Today is Suzanne Ciani's Birthday! Thought I'd put up a playlist of some of her work and appearances. Those of you that have been coming to MATRIXSYNTH over the years, will recognize some of these. There's a Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 in the first Letterman clip, however she is primarily known for her work with Buchla. Be sure to see the 8th video of her live at Lincoln Center, previously posted here. That was from this April! Needless to say Suzanne Ciani is a HUGE inspiration to all of us that are diehard about synths.
Happy Birthday Suzanne Ciani!
Playlist:
1. Ciani on Letterman Show
2. 3-2-1 Contact "Noisy/Quiet: Music" (1980)
3. Omni-Suzanne Ciani
4. GE Dishwasher Production Session
5 - 7. Fifth Wave Recording Session Parts 1 - 3
8. Suzanne Ciani Live at Lincoln Center
9. 1980 Xenon pinball by Bally - gameplay multicamera edit - "Xenon pinball was manufactured by Bally in 1980 and 11,000 units were produced. The voices and music used in the game were created by electronic music composer Suzanne Ciani. Game design by Greg Kmiec and art by Paul Faris."
"In 1974 she formed her own company, Ciani/Musica, and, using a Buchla Analog Modular Synthesizer, composed scores for television commercials for corporations such as Coca-Cola, Merrill Lynch, AT&T and General Electric. Besides music, her specialty was reproducing sound effects on the synthesizer, that recording engineers had found difficult to record properly; the sound of a bottle of Coca-Cola being opened and poured was one of Ciani's most widely recognized works, and was used in a series of radio and television commercials in the late 1970s. She is also responsible for "logo" sounds pertaining to Energizer and ABC.[2] Such was the demand for her services, that at one point she was doing up to 50 sessions a week. Her sound effects also appeared in video games (the pinball game Xenon featured her voice[3]). Such audio logos as the Coca-Cola pop and pour along with video game sound effects and more appear on the 2012 album Lixiviation (Finders Keepers) along with the only currently available excerpts from her 1975 Buchla Concert.[4]
In 1977, Ciani provided the sound effects for Meco's disco version of the Star Wars soundtrack, which was certified platinum. She added the signature electronic "swoosh" to Afternoon Delight by the Starland Vocal Band. At the time, Ciani thought the work was just a "song about spaceships".[5] Ciani scored the Lily Tomlin movie The Incredible Shrinking Woman, distinguishing her as the first solo female composer of a major Hollywood film; Lloyd Williams's 1975 experimental film Rainbow's Children; and a 1986 documentary about Mother Teresa, as well the TV daytime serial ("soap opera") One Life to Live. She also composed and perhaps best known for the 1976 Columbia Pictures and Columbia Pictures Television theme jingles. She has toured throughout the United States, Italy, Spain, and Asia.
In 1982 Ciani began to record albums in the new-age genre, characterized by a mix of electronic and traditional instruments. Her first album, Seven Waves was first released in 1982 in Japan, and was later released in her native US in 1984 through Atlantic Records. Her 1986 album The Velocity of Love, released by RCA Records, featured Ciani's best known song, the title track. In 1987 she signed to the Private Music label, which released a number of albums from 1988 to 1992, including re-issues of her first two albums. Although emphasizing electronic music in her recordings, her solo piano album Pianissimo, from 1990, became her best-selling album. Ciani ended her contract with Private Music with the compilation The Private Music of Suzanne Ciani, in 1992.
In the 1990s Ciani founded her own music label, Seventh Wave, from which she has released all her subsequent albums, which have been more classically oriented than her previous recordings. 1994's Dream Suite was recorded in Moscow with the Young Russia Orchestra, and was Grammy-nominated. 1999's Turning featured her first composition with lyrics, in the title track, sung by Taiwanese artist Chyi Yu.
In early 2006, Ciani's Silver Ship won in The 5th Annual Independent Music Awards for Best New Age Album.[6] Ciani was also an inaugural member of the Independent Music Awards' judging panel to support independent artists.[7]
Five of Ciani's albums have been nominated for Grammy awards."
