"This is a very rare synthesizer, the Moog MuSonics SONIC V, from 1972. Only 100 of these were made, and this is serial number 90. They were only available in 1971 and 72 when Moog joined MuSonics. I bought it many years ago in Buffalo New York, the same town where they were created. I took it to original inventor Gene Zumchak who still lived in Buffalo and he signed it for me on the front panel. He said he had not seen one since 1972 and never signed one before or since.
It is in all-working condition, 2 oscillators, 2 lfos, low pass filter, ring modulator, envelope generator, and VCA. (These are very similar in design to the later Sonic 6, which was a redesigned by Bob Moog and Dave Luce.) in some ways I consider this superior to the Minimoog, has it allows wilder and crazier modulation - plus the ringmodulator. As we say, it sounds more like a 'baby Moog modular.'
Please see the YouTube video I made a while ago, showing how great and fascinating this instrument can be." You can find them in previous posts here.
"Synthesizers had it hard in Socialist East-Germany - Socialist Realism was for a long time the prevailing art form. An instrument that creates unreal sounds was not endorsed by the SED leadership. Only in the waning years of the GDR (or DDR as it is called in German) that changed, with the Vermona Synthesizer coming out in 1982. The first officially sanctioned modular synthesizer, the Audiotronic AMS3 featured in this video was built between 1986 and 1988 for the Electro-Acoustic Studio of the Akademie der Künste.
"The Seabro Gig Machine!
Check out the mentioned samples and songs from this video available to download here :-
/ lookmumnocomputer
Which helps the constant improvement of @THISMUSEUMISNOTOBSOLETE info here :-
https://this-museum-is-not-obsolete.com/"
"It was an honor for me to interview John Chowning who is directly responsible for the way we create music today in every genre! His visionary ideas have profoundly shaped contemporary music creation, including the integration of computers, AI, digital synthesis, sound sharing, and surround sound.
He stands as a monumental figure in 21st-century music, renowned for his pioneering contributions as a composer, musician, and educator. As the founding director of the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) at Stanford University, Chowning made groundbreaking strides in the field. His historic discovery of FM synthesis not only became one of Stanford’s most valuable patents but also paved the way for Yamaha’s DX7 synthesizer through their licensing of FM sound synthesis technology.
Another important aspect of Chowning's work is the simulated motion of sound through physical space creating an illusion of a continuous 360-degree space using only four speakers. John’s boundless curiosity and groundbreaking achievements have established him as a bright shining beacon of inspiration for musicians everywhere.
00:00 - Cold Open
00:42 - intro
02:27 - Read to Discovery
06:15 - Stanford & Early Electronic Music
14:26 - Discovering FM Synthesis
19:25 - The FM Enlightenment
23:14 - Yamaha DX7
31:09 - Synclavier VS Yamaha
36:02 - FM Made Simple
43:04 - The Power of Timbre
51:09 - Where are we now?"
"Some rare footage of the inventor and pioneer of modular synthesis, Harald Bode, showing off his modular synth which pre-dates the Moog by over half a decade.
"These days I have the honour to play one of the earliest Buchla 100 synthesizer. Dating from 1967 (number 12 in the books) and owned by Austrian composer Ernst Krenek, this beautiful instrument is located in Krems an Donau, Austria. This is an excerpt of an impro working on gamelan repetitions that is going to be released on a future album. Thanks to the Ernst Krenek Institut / AIR Residency program.
Thanks to the Ernst Krenek Institute and AIR Residency.
"Alberto Novello playing one of the first produced Buchla Synthesizers (number 12), series 100 purchased by the Austrian composer Ernst Krenek in 1967.
"This video is a historical, technical, and musical deep dive into the Buchla 100 Series Modular System at the Mills College Center for Contemporary Music. This instrument was the first voltage controllable modular synthesizer built by Don Buchla—it was delivered to the San Francisco Tape Music Center in the mid-1960s.
In this video we’ll start with a brief historical overview of the Buchla 100 Series Modular System and the San Francisco Tape Music Center. Then, we’ll unpack everything that’s inside the instrument module by module. Finally, I’ll share some of the quirks of this particular instrument, and lots of patch examples to illustrate its unique voice and character.
As I was getting to know this instrument, I tried to keep in mind the circumstances surrounding its development—the people who contributed to it, the time in which it emerged, and the state of electronic music at the time of its invention. These thoughts greatly inspired my approach to working with the instrument and are present throughout this video.
It’s a rare opportunity to be able to work with a historical instrument like this one. I have always been super inspired by Buchla’s work in general, but like many people have had few opportunities to work with his original instruments. Instead, much of my experience has been through newer instruments inspired by his designs. Being able to work closely with this instrument was an incredibly inspiring and clarifying experience that allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of Buchla’s own creative and technical development, as well as the multitude of music, modern modules, and instruments that have been inspired by his work.
Special thank you to Mills College for letting us spend a week in the electronic music studio working with the Buchla 100; to The Buchla Archives and Ryan Gaston for helping to put this video together; and also to all of the amazing folks in my Patreon community for your support in helping to bring educational projects like this one to life!
