Instrument Designer: Rare Buchla 700 Synth Coming to Software on Mac, Windows & iOS

via modosc designs

"a modern interpretation of the buchla 700, coming soon for mac, windows, and ios."


If you are not familiar with the Buchla 700, check out Chimeror by Benge on Vintage Buchla 700. According to that post, only about 12 of these machines were ever produced, and there are possibly only 4 working examples left in existence.

Update: Some additional info via modosc designs:

On the developer: "Jonathan Schatz has spent his life pursuing dual passions of music and computing, occasionally simultaneously. One of these convergences led to working with Don Buchla on the 200e system for several years. The latest such convergence is Modosc Designs."

FAQ:

"What is Instrument Designer?
Instrument Designer is a software synthesizer inspired by the Buchla 700.

Ok, what is the Buchla 700?
The Buchla 700 is a 12 voice 4 operator FM synth released in 1987 and designed by Don Buchla. There are several main ways the 700 differentiates itself from the other FM synths common in the industry at that time:

Each algorithm outputs through two independant waveshapers. This allows a single instrument defintion to output two different audio signals without requiring a separate stacked voice. This also increases the sonic palette by allowing a user to easily create non-sinusoid waveforms.

The waveshapers are cousins to the ones use in the Buchla Touche, Buchla 400 and the Buchla 259e. They are quite unique and use some interesting waveshaping techniques.

Each voice has 13 complex envelopes which control almost every aspect of the sound algorithm. The envelopes have a unique exponential display, are programmable with an arbitrary number of breakpoints, and include programmable features such as looping.

Programming was simplified with the help of a graphical user interface and an external monitor.

What does it sound like?

There weren't a lot of these produced so there's not that much out there, but what is out there is quite interesting:

Charles Cohen — Generator
Benge — Chimeror
Ode To Gravity — this is from the release party for the 700 and includes interviews with Don
So what happened to it?
The instrument never became very popular and today is one of the rarer of Don Buchla's instruments (which says a lot). The software itself was never finished, and the video card which connected up the external display was unreliable and eventually end-of-lifed by Intel. Probably 15-20 of these were made - I personally know of 3, of which only 1 currently works.

Why hasn't anyone made a reissue?
Good question. The design is quite complicated and includes 4 separate computers as well as a large membrane input surface. It would certainly be possible to build but it wouldn't be a cheap endevor, and unlike other recent reissues it probably wouldn't be a big seller - it's likely the most difficult instrument of Don's to use.

So why are you bothering?
I love the sound of Don's wavetable synths (specifically the 259e) and I've spent a lot of time implementing and reimplenting various related algorithms. I had the opportunity to play around with a 700 a few years back and the idea was hatched there.

Are you using the original source code?
No. This entire project was implemented using a scan of the original 700 manual as the spec (which was the usual Don way of doing things). You can view the original source code here, which is interesting because it seemingly contains code used for a NASA project as well:

Set ON_B700 non-zero to get a Buchla 700 PROM, or zero to get a NASA 3D Helmet Display PROM.

That source dump from Lynx Crowe is unfortunately incomplete but there is a project that's managed to get it to boot. Unfortunately the source code only includes some of the controller code and none of the DSP code so currently there's no sound generation.

Where can I learn more about the Buchla 700?
The Buchla 700 Preservation Page
Notes on the Buchla 700 audio synthesizer
Buchla 700 archeology
Buchla 700
Chimeror by Benge
The Buchla 700 Emulation Project
Alessandro Cortini of Nine Inch Nails playing a Buchla 700 in Twin Peaks — I don't know if the sound is actually 700 or not but who cares?"

The Buchla 400

via The Buchla Archives (@buchla_archives)

"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."

You can find the full post here.

ID700 - Software Synth Based on the Buchla 700

via https://modo.sc/id700/

Available on the App Store here.