Update: video is back [and gone - leaving this up for reference]. I switched to their YouTube upload thinking it would be a better option long term for the archives, but apparently not.
Update2: bonus video on YouTube while it's up:
Web Extra: Buchla Model 100 Synthesizer at Cal State University East Bay
This one is in via Brian Comnes. The legend of the CSU Hayward acid/LSD soaked vintage Buchla 100 is true. Apparently it was dipped in LSD back in the 60s. It wasn't clear, however, if all panels or just the red one was dipped. You can find some additional pics of the infamous CSU Hayward Buchla 100 here. BTW, this was likely some Owsley Stanley LSD.
"SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) — For years, an urban legend circulated online and in documentaries, purporting how part of a groundbreaking musical instrument — versions which are stored at a Bay Area university and other institutions — was dipped in a psychedelic drug.
Online chatter detailed how musicians who used the instrument would wet their finger, touch the device, and then lick their finger to get a little bit of mind-expanding inspiration.
Now this supposed myth may turn out to be a reality.
—
At the helm of KPIX Television, Broadcast Operations Manager Eliot Curtis tackles all sorts of technical problems to keep Channel 5 on the air. Recently however, a strange electrical transmission threw him for a loop. It happened inside his brain.
“It was … felt like I was tripping on LSD,” remarked Curtis.
It turns out that Curtis was indeed tripping on the infamous psychedelic drug known as lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD for short. He got dosed by accident at home in his workshop — in front of his wife.
“I think it’s super wild. I think this whole situation is a nice chapter in the history of the counter culture,” commented Curtis’ wife Holly.
"We present a lively and in-depth conversation with Todd Barton, "sonic adventurer, composer, educator and performer of abstract, freely improvised electronic music specializing in Buchla, Serge and Hordijk instruments." We discuss his connections to these instruments developed to become central to his music, and sharing his knowledge and experience with others through his popular YouTube and Instagram channels and private lessons. We also touch on a few encounters including the Serge anniversary show in San Francisco, the launch of the Buchla Red Panel series at NAMM, and most recently, his duet with Suzanne Ciani at Buchla & Friends 2025 in Los Angeles.
00:00 Introduction
00:48 Todd Barton as sonic adventurer and musician in multiple worlds
03:20 Serge, Buchla and Hordijk
08:52 Barton's long relationship with Buchla instruments
13:32 The Buchla Red Panel series, and other 100-series re-creations
18:07 The myriad possibilities of the Serge Dual Universal Slope Generator
21:15 YouTube and Instagram demos and private lessons for modular synthesis
29:48 Performing with Suzanne Ciani at Buchla & Friends 2025
33:55 Community and the future of making music with signals
36:17 Conclusion
Our highlight video from Suzanne Ciani and Todd Barton duo at Buchla & Friends:
[ • Suzanne Ciani and Todd Barton live pe...] [posted here] ( • Suzanne Ciani and Todd Barton live pe... ) [posted here]
Our demo and tutorial on the Buchla Red Panel 158 and 156m
• Buchla Red Panel 158 and 156M: Demo a... [posted here]
First video is from the collection of Alessandro Cortini and Associates w/ music by Keith Fullerton Whitman.
Playlist:
