The following is in via Sean Graves, who had the following to say:
"The piece, 'The 'Easel' Spirit in 3U: Rebuilding a Buchla Soul in Eurorack,' documents my five-year journey to replicate the specific workflow and 'soul' of the Buchla Music Easel using a curated Eurorack system."
"This post explores the creative power of 5-step sequencing (the 'migrating downbeat'), the 'origami' of wavefolding via the Verbos Complex Oscillator, and the organic harmonic dampening of vactrol-based Low Pass Gates. It’s a technical yet accessible look at why the West Coast workflow remains the 'holy grail' for performance - based synthesis."
The full write-up follows, with a demonstration of the system in the video above.
The “Easel” Spirit in 3U: Rebuilding a Buchla Soul in Eurorack
The Buchla Music Easel is legendary. It isn’t just a synthesizer. It’s a self-contained performance ecosystem. For many of us, the “Easel” workflow is the holy grail of synthesis. However, instead of chasing original hardware, I’ve spent the past five years rebuilding its specific soul within the Eurorack format. Because everyone deserves a hobby, right?
The Chef vs. The Sculptor Most East Coast synthesizers work like a sculptor. You start with a massive block of harmonic noise (Sawtooth or Square waves) and carve it away with a filter. The Buchla workflow is different. It’s like being a chef in your own Hell’s Kitchen. You start with basic, “bland” ingredients (sine waves) and spice them up with Frequency Modulation (FM), Amplitude Modulation (AM), your choice, and then fold until the sound sizzles.
My current rig recreates this spirit by focusing on three pillars: Uncertainty, Complex Oscillation, and the iconic Sequential Voltage Source.
Part One: The Modulators (The Brain) In a true Easel style setup, the Tokyo Tape Music Center 5-Step Sequencer acts as the brain. While most modern sequencers favor 4-8-16-32 steps, the 5-step limitation is actually a creative superpower.
The above is a playlist of performances for the event. You can find the full list below. You can use the player controls to skip around.
"13-16/11/2025
Gearing Space in 798 Art District, Beijing, China
Modular synthesizer live performance
Photographer: 包子
Camera operator: Tabriss, 千两道化,翰海, 孙太阳, Moy
Recording/Mastering: Ocicat
Video edit: @tamiX-tamiX
1st video features TONYLIGHT with the following:
'I’ve used a lot of synths over the years but this one is something different… it’s a strange instrument. It’s small, much smaller than it appears in photos: it is part synth, part drum machine, part multi-track sequencer. I’m still figuring it all out but initial impressions are that it’s very unpredictable and slightly unstable… but in a good way.'"
1. TONYLIGHT - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
2. Tatsuya Takahashi & Layne - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
3. Solar Bird - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
4. Ninando - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
5. Masayoshi Sakaguchi - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
6. HATAKEN - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
7. Linear Straight / Radical G - - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
8. Nagelluck - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
9. espinoza - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
10. Crystal Dolls aka Manuel - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
11. bunyi - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
12. お化け学 obakegaku & ÉON - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
13. Toyota Vangelis - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
14. Thomas Fang - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
15. Tangie - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
16. Randombrothers - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
17. Paul Tas - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
18. Melting - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
19. Alpha Decay - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
20. Ninando - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
21. Oykni - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
22. Making Sound Machines - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
23. Eric Schlappi - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
24. Ëgg - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
25. [Trailer] Modular Commune Festival Beijing 25
26. 隽皓 (CS_Star) - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
27. 泻火 - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
28. 昌平电 X 研究所 - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
29. 刘博雍 - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
30. Gia Wang - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
31. Jarrod Radnich - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
32. Huzz - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
33. Eddie Chen - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
34. Seven 九 - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
35. MCV - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
36. Nian YongXin - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
37. 王凯文 - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
38. 88pluto and Jah Young - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
39. Ayshém 艾闪 - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
40. Black Potion - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
41. acid.T - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
42. GUOFEI aka OSCPLLEX - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
43. daftcat & 于舒洋 - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
44. Erdna - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
45. Juju - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
46. Loop Fighter - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
47. 阿拉坦怪怪 - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
48. 周揚 - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
49. Li Yanzeng 李言增 - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
50. 呆呆鸟 - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
51. Noby_Owl 鸮鸣 - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
52. 肖雄文、张子博、凌诚、刘子汶 - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
53. Alan Ip - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
54. GXM - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
55. thruoutin - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
56. WEN LIANG 文亮 & Clouded5000郭大为 - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
57. GUAN - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
58. Vehement - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
59. Immortal Manifestation 遊仙 - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
60. J Stone - Modular Commune Festival Beijing 2025 (Vol.22)
"@plantssystem-ufo
A three-dimensional acoustic specimen frozen in the freezing air.
