Chris put up a new Buchla 200e noodle titled TickTock. Title link takes you to the track, where you will also find previous 200e tracks by Chris.BTW, if you want to see his setup pictured here live, he will have it at the Garden of Memory show this Thursday. Update via wavedeform in the comments: Here's a link to a write up in the SF Chronicle about the show.
That's about $1 per bleep and fart in that one. ;D
ReplyDeleteI thought for sure that this would generate more comments. Things along the line of "that 'kick drum' sounds like a banjo" or something similar. Don't get me wrong, I'm more than happy to see the end of banjo comments.
ReplyDeleteI would love to visit the alternate universe where Buchla Boxes were the same price as, say... Doepfer. I imagine that the general tone of the comments would be very different.
thats one fine sounding banjo you got there.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I loved all the 'banjo' comments - the longer that joke was dragged out, the better it aged.
ReplyDeleteBuchlas are fine/inventive pieces of kit and all that, but I gotta admit it seems that the majority of people that bought 200e's don't actually bother making actual music with them per se, but just dick around with 'em in their basements. Maybe that's an illusion courtesy youtube.
But it does remind me when I visited a synth meet years back, and latched onto a couple of older keyboard players who immediately grew tired of the endless bloops & bleeps wankfest emitting from various modular kits people had brought. No one was actually PLAYING, so the two ended up taking turns busting some serious prog chops on an old Hammond/Leslie that one cat had graciously brought. The bubblegum had apparently run out, so much ass was duly kicked. Good times.
So... what's your definition of "actual music"? May I assume that it is more closely aligned with prog wanking on Hammond organs, and not experimental electronic music? Does it need to have lyrics? Do you have to be able to hum it in the shower? Dance to it? Does it need to be in the flavor du jour of electronica? Are tight trousers involved, or maybe flannel shirts?
ReplyDeleteThe only youtube 200e thing I could find is the "Rock and Roll" clip by Alessandro Cortini, from NIN.
-C
Here's a link to a write up in the SF Chronicle about Thursday's Garden of Memory gig
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It seems the reviewer was more impressed with the venue than the actual music and "expeirimental"
ReplyDeletebanjo noises.
Um... given that the concert is tomorrow, that wasn't a review, but rather an article written to generate interest.
ReplyDeleteYou guys should all read the book 'Music, the Arts and Ideas' by Leo B. Meyer. It talks about human perception of consonent and dissonant, what is perceived as musical, what isn't. And none of that is limited to western scales, traditional progression or timbres...it's about how the elements that make sound (pitch, timbre, duration, amplitude and spacial location) are arranged, presented and developed.
ReplyDeleteIf one person's idea of music doesn't align with another's (I think it's fair to say that this will happen a lot), blame the composer/performer, not the synth!
Personally, I think some of the 'blurp' comments are condescending, but hey....if someone's not wanting to blam out riff's from the 30 year old extinct Prog classics or doesn't lay down a drum track, then it's not music and a waste of the listener's tim, right?
Again - 'Music, the Arts and Ideas' by Leo B. Meyer.
The Buchla has a Midi to CV, VCO's, a filter, a VCA, an EG, an LFO and portemento. Everything one needs to do Minimoog, although it may sound a bit different. Or you can do something less conventional. But to say that's all it can do and therefor not worth the asking price is myopic.
But over the banjo/blurp (or was that burp?) remarks, the one I'm growing weary of are the price comments. If you guys knew what was in the E you'd wonder why it isn't twice as much as it is. Especially considerinng it was designned for relatively small production. It's not like the massive amount of R&D was going to be amortized over 3,000 systems sold.
On the surface iit looks and feels like every other analog modular. On the inside...the crap Don and Co. had to go through to get it at that level, with patch and pot recall is astonishing.
Many of of the instrumennts in the E are entirely digital, some are hybrid, all have to be converted to voltages at the faceplate. The 225 houses the host computer, which communicates back and forth on a proprietary network to every other module in the machine. Show me another analog filter that can morph between settings, save that as a pattern and replay the string in several different configurations.
The E is an amazing acomplishment.
The cost of a Buchla 200e,$20,000..
ReplyDeletePatch cord assortment. $300... using it to imitate the sound of a $29.00 door bell - Priceless!
I'm afraid that you'll have to find another middle item for your funny, and I'm sure completely original, joke, as the Buchla comes with patch cords.
ReplyDeletePlease keep up the humor, though. I have never laughed. So hard. The subtile use of vintage punctuation: using two consecutive periods, an ellipsis, and a hyphen to lay down some phat comedy beats. Wow.
For twenty thousand bucks it's nice of them to include the patch cords lol. Wonder if they include a users manual? Judging by most of the demo's i've heard, i'd guess they don't.
ReplyDeleteChris - Sounds good to me - thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete"don't actually bother making actual music with them "
ReplyDeletehuh. reminds of a comment in another thread a while back: "he's a real keyboard player - he uses both hands"
both show limited exposure and understanding
i've enjoyed everything Chris has posted and look forward to more
LOL I love it, Banjos and doorbells lol i think it sounds more like an electric razor lol
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