1. Buchla Synthesizers Room - Don Buchla Memorial Concert, San Francisco
2. Peter Blasser - Don Buchla Memorial Concert
3. James Fei - Don Buchla Memorial Concert
4. Loachfillet and Professor Cantaloupe - Don Buchla Memorial Concert in San Francisco
5. Ezra Buchla - Don Buchla Memorial Concert in San Francisco
6. Ezra Buchla - Don Buchla Memorial Concert in San Francisco
7. Laetitia Sonami - Don Buchla Memorial Concert in San Francisco
8. Morton Subotnick and Lillevan - Don Buchla Memorial Concert in San Francisco
9. David Rosenboom - Don Buchla Memorial Concert in San Francisco
10. Circus of Associates: Joel & Claudine - Don Buchla Memorial Concert, San Francisco
11. Circus of Associates: Joel & Amy X Neuberg - Don Buchla Memorial Concert, San Francisco
12. Circus of Associates: Mark Vail & David Battino - Don Buchla Memorial Concert, San Francisco
13. Circus of Associates: Joel & Peter Apfelbaum - Don Buchla Memorial Concert, San Francisco
14. Circus of Associates: Joel & Brian Rice - Don Buchla Memorial Concert, San Francisco
15. Todd Barton and Bruce Bayard - Don Buchla Memorial Concert, San Francisco.
16. Circus of Associates: Joel & Amy & Peter - Don Buchla Memorial Concert, San Francisco
17. Circus of Associates: Group - Don Buchla Memorial Concert, San Francisco
18. Circus of Associates: Group - Don Buchla Memorial Concert, San Francisco
19. bran(...)pos - Don Buchla Memorial Concert, San Francisco
20. Ami Radunskaya - Don Buchla Memorial Concert, San Francisco
21. Jessica Rylan - Don Buchla Memorial Concert, San Francisco
22. Susan Ciani - Don Buchla Memorial Concert, San Francisco
"Synth legend Suzanne Ciani to mentor emerging electronic producers as next Master in Residence at Studio Bell
Four artists from across Canada to be mentored by electronic music pioneer
(Calgary, AB — October 17, 2019) The National Music Centre (NMC) is pleased to announce electronic music pioneer Suzanne Ciani as the next Master in Residence at Studio Bell in Calgary.
Dubbed the 'Diva of the Diode,' Suzanne Ciani is a five-time Grammy award-nominated composer, electronic music pioneer, and neo-classical recording artist whose work has been featured in countless commercials, video games, and feature films. Over the course of her 40-plus year career, Ciani has released 16 solo albums, including Seven Waves, The Velocity of Love, and most recently, her comeback quadraphonic Buchla modular synth performance recording LIVE Quadraphonic.
Alongside NMC ON and AEMCON events, Ciani will offer her expertise on electronic music composition, including analog modular live performance and sound design techniques, with four emerging Canadian electronic artists during an intensive one-day session. Participants include Calgary producer and bass music advocate Homesick, Winnipeg-by-way-of-Toronto electronic artist Joanne Pollock, experimental music-maker YlangYlang from Montreal, and Toronto-based experimental electronic performer Korea Town Acid, who will also appear as part of NMC ON: After Hours on November 15. Tickets for After Hours are on sale now at studiobell.ca/whats-on.
The public will also have a chance to see Ciani lead a public Buchla Masterclass on November 16. Tickets for that event are available at studiobell.ca/whats-on.
'I’m thrilled to share my history and expertise in my favorite music medium, analog modular, with young emerging Canadian artists,' said Suzanne Ciani. 'I’m looking forward to our exchange of ideas.'
The Master in Residence program invites emerging artists to work under the leadership of a Master in Residence chosen to inspire creativity, encourage innovation, share expertise and provide mentorship. Previous masters have included acclaimed country icon Terri Clark, singer-songwriter Steven Page, Canadian techno ambassador, Richie Hawtin, and Our Lady Peace founder, Raine Maida. Internationally-acclaimed artist and producer, Daniel Lanois led NMC’s first ever Master in Residence event in 2015 with an interactive master session in collaboration with Sled Island Music and Arts Festival.
'As a pioneering, Grammy-nominated composer and performer of electronic music, Suzanne Ciani is a master with international pedigree,' said Adam Fox, NMC’s Director of Programs. 'Connecting emerging Canadian artists with career-altering mentorship opportunities is something that the National Music Centre takes great pride in. This is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for this year’s selected participants.'
