BorgChris shot at the bottom of the page, btw.
ReplyDelete;-)
gm
haha, you're so funny with your banjos. *yawn*
ReplyDeletego playing with your TBs, that's probably as far as you can get...
Banjo comments are old and TB bashing makes you come off like a snob, but a good parallel between the 2 would be that just as ppl think $1000 for a TB is too much, 20k for what sounds like a DX7 seems ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI was quite excited when the 200e was announced and looked foreward to hearing one, but in the few years since it has been available I am yet to hear anything even remotely impressive, personally I think it sounds very much like a DX7 at its most atonal.
I think I'd rather have a Music Easel based on what I have heard but I would not buy an easel because of the high pricetag, it has nothing to do with being able to afford it though, its to do with bang for buck.
come on, I wouldn't dismiss a buchla system as a bad sounding dx7 soundalike. don buchla was a pioneer in synthesizer design who offered a very different view on what it should be as an instrument in comparison to what became the popular synths (e.g. no keyboards on most buchlas). these are instruments that offer sonic and creative possibilities much beyond what you could cover with pretty much anything else. you couldn't say that about a 303 or a dx7 or whatever. it's only a shame that it didnt catch on and now you have to pay more to get to play one of these and experience a different kind of synthesizer. at least they're still being made.
ReplyDeleteChris -
ReplyDeleteI really liked the VoxGong.mp3 sample. Very nice timbres, keep it up.
Whomever commented on the E sounding like a DX - if it's possible, try to spend some time with one of these instruments, they are nothing like a DX.
Upon more listening, I have to take back everything I said about VoxGong.mp3. ALL of these samples are terrific, not just that one.
ReplyDeleteYou're 'noodling' is better than a lot of other people's completed works. thanks for posting.
- P
There's no banjo's in this.
ReplyDeleteI could really tell that Chris was going for the Gong in this one.
Chris: what external processing did you use (like reverb?).
I like VoxGong for sure.
Chris: how did your pubic performance go?
ReplyDeleteDok Future:
ReplyDeleteThe basic processing setup for all the examples on my site is pretty much the same: Logic's Space Designer for reverb, and Logic's Stereo Delay for delay. Sends for both of these were from columns of the 210e signal router.
My recent gig went pretty well. I had some technical problems with my MIDI interface that made me fall back to some less rhythmic stuff than I had intended, but it worked out OK in the end.
I guess I still don't quite get the DX7 comments. Is it that dynamic depth linear FM is perceived to be a DX-only thing? Is it the fact that the 261e Timbre control more or less sweeps the harmonic series that makes people think of the DX synths?
ReplyDeleteEven if it does remind people of the DX series (and I can see how this VoxGong example would trigger this reaction more than a lot of my other examples), the way you interact with the system is 180ยบ away from the "periscope view" of DX programming. I still have a Yamaha TG-77, and I don't dislike the sound. I'm less crazy about how you have to program it.
Buchla's emphasis on the front panel, and lack of concern for the specific implementation details is a good thing, IMO. His designs stress how you interact with the system, not how the sound is created internally.
To quote a couple things I said on the Blackbird thread:
The Analog vs. Digital argument is sort of lost on me. I think that "Analog vs. Digital" is often code for strict subtractive vs. FM & waveshaping. For example, analog synths have always been able to be used as FM devices. An example from the more tonal side of things is the amazing "Timesteps" by Wendy Carlos. This piece has some sounds that sound typically analog, I guess, but it also contains a bunch of stuff that people today might think are more digital sounding, utilizing a lot of FM/AM/RM. It was all done on the modular Moog, although there are many sounds in that piece that have a more "west coast" vibe.
For me, the depth & breadth of the palette, and the nature of the control structure are more important the method of sound generation in synthesis. The 261e has a very nice palette of sounds. If you want traditional subtractive, the modulation oscillator has all the traditional waveforms, and a nice crossfader that goes from sine on one end, through triangle to PWM at the top end. Very useful. The principal osc has a wonderful timbre mod section, with three interactive controls, that starts with a sine wave, but allows for many interesting dynamic timbres. Add a dynamic modulation of the principal osc by the mod osc, in any combination of three flavors, and you have a very powerful waveform generator.
I thought your reply offered a cool insight, mr. muir, but I wouldn't be bothered myself with negative anonymous comments on this blog. quite often anons are simply dicking around pointlessly. best regards.
ReplyDeleteHey, this sounds wonderfully atmospheric, nice work!
ReplyDeleteYep, very nice stuff! I've got all your stuff on my iPod, it gets lots of rotation. Keep up the good work, looking forward to hearing more!
ReplyDeleteid totally bang someone on top of a buchla
ReplyDeleteNice track.
ReplyDeleteThe reason it reminds me of a DX7 is that of all the examples I have heard (only mp3s on the web) the 200e is doing some typical plucked FM sounding timbre, I'm not trolling here, and I'm not jealous. I'd just really love to hear the 200e doing something a bit different than either droning dissonance or FM twangs.
ReplyDeleteI totally see what you mean about the interface and obviously a lot of the money goes toward that but there has to be more to it than that.
I'd like to hear it doing some funky bass sequence, or a searing complex lead, or a nice percussive groove, or some otherworldy alien texture.
But anyway, thanks for posting the demo.
most of the profs that taught on Buchlas got into the DX7 and other yammy FM stuff when it came out in the 80's.
ReplyDeleteperhaps that sound is what appeals to the buchla enthusiest.
To the Anonymati that complained about "droning dissonance":
ReplyDeleteI put up some droning consonance on my B Sides page