"Testing the system for Superbooth 24 - The new modules also feature a name change as the brand is slowly moving over to Tobinski. New modules due to be released this year are:
Sequencer - 2 banks of 8 voltage sliders, each bank referenced by 2 independent 8 step sequencers for a total 4 sequencers. Each sequencer features start and end loop points plus external clock inputs. The sequencer has 8 voltage outputs, 6 gate outputs plus transport controls for the internal clock.
Sequencer Expander - Adds a host of extra functions to control each of the 4 sequencers. Including CV over loop start and end points, gate length, step order and many more...
Dual LFOs - 2 LFOs with 16 waveform types. One LFO can be synced to a clock while the other resets to an incoming pulse, plus cv and cross-modulation options for all parameters.
Harmonic Timing Generator - Can be used as a Harmonic Oscillator or Harmonic LFO that can clock each the 4 sequencers in the Sequencer module. The module features multiplier inputs x2, x3, x5 and x7 to multiply the internal oscillator or external sources. It also has 3 outputs for the multiplied waveforms that can be CV or manually addressed using the pushbutton switches or pots.
Interpolating Scanner - Internally connected to the Harmonic Timing Generator and features not only an 8 input scanner with CV options but also has 8 VCAs that act separately from the scanner with their own outputs, plus mixer outputs for ODD, ALL and EVEN for both the scanner and VCAs to allow for stereo effects among other possibilities.
Dual LPG/VCA - 2 x LPG/VCAs in one 6hp module that combine the Dannysound MM VCA based on the classic Mini Moog VCA and also the classic Buchla LPG design (used throughout this clip!) so famous for it's acoustic tone.
Come say hello at Superbooth, I'll be in the Bungalow Dorf with some other great manufacturers!"
"Sequencer synced to malekko varigate 8 doing the drums and resetting the bass line coming from sequencer CH1. Voltage block is controlling the step order of sequencer CH3 that does the percussion sounds.
Percussion and bass sounds from the EN129 and Cali oscillators using Timbre and Dual LPG/VCA modules.
Drum compression using the Dynamics with some added noise to glue the drums together a bit."
"Hello there!
Back on the 296t with part 2 of the basic overview. It's hard to call this one basic as it's pretty damn crazy, but I'm going to show you what kind of stuff can done with the envelope follower part of the module.
Brace yourself, let's dive into spectral madness.
Have fun!"
"Excerpt from Jill Fraser, Peter Grenader and Lance Hill's panel discussion at the Los Angeles premier of Wavemaker Media's documentary SUBOTNICK: Portrait of an Electronic Music Pioneer at the Philosophical Research Society on April 17th, 2024.
The discussion begins talking about Mort Subotnick's use of control tracks on A Sky of Cloudless Sulfer, a process that he developed."
"Sorry about that title. The MARF is short for the Multiple ARbitrary Function generator, a huge Buchla design carrying the model number 248, and is part of the 200 series. It's not easy to compare it with anything, but you could see it as a 16 step 0-CTRL, a Rossum Control Forge and maybe even the 250e circular Dual Arbitrary Function generator (DARF) like Frap Tools USTA. I contacted Todd Barton (thanks so much!) to be able to study a few MARF images. The sliders made me think of Mutable Stages, and the control section reminded me of Marbles. While getting lost on the way, I finally got a patch that sounded similar: 'music that sounds like dancing butterflies'. The recipe involves variable timing, notes, a quantizer, and a transpose. You may also need a trigger or gate when a segment runs or finishes. There's a lot to explore here, and I don't think you can find a MARF in a single eurorack solution. I tried to approximate it, but I also needed Maths to do envelopes and gate extraction. It took a while to make this video and I wasn't sure about the results until the very end. Then suddenly, it worked.
You'll need a lot of stuff to do it, but there may be smaller solutions. I'll revisit this idea when my Control Forge arrives and I'll be able to combine USTA with the CF.
This is a complex video so I hope it will make a bit of sense. It would have been better to figure all this out and then make a video. But you'd be missing the fun of exploration. There are plenty of useful examples of how 'factory' Stages can be used, but I installed the Qiemem firmware for max flexibility. In the end I only used its 'random segment' feature in this video, but it doesn't play a role in the MARF patch. You can do this with factory Stages but it still requires a chain of 2 or 3. You can use any sequencer with a clock input for this. A DFAM will also help you to cover the time/level sequence.