"Today we talk to modular synth pioneer Suzanne Ciani and MIT Spatial Sound Lab researcher Kamran V. Suzanne and Kamran both love quadraphonic sound, and they have a new quad release coming out on June 4th called Ciani/Orkest. They are on a mission to make quadraphonic music accessible to both musicians and to listeners, and in this interview, Kamran will explain how, you, with no special equipment, can listen to their new album in quad. We'll also get into how analog synthesizers actually work, the early history of Buchla synths versus Moog synths, why Suzanne thinks keyboards diminish the potential of synths, and how Suzanne designed some of the most recognizable sounds of the 1980s. Suzanne Ciani is a Grammy Award nominated composer, electronic musician, and neoclassical recording artist who has released over 20 solo albums, including Seven Waves and The Velocity of Love. Her work has been featured in Hollywood films, video games, and countless commercials. She was inducted into the first class of keyboard magazine's Hall of Fame, alongside Bob Moog, Don Buchla, and Dave Smith. And she was the subject of the feature documentary, A Life in Waves. Kamran V is an arts technologist and MIT Spatial Sound Lab researcher, and he's a National Endowment for the Arts grant recipient. He's worked at Interscope Records, produced immersive music releases for Nine Inch Nails, Sting, and Beck, and he ran the music tech fest, Moogfest. He's also on the board of Dub Lab.
Cited Media:
Music & Albums: Suzanne Ciani - Ciani/Orkest (2025)Suzanne Ciani - Live Quadraphonic (2016)Suzanne Ciani - The Velocity of Love (1986)Suzanne Ciani - Seven Waves (1982)Wendy Carlos - Switched-On Bach (1968)Stevie Wonder - Talking Book (1972)The Rentals Film & TV: 3-2-1 Contact, PBS (1980–1988)Brett Whitcomb - A Life in Waves (2017)Suzanne Ciani on David Letterman (1980) Events & Festivals: MoogfestAES ConventionAmsterdam Dance EventNAMM Tools & Plugins: Kamran V - QUARK Plugin (free) Record Labels & Archives: Finders Keepers Records
Chapters:
0:00 Intro 5:45 Meet the Guests 6:28 Sound Design & Commercials 13:45 High Art vs Low Culture 19:03 Ciani Orkest 24:42 Moog vs Buchla 26:36 How Modular Synths Work 36:15 Quadrophonic Sound 45:13 The QUARK Plugin 50:24 Seven Waves"
"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."
"Below you'll find a press kit for a historic 2LP/2CD from The Electric Weasel Ensemble, a touring group of electro-acoustic musicians including Donald Buchla and Allan Strange.
Why is this group so important, you ask? Because they were playing Donald Buchla's instruments straight off his workbench and these instruments have gone on to help define the modern modular synthesizer era and business. Thankfully, the music is incredible, too."
Press release follows:
The Electric Weasel Ensemble Strange/Buchla/Ruppenthal/Morse 2LP/2CD
EPK
Release date: Nov 27, 2026
Shifting continuously between minimalistic patterns, intricate soundscapes, and evolving textures of overlapping electronic sonorities, The Electric Weasel Ensemble presents a missing link in the history of electronic music. It is a series of previously-unreleased live recordings from a little-known but trailblazing ensemble of improvisers—equipped with a unique embrace of invented instruments and distinctly 1970s avant-garde sensibilities. This historic music is available on both double LP and double CD.
Founded in 1974 by composer Allen Strange and now-celebrated instrument designer Donald Buchla, The Electric Weasel Ensemble explored new directions in live performance with electronics, using Buchla’s sophisticated and unusual instruments as a launching pad.
Maintained for decades by Ensemble member Stephen Ruppenthal, these recordings include some of the best-preserved examples of Allen Strange’s pioneering compositions: graphically-notated directed improvisations for electronic and electronically processed acoustic instruments. They also offer rare insight into the radical sonic aesthetic that Buchla’s inventions enabled in the Bay Area music scene.
Focused on performance and DIY music distribution, the Electric Weasel Ensemble never widely released their music. Transferred from the original quarter-inch reels at Imprec, mastered for vinyl by Tom Eaton at Sounds and Substance, and pressed at Optimal in Germany, this record is a glimpse into the raw creativity and inventiveness that fueled the early decades of electronic music performance.
Who is the Electric Weasel Ensemble?
How do you build a new type of music from the ground up? The Electric Weasel Ensemble continually orbited this very question: inventing new instruments and, through collective play, learning to communicate in their unfamiliar, emergent languages.
