Charles Cohen - New Flickr Shot

flickr by antfactor. For more on Charles Cohen see this post. Title takes you to Flickr.

Charles Cohen's Buchla on Flickr

Nice shot of Charles Cohen's Buchla on Flickr.

Post-Cohen

flickr by morganfitzp

full size

"Charles Cohen's instrument after a show with Erik Ruin at the Physick House in Philadelphia."

MonoMachine and MachineDrum

flickr by Chris Randall of Analog Industries.

full size

Update: The images where captured with a LensBaby 3G. The same lens used in the Charles Cohen Buchla Music Easel video. You can find more info including another shot of the MOOG Source on Analog Industries.

Charles Cohen Buchla Music Easel Pics and MP3s

See the updates in this post.

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?"

Reaktor Blocks West Kept Secrets vol.1

Published on Aug 3, 2016 VoltageCtrlRtv

"West Kept Secrets Vol.1 is a collection of live improvised modular synth compositions inspired by the west coast synthesis perspective explored by composers like Morton Subotnick, Don Buchla, Charles Cohen and Todd Barton. Even though the compositions are influenced by the aforementioned composers, I embark on a sonic journey adding my own experiences and influences to this creative school of thought.

This project is made with Native Instruments Reaktor6 Blocks software and an analog modular synthesizer.

Each ensemble includes all the snapshots that were saved as I performed the patch plus a lot of snapshots not recorded on the project for you to explore.

Available at: https://gum.co/voltagectrlr"

New Esoteric Friend Triadex Muse VS Bahntier Random

Published on Apr 12, 2012 Creatures From the Black

"The Triadex Muse is a sequencer based synthesizer. It was produced in 1972. It was a deterministic event generator that used early digital integrated circuits to generate an audio output that could sound very musical. It was designed by Edward Fredkin and Marvin Minsky at MIT. It is an algorithmic music generator: it uses logic circuits to produce a sequence of notes based on the settings of various parameters. It has four small sliders that control Volume, Tempo, Pitch, and Fine Pitch. It is not known how many were made, but they are considered very collectable.
It was known to be used by the first wave of electronic musicians in the Philadelphia area in the late 70s. Users included: Charles Cohen, Lenny Seidman, Jeff Caine, George Keutemeyer, Rex X Ray and Stephan Spera, Paul Wozniki and the groups: Heavenside Layer, Ghostwriters, Watersports and The Orchestra of Philadelphia Electronic Musicians.
Muse was also used during the WXPN radio show Stars End by host Gino Wong in the fall of 1977.
The Muse is the subject of U. S. Patent 3610801.
For years, the Muse was a featured exhibit at the Museum of Science, Boston. The signage explained the device's algorithmic (and deterministic) approach to the creation of its seemingly random music. Far from being random, its preset "song" played continuously—and was even given a name, "Museum Musings," by the staff.
During her time as a fellow at the Center for Advanced Visual Studies, Maryanne Amacher famously composed much of her 'eartone' music using the device given to her by Marvin Minsky."

Charles Cohen and Christian Mirande Show Free

Update in this post. I'd bring some cash just in case and for drinks anyway.

shot x shot

flickr set by alex tyson
(click for more)

"live at the historic Powell House | December 5 2008
with guest Charles Cohen"

Buchla Music Easel

Be sure to see this video.

Modcan and Buchla

Two pics from the Color of Luxory event with Charles Cohen and hair_loss posted here.

Steve Linsey’s Roland SH-101 Monophonic Analog Synthesizer W/Mod Grip?

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

via this auction

"From legendary producer, songwriter, and publishers Steve Linsey’s personal collection and in pristine condition.

Vintage 1980s Roland SH-101 in RARE BLUE and with mod grip. In perfect working order and recording ready."

via Wikipedia: "In his mid-20s, Lindsey built a studio at his Ocean Park home, and began making demos for artists such as Allee Willis, Brenda Russell, and Julie Brown.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Todd Barton's Buchla Release "ausprobieren" Now Available

"This is a brief album of brief pieces. In literature I am drawn to short forms, especially those of Jorges Luis Borges and Italo Calvino. In poetry: haiku.

Here are thirteen short analog synthesizer explorations created over a three week period of experimenting with a small Buchla 200e Electric Music Box.