"In 1987 Don Buchla released the Buchla 700 synthesizer. It was the next logical step from Don's previous digital synths (the Buchla 400, Touche, Buchla 500) but was also influenced by the synth trends of the 1980's, specifically FM synthesis and the all-in-one workstation concept. As usual, Don was ahead of the curve and the 700 never took off. Very few were sold and even fewer functioning units exist today. I always loved the sound of Don's digital oscillators, and combined with the scarcity of the instrument it seemed like a fun project to recreate it in software and reintroduce its concepts to the world.

ID700 is a software synthesizer based on the voice architecture of the Buchla 700. Like many of Don's other designs, sound generation is achieved primarily via FM synthesis and waveshaping. Each voice is made up of sixteen individual modules:

four Oscillators
six Indexes
two Waves
one Morph
one Filter
one Amplifier
one Location

The Oscillators, Indexes, and Waves are configured in one of twelve preset Algorithms, all of which feed into the fixed signal paths of the Morph, Filter, Amplifier, and Location modules.

Each of the Oscillator, Index, Morph, Filter, Amplifier, and Location modules have their own dedicated complex Envelope for modulation.

The Wave modules provide wavetable synthesis using Chebyshev polynomials and include additional waveshaping functionality.

Arbitrary tunings are supported via the Scala Tuning File format.

MIDI and MPE are supported (note: not all hosts support MPE).

The iOS version supports AUv3 and IAA."

Update: demos posted here.

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October by Shasta Cults

All Buchla 400 EP from Shasta Cults, available on Bandcamp and Hard Wax.

Shasta Cults recently released Configurations featuring the Buchla 700. Excellent album BTW.

Image of the Buchla 400 below via @buchla_archives

Buchla 400 Piece 1 by Alessandro Cortini

Published on Dec 28, 2017 Alessandro Cortini

"First score on a newly restored Buchla 400"

Buchla 400 Electronic Musical Instrument - Description and Specifications Brochure

via Glen Darcy

"I found a an old brochure for the Buchla 400 that I had laying around. This I got from West LA Music in about 1983, they had one for sale there. It was not on, either due to nobody knowing how to use it or it was broken....but I remember drooling over how cool it looked."

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Original Vintage Buchla 400 Modular Synthesizer Cabinet, 200 Compatible

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

See the seller's other items for more.

"Super rare and original vintage Buchla 400 / 200 modular synthesizer cabinet in near mint optical conditions. PSU fully working, 110 volts, or 220/240 with some jumpers modifications on the transformers pins. The aluminum boat inside is original too as the connection strip and wires.

It's a rare occasion, extremely hard to find!"

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Stereo Transfer Function Synthesizer - Proof of Concept (Teensy)

video upload by Ryan Gaston

"A simple demonstration of some of the sounds yielded from a simple Teensy-based synthesizer. This is a proof of concept more than anything else; ultimately, this will be integrated into a more complete instrument.

The internal signal path is based on a combination of phase modulation, frequency modulation, and digital waveshaping via arbitrarily constructed transfer functions. Three oscillators intertwine in various ways, each contributing to the sound's instantaneous timbre, pitch, loudness, and sense of spatial location. The use of many internal feedback/feedforward nodes enhances the potential for chaotic, unpredictable sonic structures.

Originally, the idea was to create a stereo oscillator with transfer function-based waveshaping; however, I found that with a sufficiently knotted internal signal flow, it was possible to achieve a pretty astonishing range of animated sounds using relatively limited means. Though very much inspired by the Hordijk Blippoo Box, Hordijk Benjolin, Serge Wave Multipliers, Buchla Touché, Buchla 400, Buchla 700, and Buchla 259e, and some experimental works by Larry Polansky, I'm finding that there's much more sonic territory to be explored utilizing the bizarre combination of feedback and waveshaping via arbitrary transfer functions.

Again, I hope to continue to expand this into a more complete, performable instrument. But for now, enjoy some noise."