This work combines the layered sequences of the Prophet-5 and Poly-Sequencer with the chaotic textures of the Duos. These were mastered using the legendary 3D sound processor, Roland RSS (Roland Sound Space).
A three-dimensional sound image unfolds to the left and right, and front and back.
Noise and melodies that would normally be heard right next to your ears are 'frozen' in a specific space, creating the illusion that they are floating."
Marvelling over the synths out there that have fancy sequencer functions to keep sequences evolving and spontaneous (probability, punch-in effects etc) got me thinking. What about the beautifully simple, primitive synths, particularly the older models, that don't have those functions? You can be so creative on them, and people are forgetting how to be. So here are 5 (of MANY - and please do share any others in the comments that you've discovered and love to use) things you can do to keep your sequences sounding characterful and stay interesting. Yes, on any synth.
The final jam is cut abruptly short. If you feel short changed, join my Patreon 👉👉👉 / hazelmills where I will post the full jam (and you'll find many other goodies, like behind the scenes vlogs, breakdowns, exclusive tracks and more).
0:00 Intro
0:18 Reframe time
1:19 S&H filter
1:57 Ride the value
2:53 Key tracking
3:48 Breathe
5:05 Jam snippet"
"Kicking off the year with a surge of musical motivation:
Akai MPC One: Running my own custom samples.
Micromonsta 2: ‘Response Pad’ sequenced on MIDI channel 2, combined with a pitched-up pad played in real-time on MIDI channel 1.
Behringer Edge: Crafting that deep, textured Choir-Bass sound.
Eventide Space: Providing the haunting reverb FX that ties the whole atmosphere together.
Hope you like it!
"Thats it I guess. One jam per day per January for 6 years. Hope you enjoyed this round because I'm already looking forward to the next sprint.
Also I have a soft spot for this kind of dnb, and the #UBXaMini through the #nts-1 phaser reminds me of creme brulee or Cadburys Crunchy bars. Yummy in a guilty way."
Note: links to listings are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
These appear to be the first demos of the Ekdahl Quad Massager to be featured on the site. The first video is from 15 years ago.
Playlist:
1. Ekdahl Quadmassager in 4 input "mix" mode - Drew Daniel
The Ekdahl Quadmassager is a quadrophonic panner and so much more. This video is very STEREO, but should be in Quad, but, well, that's not very practical, is it?, so please go do a show in quad or see one...in the meantime visit us at the webpage in the video, or come see us at the True Vine Record Shop in Hampden in beautiful Baltimore, the City that Reads. The Quadmassager was designed and built by Karl Ekdahl of KNAS and a little bit by M.C. Schmidt of Matmos.
2. Knas Ekdahl Quad Massager As a CV mixer - Shirato_Noise
The output of the unpredictable blend of the four Fourses signals modulates the Denum.
"The Yamaha FX-1 Vintage Organ Synthesizer is a classic dual 61-key organ with a third mini-keyboard for added versatility. It features semi-weighted keys and a hybrid analog/digital design with automated sliders, making it a distinctive choice for musicians looking for a full pedal organ synth. With input & multiple outputs and a display screen, this Yamaha rare full size organ from Japan offers a wide range of creative possibilities for electronic music production. The sleek design and iconic brand reputation make it a must-have for collectors, organists and FM synthesizer enthusiasts."
"The Sequential Pro 8 is a very rare synth that was released in 1984. It essentially is a Sequential Split 8 that was manufactured in Japan for overseas markets. It has a great classic Sequential tone and kept was the "classic" Sequential look in design compared to the Split 8's more modern look. Quite a rare and awesome synth! As you might expect, it has that unmistakable Sequential sound.. amazing pads, basses, leads, efx and more. Oh.. the strings are outstanding too!
This synth is in great condition and has been checked by our technicians to ensure full functionality."