Learn more / join the waitlist for Learning Sound and Synthesis, my online modular synthesis and sound design class: https://www.soundandsynthesis.com
Join my Patreon community for behind-the-scenes content, unreleased music, and extended tutorials: sarahbellereid
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Historical Overview: Buchla 100 + the San Francisco Tape Music Center
7:38 Mills Buchla 100 System Overview
14:27 Timbre in the Mills Buchla 100
18:29 Chaos in the Mills Buchla 100
21:52 Voltage Control Quirks
25:00 Sequencing Tactics: Triggered Segments
30:40 Sequencing Tactics: Extended Sequences
32:06 More Patches + Sounds
32:36 Ring Modulated Reverb Patch
34:40 Keyboard Chaos Patch
36:55 Gated Voice Patch
38:29 Wonky Drum Machine Patch
38:57 Triggered Gestures Patch
39:14 Transposed FM Sequence Patch
39:48 Bell Tones Patch
40:27 Touch Controlled Ratchet Patch
41:00 Sequenced Melodic Patch
Sarah Belle Reid is a performer-composer, active in the fields of electroacoustic trumpet performance, intermedia arts, music technology, and improvisation.
"In the Spring of 2024, Reid spent a week at the Center for Contemporary Music at Mills College, where she worked closely with their original Buchla 100 modular synthesizer system. This specific instrument’s historical significance can’t be overstated. It was the very first voltage controllable modular synthesizer that the now-famous artist, inventor, and electronic musical instrument designer Donald Buchla built in the mid 1960s—indeed, one of the very first modular synthesizers altogether. In its time, this specific system has been used by countless inspiring and influential musicians, such as Pauline Oliveros, Morton Subotnick, Suzanne Ciani, Warner Jepson, and others.
The video begins with a brief historical overview of the Buchla 100 Series Modular System and the San Francisco Tape Music Center. Then, Reid unpacks everything that’s inside the instrument module by module, with sound demos and examples. Finally, she shares some of the unique quirks of the Mills Buchla 100 instrument, and patch examples of how the instrument can be used to create a wide range of music and sounds."
"This is the Optronics Workstation, an Australian synth made for composer Keith Humble around 1970. It could be controlled by brainwaves…
The Optronics Workstation contains an EMS VCS1 – you can see the controls in the bottom right corner. Yes, a VCS1, not the VCS3 that EMS eventually marketed. The VCS1 was the first synth made by British company EMS. Three were created, the original, known as the Don Banks Music Box, can be seen above in the last image. It was made in 1968, predating the VCS3 by 12 months and many say it was the commission from Don Banks that led to the formation of EMS, so perhaps without it, there would be no other EMS synths.
Humble’s Optronics was built by an engineer called Graham Thirkell around the VCS1. It is perhaps the world’s first electronic workstation, containing a mixer, a synth and FX, all of which are inter-patchable.
In the centre is the 'Mindreader' or 'OmniVoila'. Players attach an electrode to their temples and this device read the signals and turned it into voltage to produce sound or modulation. On the left side is a three-channel mixer for three external line inputs, plus a send for a delay. Top right is a patch panel where voltages can be routed to create sound or modulation. Above that you can see two ring modulators. It also has an in-built spring reverb.
Humble was a huge early proponent of electronic music in Australia. He founded the Electronic Music Studio at Melbourne Universities’ Grainger Centre and the music school at La Trobe University, Melbourne.
The Optronics Workstation is now in the collection of MESS, the non-profit Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio. They are fantastic people who preserve and restore vintage instruments and encourage people to come in and play with them. Humble’s Optronics still works, so if you’re in Melbourne or near there, drop them a line and go say hello.
They were going to send me some video of it in action but I think they’re too slammed. I’ve included the only audio I could find that might be the Optronics in action. It might not be, though. But it was made by Keith Humble about a year after he started working with the Optronics and given that it was his only synth at the time, I think there's a good chance the audio was made with the Optronics."
"Various – Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center
Label: Columbia Masterworks – MS 6566 Format: Vinyl, LP, Stereo Country: US Released: Apr 1964 Genre: Electronic Style: Experimental, Electroacoustic
A1 Bülent Arel– Stereo Electronic Music No. 1 Composed By – Bülent Arel A2 Halim El-Dabh– Leiyla And The Poet Composed By – Halim El-Dabh A3 Vladimir Ussachevsky– Creation - Prologue Chorus – The Little Chorus Of Macalester College Chorus Master – Ian Morton Composed By – Vladimir Ussachevsky B1 Milton Babbitt– Composition For Synthesizer Composed By, Synthesizer – Milton Babbitt B2 Mario Davidovsky– Electronic Study No. 1 Composed By – Mario Davidovsky B3 Otto Luening– Gargoyles Composed By – Otto Luening Violin [Solo] – Max Pollikoff
"A video from the Australian Broadcasting Company about a composer and inventor called Percy Grainger, who made electronic instruments in the 1950s that would follow a curving line to create pitch and music. He physically made the curving line out of thick sheets of card and fed them into the machine, controlling the pitch of an oscillator."