The $500 Buchla

Title link takes you to a bit of Buchla history.
Excerpt:
"In contrast to Moog's industrial stance, the rather counter-cultural design philosophy of DONALD BUCHLA and his voltage-controlled synthesizers can partially be attributed to the geographic locale and cultural circumstances of their genesis. In 1961 San Francisco was beginning to emerge as a major cultural center with several vanguard composers organizing concerts and other performance events. MORTON SUBOTNICK was starting his career in electronic music experimentation, as were PAULINE OLIVEROS, RAMON SENDER and TERRY RILEY. A primitive studio had been started at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music by Sender where he and Oliveros had begun a series of experimental music concerts. In 1962 this equipment and other resources from electronic surplus sources were pooled together by Sender and Subotnick to form the San Francisco Tape Music Center which was later moved to Mills College in 1966.

Because of the severe limitations of the equipment, Subotnick and Sender sought out the help of a competent engineer in 1962 to realize a design they had concocted for an optically based sound generating instrument. After a few failures at hiring an engineer they met DONALD BUCHLA who realized their design but subsequently convinced them that this was the wrong approach for solving their equipment needs. Their subsequent discussions resulted in the concept of a modular system. Subotnick describes their idea in the following terms:

'Our idea was to build the black box that would be a palette for composers in their homes. It would be their studio. The idea was to design it so that it was like an analog computer. It was not a musical instrument but it was modular...It was a collection of modules of voltage-controlled envelope generators and it had sequencers in it right off the bat...It was a collection of modules that you would put together. There were no two systems the same until CBS bought it...Our goal was that it should be under $400 for the entire instrument and we came every close. That's why the original instrument I fundraised for was under $500.'

Buchla's design approach differed markedly from Moog. Right from the start Buchla rejected the idea of a "synthesizer" and has resisted the word ever since. He never wanted to "synthesize" familiar sounds but rather emphasized new timbral possibilities. He stressed the complexity that could arise out of randomness and was intrigued with the design of new control devices other than the standard keyboard. pp39-40"

Anyone else thinking Starkey? Coincidentally the recent Starkey went for $541 on the bay. Yeah, I know I'm stretching it...

via Peter Grenader on AH.

Buchla 200e Analog vs. Digital

Update. Some notes worth posting via the comments:

Rick: "correction the new 261e Osc uses digital sine generation with pure analogue waveshaping.. where as the 259e uses digital generation and waveshaping in the form of "non-linear digital waveshaping"... read about this process..no other manufacturer offers this. FYI the Buchla 500, 300, 400 and 700 all used digital Oscillators with analogue output stages as is done in the 200e.. this is nothing new for Don.. it dates back to the early 70's instruments. in most cases the ear cant precieve the difference between an analogue or digitally generated sine tone...mine can't anyway."

Orth: "Well, after reading the FAQ, maybe we should just say that the Buchla is beyond traditional definitions of analog v digital. I mean jeez, that monster is something else at that point. a/d/a/d/a/d/a/d/a/d/a "

There's been some interesting discussion on the Buchla 200e on AH, including it's high price tag. You can pick and chose modules, but the listed systems start at $9300 and go on up to $27,400. See for yourself. What I actually found most interesting is that the system is a digital and anlog hybrid with fully digital oscillators. Buchlas are considered to be the holy grail in the synthesizer world along with just a few select others. Their sound and flexibility are considered to be worth it's high price. What's interesting to me is that one of the most common arguments you hear in the analog vs. digital debate is how analog sounds warmer and somehow better than digital. Some even argue that DCOs, digitally controlled oscillators, aren't truly analog and do not sound as good as their counterpart VCOs, voltage controlled oscillators. Yet Buchla went with digital. It's interesting when you consider the quality and pricetag of a Buchla. The title link takes you to the 200e faq which explains why.