"The Ensoniq SQ-80 is an eight-voice, polyphonic, poly-timbral synthesizer, capable of playing eight different sounds at once, with dynamic stereo panning for each voice. Other luxuries include a total of 75 waveforms, a 61-note keyboard with velocity & aftertouch, and a floppy disk drive for storing patches and sequences. By combining all of this in a single integrated unit. the Enqoniq SQ-8O makes the perfect nerve center for any studio rig. This unit comes fully tested and serviced. Enclosure is in excellent condition for an instrument of this age, price reflects quality. Power cord included."
"Today a hypnotic jam with the Korg Minilogue XD and the Hologram Microcosm. So fascinating what kind of soundscape the Microcosm produces. Should use it more often. Thinking about integrating it into my modular system."
Inspired by Timeless Techniques
'Air' draws its inspiration from Brian Eno's Music for Airports and the concept of overlapping tape loops. This Ableton Max for Live plugin translates these ideas into a modern generative sequencer, enabling you to explore infinite musical possibilities without repetitive programming.
Effortless Note Generation
Forget the constraints of the piano roll. 'Air' generates notes autonomously, creating endless variations of melodies, rhythms, and harmonies. Your music becomes a living, breathing entity that evolves over time, making each moment unique.
Perfect for Experimental and Ambient Music
Whether you're crafting immersive ambient soundscapes, exploring experimental electronica, or composing intricate minimal music, "Air" provides the tools to elevate your creativity. Its generative approach ensures that no two performances are ever the same, offering a fresh perspective with every playback.
Features Designed for Limitless Inspiration
Evolving Sequences: Generate infinitely unique patterns that never repeat.
Customizable Settings: Fine-tune parameters to align with your artistic vision.
Seamless Integration: Designed for Ableton Live users who value creativity and experimentation.
Create Music That Breathes
'Air' is more than a plugin—it's a partner in creation, designed for musicians who embrace unpredictability and seek to push boundaries. Unleash the power of generative composition and let your music take flight."
"This is a video series breaking down the Tip Top Audio Buchla 200 series of modules. Deep dives, information, patch examples."
Playlist:
1. I went all in on Tiptop Buchla. Was it worth it?
This is the first part of a video series on my new Tip Top Audio Buchla 200 series modular system. Here I describe my decision-making process and my initial impressions along with some of the history that makes this system so interesting.
00:00 Why I chose Buchla
03:20 Advantages of the system
05:13 History of the Buchla 200 series
09:56 Some disadvantages
11:38 Why bother using vintage designs?
2. The Magic of Buchla Oscillators: An Exhaustive Deep Dive on the 258t and the 259t
This is part 2 of my video series on the Tiptop Audio Buchla 200 series system. In this video I focus on the 258t Dual Oscillator and the 259t Programmable Complex Waveform Generator.
00:00 Introduction
01:20 Dual oscillator features
02:58 Dual oscillator 2 FM inputs
04:54 Buchla signal types explained
07:02 259 introduction
08:09 Principle oscillator and harmonics section
11:38 Modulation oscillator
14:58 Modulation bus
18:09 ART inputs
19:31 Example patch 1
24:01 Example patch 2
30:37 Outro
3. The Low Pass Gate: The Beating Heart of Buchla Synthesizers
This video is part of a series I'm creating highlighting modules in Tiptop Audio's line of Buchla 200 reissues. Today's episode features the 292t Quad Lopass Gate as well as a discussion of Low Pass Gates in general.
00:00 Introduction
03:09 Tour of Features
04:51 Timbre and Amplitude
07:15 Buchla Bongos
08:38 Vactrols and Pinging
13:40 Filter Deep Dive
17:05 Getting A Steeper Cutoff and Resonance
20:08 Performance Patch Example and Breakdown
"A thorough look into this widely discussed and hyped module.
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Introduction
02:29 Amplifier section
05:31 Filter resonance and pinging
07:37 Oscillator section
10:02 X' and Y'
13:44 Sum and difference outputs and frequency shifting
18:36 Time constant knob and magnitude and phase outputs
22:15 Patch example 1 (Four sine waves)
27:05 Patch example 2 (Using multiple outputs at once)
32:06 Patch example 3 (Rhythmic pinging)
35:32 Patch example 4 (Ring modulated drones) and outro"
"I don't think I ever posted this one. Most probably because I hesitated (and then forgot I did the video), far to have the time and most of all the skills that others have online to describe a synth or make a demo.
I found this video made in 2024 on an external hard drive and decided this morning I'd upload it on my channel and make it public. I hope this demonstrates the wealth of features available on this modular synthesizer."