For those interested in the modules, here they are: 266e, 259e, 261e, 281e, 292e, 291e, 285e, 206e, 222e

All the vignettes are self-generating patches. All the etudes are layered, mixed and manipulated from various self-generating pieces using Logic Express and various echo, delay and reverb plug-ins, mainly SoundToys and 2C-Aether.
The Buchla 200e is an amazingly deep, complex, and sensitive instrument. These little experiments are only my personal glimpse into the Buchla universe.

To hear other uses and sonic revelations in the world of the Buchla 200e please search the internet for works by Richard Lainhart, Alessandro Cortini, Giorgio Sancristoforo, Charles Cohen, Don Hassler, Joe Pascarell, and of course Don and Ezra Buchla to name just a few.

Enjoy!
tOdD BaRtOn
Ausprobieren: German for 'to try it out' or 'to experiment'
© todd barton 2010
website: www.toddbarton.com email: bartonmusic@mac.com"

NAMM 2013: New Buchla Music Easel Coming to NAMM?

This one in via Alex.  It looks like Buchla is likely going to announce a new Buchla Music Easel at NAMM this year.  If you look up Buchla in the NAMM directory you will see: "BRANDS: 200e Electric Music Box, Music Easel"  If you look at the bottom shirt to the left you will see that it reads "Life Should be Easel".  The image comes from what appears to be a new Buchla home page currently in construction.  It's open now so take a look before it gets locked down.  Below are a couple of screen grabs. Deadmou5 is featured in one of two pics being rotated.  For those not familiar with the original Buchla Music Easel, see this post for a pretty amazing performance by Charles Cohen.  You can also do a search on Buchla Music Easel on the top left of the site.  As for the new easel, there's some discussion going on at Muff's here, including the following via BEMI (Buchla Electronic Musical Instruments):

"Hi All
Happy New year and a very healthy and safe one at that for all of us..  Namm 2013 is almost upon us, and what a journey we have had at BEMI.  It has not been easy - I would be misleading you all by stating otherwise, but we have never lost track of our vision for Buchla products and the future of Buchla instruments that will inspire.  So, fingers crossed, our new toy will be at NAMM 2013..

What ever could it be ?

We are taking it to the wire to have everything ready in time, and I assure you we have all lost years from our lives in stress and emotion, with a little bit of fun and excitement thrown in.

We thank you for your patience thus far and we will need a lot more, but rest assured we are real and are on the ground level artists passionate about our company and what we can do to continue to push the boundaries of creativity.

We are ironing out bugs in the new BEMI whilst embracing the history of the old, and we continue to come up against hurdles every day..BUT we are conquering them and moving forward to bigger and better things.

Anyone who knows us as individuals understand our determination.  Everything will click in place as we move forward and hopefully at NAMM 2013 you will all see the start of our vision.

BTW..the new BEMI web site that you are all talking about that has been leaked by our lack of judgement in not password protecting is very much in test mode and any information regarding products, pricing, images and anything in general on the URL : http://www.buchla.com/buchla is not ready for public viewing. Any information and data is only there as a guide for us to test pages and code. The new Buchla HUB will be ready soon and will be an all inclusive experience for information, history, shopping, resources and building of Buchla products.

Stay tuned !

Lewis C"

Periphery Label Launch Event, August 20th, Philadelphia

"One Thousand Pulses, the Northeast's premier concert series for electronic & experimental music, invites you to the launch event for its new CD label, Periphery. / otperiphery.com

Periphery's maxim is "wrestling frequencies from the edges & otherwise", proffering uncategorizable works from musicians operating across the electronic & experimental music spectrum.

All three recent releases, including Richard Lainhart's Polychromatic Integers, and the One Thousand Pulses compendium Home Patterning (with tracks by Tim Motzer and Color is Luxury, recorded live in the OTP soundspace) will be available at the event.