An Interview with Barry Schrader

Hi everyone! As you know Barry Schrader will be giving his farewell concert at CalArts on September 26. The following is the beginning of my interview with him. I opted to post the questions and answers as they come in.  New QAs will get a new post so you do not miss them and they will be added to this post so we have one central post for the full interview. This should make it easier for all of us to consume in our busy lives, and it will allow you to send in any questions that may come to mind during the interview process.  If you have anything you'd like to ask Barry, feel free to send it in to matrixsynth@gmail.com.  This is a rare opportunity for us to get insight on a significant bit of synthesizer history, specifically with early Buchla systems, and I'd like to thank Barry for this opportunity. Thank you Barry!

CLICK FOR MORE »

Shasta Cults - Buchla Touché Waveshapes

Published on Apr 8, 2018 Shasta Cults

This is the first video ever featuring the graphic output of the Buchla Touché waveshapes, from currently the ONLY Buchla Touché with the ability to display them. This is as rare as it gets in the synth world.

"The Touché uses non linear wave shaping for timbre generation, same as the 360, 400, 700 and 259e (a distortion based wave shaping technique).  It has 9 native  wave shape tables (6 user programmable). A sine wave is generated digitally and then sent through the selected table. Timbre is effected by the amplitude of the sine wave, so it accents high and low harmonics more, based on sine wave level.  Timbre modulation was Don Buchla's wave shape technique. This particular Touché is a development model that will display wave shapes, as well as allow you can program your own…  if you can figure it out." See this page for some technical info on Waveshaping from ussb.edu.

The following was composed on the Touché using sine waves.



You can find previous posts featuring the rare Buchla Touché here.

Barry Schrader, Morton Subotnick and John Payne - CalArts studio B-304

"The following flickr stream was from CalArts studio B-304 taken in the fall of 1976 featuring Barry Schrader, Morton Subotnick and John Payne and a whole lotta Buchla 500. John as you may remember came up a couple of months ago on Matrixsynth in the posting regarding Mort's use of the 300 at Ircam [link]. He went on in later years to become the Assistant Dean of the CIA School of Music and founder of it's Music Tech department. Photo b_304.2 has a good view of the entire studio, save the three other JBL's which are out of frame (it was a quad studio - there was one in each corner)."

b_304.1 pictured.
"Barry Schrader, Morton Subotnick and John Payne stand in front of the Buchla 500 in CalArts' sudio B-304 in the fall of 1976."

via Peter Grenader. 


Posts featuring Barry Schrader
Posts featuring Morton Subotnic
Posts featuring John Payne

Update: As always check the comments for more info.

via Peter:

"There are two more 500's that I know off - at Evergreen and another somewhere in Europe (pardon the senior moment, i don't remember where exactly). This is not to say there aren't others...I'm just not aware of any. The one in the photo here was the first - the development system Don constructed while on staff at CalArts. I do know the 500 was adondoned quickly and resurfaced as the 300 series which included direct routing of computer control the various modules (259 VCO and 292C Gate for example) -and- the digital VCOs."

"the box screwed into the side of the main cabinet is a speaker selector which i f i remember correctly wasn't on line. Another bit of trivia - this was taken about the time of Mort's Game Room project that Gary Chang, Jill Frazer, Darrell Johansen, Sue Harvey and I worked on. The room next to 304 (other side of the wall which is shown behind the Buchla) was 305. It had a large 100 system (three cabinets) and for the Game Room we cut a hole in the base of that wall to run audio cables out from the tape machines to play quad audio snippets into the game area. This also took signals directly from the game board in 305 where signals were decoded and sent to the various controllers (audio, film, Buchla-controlled OCR light dimmers, etc.).