Installation requires playing a .WAV into the module which can be bit of a drag. I recommend using a eurorack sample player like the BitBox for a high success ratio. Using a phone, PC or pad can be a nightmare. Also, I am not sure if the firmware works on a clone, please comment if you tried it. https://github.com/qiemem/eurorack/re...
I am still trying to wrap my head around it. Even though Stages and Marbles are now discontinued, they're easy to find as fully functional clones. With Eurorack, we have the 'power' to build our own synths, or get inspired by designs which are still amazing and modern after +50 years. I hope it inspires you too."
"100% pure Easel. Not your typical Easel patch...I developed Click Textures for the Easel Program Manager Card, you can download all my patches here: https://buchla.com/programmanager/
This is that patch in Both mode which allows me to sculpt it in realtime.
Big shoutout to all my patrons on my Patreon that makes this exploration and all my tutorial/demo videos possible!! Love you!
My Patreon: / synthtodd
"Here is the follow up video I promised, briefly explaining and demonstrating the 'flute' patch I discovered recently. This simple patch involves an external input / preamp module with an envelope follower, an oscillator with timbre control / wave shaping and a vca. Adding a noise source as a secondary sound, opening it with a similar envelope, can really add to the illusion that its a flute. I am taking the envelope follower from the aux in, and patching that to amplitude and timbre of the complex oscillator. There is also a pulse generated every time I blow into the mic. The pulse tells a sequencer to advance, changing the note you hear every time you blow into the mic. Thank you for checking out my video! If you are interested, you can see me make improvised music live on twitch at"
"The Buchla 400 was the prototype for what has became the modern digital audio workstation. Multiple software programs, sophisticated user interface and pre-midi external digital interfacing were all present on this design from 1981. In Part 1 : Overview - we take a look at the 400 Series concept."
"Karlheinz Essl's experiments with Ernst Krenek's legendary BUCHLA 100 modular synthesizer, built by Don Buchla in 1967. After its renovation in 2017, it is now exhibited at the Ernst Krenek Foundation in Krems, Austria."
"Modified Ace Tone 'Rhythm Ace FR8-L' coupled with a Kesako 'Player'. Reconnecting my pin matrix and jamming.
I'm using the pin matrix prototype I made for the Mos-lab 2500 with the FR8-L = 10 instruments are connected to the matrix and 30 different clock combinations."
"This is 'Luna part II'. I'm performing with my Buchla Easel Command 208C, Strymon Volante and Strymon Nightsky. The audio is sampled continuously on the Elektron Octatrack in two alternating recording buffers. The third track is trigging the samples and adds various effects. The final piece was recorded onto a compact cassette.
The moon was recorded with a Panasonic DC-G9 with a Leica DG Vario Elmarit 100-400mm lens mounted on an Olympus telekonverter MC-20 (2X zoom)."
00:00 Opening Titles
00:31 Introduction
01:20 Little Black Boxes
04:37 Switched On Cybersynths
17:46 Synthesiser Club
21:23 Commercial Break
23:05 Patching Today
37:53 Video Lab
40:26 Outro
"Episode six of the second series of the TV program from Benge, made at his Memetune Electronic Music Studio, and the final episode of the season
The series explores his passion for vintage synthesiser instruments and studio gear and how he uses it on his productions and collaborations
LITTLE BLACK BOXES - The Kawai k1m was a small desktop version of the K1 layer synth, introduced in 1988. Today I sequence it from an Atari ST running C-Lab Notator
SWITCHED ON CYBERSYNTHS - Patching it all together: after a brief section on quantising both pitch and time, I attempt to patch together all of the Memetune modulars (12 vintage systems!) in a giant Cybersynthesis monster patch
SYNTHESISER CLUB - Today, its more Yamahas, including a QX1 sequencer, RX5 drum machine, TQ5 FM synth module, REX50 multi FX, SY85 layer synth and a MT1X 4-multi-track cassette recorder
COMMERCIAL BREAK - Some adverts for Memetune related goodies, including the new Memetune Annual 2024 (sort of😁)
PATCHING TODAY - Taking the wonky Roland System 100 for a ride
VIDEO LAB - In this episode we take the meme-mobile for a spin!