Our launch event lineup:

> TIM MOTZER / 1krecordings.com / Philly-based guitarist and composer Tim Motzer finds infinite joy in diversity. His output as a leader and sideman crisscrosses multiple musical universes, including jazz, fusion, prog, hip-hop, soul, electronica, and the avantgarde. Motzer gets to explore these genres and the intersections between them via his ubiquitous presence in the wildly deep and varied Philly scene. He also traverses manifold territories through the many albums released on his own 1k Recordings, such as the rhythmically diverse soundscapes populating the Tilomo release, and, more tellingly, as Fractured Reverb Underground (FRU). The sole FRU CD comprises electronic studio experiments from 1999 — a decade ahead of their time — generously tipping its hat to the Orb’s Alex Patterson thanks to its psychedelic clouds of mercurial ambient textures. Motzer has also worked on releases by British singer-songwriter David Sylvian with the ongoing Secret Rhythms project comprising electronica/dub luminary Burnt Friedman and ex-Can drummer Jaki Liebezeit, as well as with German Touch guitarist Markus Reuter on Descending, a deeply sublime and stunningly beautiful work that references Brian Eno, Frippertronics, Supersilent, and David Sylvian.

> RICHARD LAINHART / otownmedia.com / Since childhood, Richard Lainhart has been interested in natural processes such as waves, flames and clouds, in harmonics and harmony, and in creative interactions with machines, using them as compositional methods to present sounds and images that are as beautiful as he can make them. Well-versed in the varied applications of his beloved Buchla boxes, yet equally agile on numerous synths, keyboards, vibes, and guitars, Lainhart has been reorganizing the topography of tone and texture for over 30 years. After studying composition in Albany under EMF founder and professor Joel Chadabe, Lainhart not only went on to create idiosyncratic recordings in his own right, but has performed and worked with the likes of John Cage, David Tudor, Steve Reich, Phill Niblock, David Berhman, and many others.

> COLOR IS LUXURY / colorisluxury.org / Obsessed with circuit-bending and inner ear manipulation, intrepid Philly experimental sound duo Color Is Luxury combines the talents of erstwhile Buchla veteran Charles Cohen and the curiously monikered hair_loss in the yielding of some of the most provocative boops and beeps around. Ripping the innards out of their respective electronic arsenals, this diminutive motley crew twist their varied sound palettes into corkscrew whorls of new shapes, sizes, and hues. Noise but not noise, drawing clear lineage from the pioneering work of Morton Subotnick, Pauline Oliveros, Gil Melle, and Wendy Carlos outward, Color Is Luxury remain tonally consciously even when they go all atonal on us, sonic provocateurs sharing a rich aural history that blossoms before your very ears.

> PTO / PTO (Pulses Tones Oscillations) is one of the numerous sound-producing aliases of Darren Bergstein, longtime music journalist, collector, historian, and archivist, former publisher of the magazines i/e and e/i, and founder/owner of both One Thousand Pulses and the Periphery label. Free improvising in the wellworn electroacoustic tradition, Bergstein has at his disposal tools old (tongue drum, rainstick, metallophone) and new (iPhone), but they're all just texture-mappers regardless of origin, simply various objects to be tapped, stroked, and struck at will.

Join us for an immersive evening of audiovisual electronic interfacing."

Triglav Modular — Clockwork Card 208-5

video upload by Torigurafu

"The Clockwork Card is a timing control hub designed to fit into the slot of the Stored Program Sound Source Model 208.

Inspired by Charles Cohen’s looping techniques, this card aims to provide an accessible way to control timing and create interesting rhythms. It offers multiple clocking options, 30 preset pattern banks, and the ability to shift and rotate rhythmic patterns across different destinations. The card also features two special modes (CLIX and Uncertainty Mode), and allows for customisation through its USB-C port."

https://triglavmodular.hu/208-cards/clockwork-card-208-5/

Novation Ultranova Sound Packs

Daniel Fisher is one of the most sought after sound designers in the industry and he has worked for some of the most famous names in the synthesizer business. Volume 2 is a collection of famous synth patches from the '60s and '70s along with new sonic creations for the 21st Century.


"Multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter Dino Soldo spends his life immersed in music. He tours with Leonard Cohen and has previously worked with musical greats including Ray Charles, Beyoncé and Lionel Richie."


Part producer, part remixer, part DJ, Chuckie knows what makes a great track. With the help of Fabian Lenssen and Silvio Ecomo, two of Holland's A-list house producers, he's produced with this exclusive soundpack for UltraNova.


You'll find them here.