Against the other wall - opposite the one behind the 500 - was studi oB-303, which was pretty much a duplicate of this one sans the computer control - so it was a 200 studio, not a 500 studio. It also had the huge JBL monitors which were hung form the ceiling on metal brackets made by Chas Smith (which are still in place today). There's a photo of 303 at Barry's Schrader's website: link

Most people preferred working in 303, mainly because the 258's were easier to get to. On the 500 system they were all on the top row, which was a pain for most. The upside - studio time was easy to book in 304 for this reason I spent a lot of the early mornings here - tarting usually at 4AM and going until classes began around 9."

via an anonymous comment:
"Evergreen has/had an early 300 its computer is non functional. There were 3 500s from what i understand, 1 went to Norway, 1 to a campus studio in NY and the 3rd was of course at CalArts..

the Norway one was moved around a lot as it was purchased by 2 or 3 studios/organizations and because of its fragile nature it didnt survive.. it was apparently parted out after it became nonfunctional.

The CalARTs system was also disassembled and parts were sold to various buyers around the US in the famouse 90's sale ..nobody is too sure what happened to the digial components..

the 3rd that was in NY was sold to a collector in the 90's, tho it should be noted that that system was returned to Buchla for upgrading/overhaul in the late 70's and was reassembled with 300 series components, so it is more of a 300 now then 500... I don't believe it has been tested or turned on in over a decade.

another note, there were 2 versions of the 300.. the early system used tech from the 500 (the gating matrix for example - which controlled early versions of the 281 and 292B gates - the remote function on later 281s and 292Cs was never implemented) the later 300s were more of a self contained system ( with 200 modules for processing ) which eventually became the Touché and the 400."

AHMW 2016 Synth Meet Set for April 23rd

Additional details here.

"This year's theme: SIXTEEN

Bring something with SIXTEEN of SOMETHING...

Sixteen voices, Sixteen steps, Sixteen knobs, etc.

The annual Get-Together will be Saturday, April 23rd at the PHHS Media Center.

I'll have the doors open at 10:00am. All synthgeekgearheads are encouraged to join us and spend some time with awesome gear and great people.

Past gear includes:
All sorts of Modulars (MOTM, DotCom, Euro, Blacet, Metalbox, Wiard, Cynthia, Modcan, Serge, Buchla)
Moog: Minimoog, Voyager, Prodigy, Polymoog, MemoryMoog, Taurus (I & III)
ARP: 2600, Quadra, Odyssey
Oberheim: Xpander, OB8, OB-X (and crOwBX!), OB-1, Two Voice, Four Voice
Sequential: Pro 1, Prophet 5 (rev 2 & 3), Prophet T-8, Prophet 2000
Roland: Juno 6, Jupiter 4, Jupiter 6, Jupiter 8, RS-101, SH-09, SH-101, SH-3a,
TB-303, TR-505, TR-606, TR-707, TR-808, TR-909, System 100, System 700
Korg: MS-20, PS-3100, Trident, Lambda
Yamaha: CS-15, SY-2, CS-80, SK-30
Also: VCS3, Putney, PPG, SunSyn, Polygamist, Buchla 400, Rhodes, Hammond
And DIY gear, and much more!

Location is between Lagrange and Angola in northeast Indiana.

AHMW 2015 This Saturday April 18th!

AHMW 2014 - A look at last years event.

"This year's theme: HYBRID

The annual Get-Together will be Saturday, April 18th at the PHHS Media Center. I'll have the doors open at 9:00am. All synthgeekgearheads are encouraged to join us and spend some time with awesome gear and great people.

Past gear includes:
All sorts of Modulars (MOTM, DotCom, Euro, Blacet, Metalbox, Wiard, Cynthia, Modcan, Serge, Buchla)
Moog: Minimoog, Voyager, Prodigy, Polymoog, MemoryMoog, Taurus (I & III)
ARP: 2600, Quadra, Odyssey
Oberheim: Xpander, OB8, OB-X (and crOwBX!), OB-1, Two Voice, Four Voice
Sequential: Pro 1, Prophet 5 (rev 2 & 3), Prophet T-8, Prophet 2000
Roland: Juno 6, Jupiter 4, Jupiter 6, Jupiter 8, RS-101, SH-09, SH-101, SH-3a,
TB-303, TR-505, TR-606, TR-707, TR-808, TR-909, System 100, System 700
Korg: MS-20, PS-3100, Trident, Lambda
Yamaha: CS-15, SY-2, CS-80, SK-30
Also: VCS3, Putney, PPG, SunSyn, Polygamist, Buchla 400, Rhodes, Hammond
And DIY gear, and much more!"

Full details here.

Buchla 400

flickr set By kbr111
(click for more)

Update via Don Garbutt in the comments: "I worked on this model at IRCAM in the early '80s. It kept overheating, so they flew Don Buchla to Paris to turn a fan screw with a screwdriver!"

Martin J. Newcomb: The Museum of Synthesizer Technology

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
via this auction

"The Museum of Synthesizer Technology by Martin J. Newcombe (Privately Printed July 1994, First Printing; softcovers)

Scarce 118-page publication illustrating the collection of the short-lived (1994-1997) Museum of Synthesizer Technology in Berkshire.

Contents:

Foreword by Bob Moog
Aims and Services of the Museum
The Exhibits
A Voyage of Discovery
History of the Synthesizer
Moog - History of the Company
Moog - The Range of Instruments
Oberheim
E-mu
Buchla
Sequential
Arp
Polyfusion
EML
EMS
EDP
Roland
Miscellaneous

Including the synthesizers:

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Buchla speaks

Buchla speaks from Giorgio Sancristoforo on Vimeo.

"A boring (short), but educative video about formant filtering with the 291e Buchla Triple Morphing Filter.

Thanks to the internal stage sequencer it is possible to program the 3 bandpass filter for simple vocal formants sequences.

oversimple work, just tweaked the freqs... I could do better with bandwidth and amplitude tweaks... but whatever... it sounds fun :)

these are correct in italian.. I suppose that vowels in english have different formants...

tenor "a"
freq (Hz)
650
1080
2650

tenor "e"
freq (Hz)
400
1700
2600

tenor "i"
freq (Hz)
290
1870
2800

tenor "o"
freq (Hz)
400
800
2600

tenor "u"
freq (Hz)
350
600
2700"

Buchla & Korg SQ 10'

Published on May 4, 2016 Ebotronix

Update: part 2 with a cat:

Buchla & Korg SQ 10²



Buchla System #1
Korg SQ 10 Sequencer & Master Clock
Maestro Ringmodulator
4ms QCD / Expander
Moog CP 251 (SQ 10 Clock Speed and QCD Ratching)
Lexicon MPX 100, MX 400
Make Noise Format Jumper
Alesis 3630
Aphex model 104
Rocktron Rack Interface²
Rane SM 26
Yamaha MCS 2
mackie the mixer²
vid # 1505

buchla 1

YouTube via otisvue.
"patched without using 250e module which is the circular one in the middle of unit (a sequencer, to simplify)"
Funny note: this video reminded me of something I couldn't quite figure out at first. I then realized I had a pawn shop dream last night. In the dream, I had some formal appointment and had to head into the city (not a real city but one of those imagined ones). Anyway I see a pawn shop and decide to get off the bus and walk back to it. I get in and there are a number of synths all relatively overpriced, a DW8000 for $745 and a few synths that don't actually exist but I knew them in my dream. In the corner is a dusty 200e with a about 8 modules in it. I talk to the owner of the shop and he says he's going out of business and closing down soon. I ask him how much for this one (the buchla) and he says 18k and it needed a little work! I of course think, shoot! It's the same price as a new one with problems to boot. At the same time I'm a little relieved as I will not be spending money this time. I then head out for my appointment, no Buchla in hand. I totally forgot about this dream until seeing this vid. I love synth dreams, especially pawn shop ones. There was a time when I was having them every other night. You know you have GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) going when this happens. The best thing is when you find deals in real life and for a split second you literally think, oh no, another synth dream I'm going to wake up from. I picked up a TR-909 for $190 once, a JD-800 for $600 CDN (about $400 US), and a Pro-One for $125, all when prices were high for each. Each one had me wondering if I was going to wake up.