The Weasels operated along the fringes of Northern California’s 1970s music scene, drawing equally from avant-garde and electronic composition, free improvisation, cybernetics, and the Bay Area’s psychedelic-fueled, countercultural spirit. A group of self-proclaimed “music outlaws,” their eclectic, anything-goes approach eschewed traditional notions of harmony, melody, form, and virtuosity—informed by their evolving relationships with new technology.
From FRKWYS Vol. 13: Sunergy. Out everywhere September 16, 2016. Visuals from Sunergy, the forthcoming documentary by Sean Hellfritsch. http://seanhellfritsch.com/
"Both artists, who are close friends, share a deep passion for the Buchla modular synth. Ciani's interest in the instrument stretches back decades—it's a newer obsession for Smith, who used it prominently on her recent album, EARS.
The Buchla instrument features prominently on Sunergy, with Smith performing on the Buchla 200e and Ciani using a Buchla Music Easel. The album was recorded in Ciani's home in Bolinas, California, which overlooks the Pacific Coast. According to RVNG, the record is "shaped by slow, pulsing forms and sinuous, melodic sequences that conjure both an oceanic world and the unlimited sound made possible by modular processing." An accompanying documentary on the album by Sean Hellfritsch will also come out when Sunergy sees release on September 16th."
"With a passion for music and engineering, Don Buchla created electronic musical instruments the world had never dreamed of before.
When we've told people that we're preparing a documentary about Don Buchla, we get one of two reactions:
a) Wow! It's about time The man's a genius! Why hasn't this happened already?
or
b) Don who?
We want to make a movie that can live up to the expectations and desires and hopes for the people who answered a), and that can introduce Don in the best way possible to those who answered b).
Don Buchla is a legendary instrument maker whose inventions were part of the greatest musical transformation of the 20th century. His pioneering work laid the basis for what electronic music was to become by creating a unique analog synthesizer which completely changed the way people think about, compose, and perform music. The list of musicians and composers who have used the Buchla range from avant-garde composer Morton Subotnick to Nine Inch Nails, with plenty more along the way. Don hasn't stopped inventing since the arrival of the Buchla, and his other instruments combine an idiosyncratic sound with a sense of wonder and theatrical magic.
"Music is a mirror that we hold up to see how cultural structures are formed. Race, social hierarchy, class, national origin the twentieth century saw a questioning of these issues on a global level, and in a sense, electronic music was the soundtrack to that intense investigation into the human situation. Almost all traditional notions of space, time, and physicality have been reconfigured in ways that we are just beginning to understand. I think that electronic music has helped us understand the process we've lived through. Think about everything from the tones you hear coming out of your telephone to the frequencies underlying cellular communication to the algorithms used to route the information holding it all together -- most of this stuff has been explored one way or the other by the avant-garde."
--Paul D. Miller (DJ Spooky)
Don was definitely part of the avant-garde. He has been called a mad scientist, a genius, an innovator, a recluse, an iconoclast, and has gathered a horde of fiercely loyal admirers by following his own visionary path, and dancing to his own muse. His name and instruments are known from Indonesia to France.
We have begun to film because there have been performances and interviews to capture that we simply couldn't pass up, such as Morton Subotnick and Ramon Sender from the San Francisco Tape Music Center, who commissioned Don to build the first Buchla; French composers Jean-Baptiste Barrière and Marc Battier; and performances by Subotnick and Marimba Lumina player Joel Davel, who has assisted in Buchla's workshop for over a decade.
But now we need to raise production funding to complete the rest of our filming. Among the other people we will be including in the film are early Buchla composer/performer Suzanne Ciani, analog synth performer/music journalist Gino Robair, Lightning virtuoso Forrest Tobey, synth maestro Alessandro Cortini (of Nine Inch Nails and Sonoio), Marimba Lumina co-designer Mark Goldstein, and, of course, Don himself. Ideally, we're hoping you can support us beyond what we're asking for here so we can also edit and do post-production for the film.
With your help, we will be able to do the legacy of Don Buchla justice."
"POW! We are excited to present to you a live-broadcast of a special audio-visual performance from 5 time grammy nominee Suzanne Ciani and contemporary artist Nick Verstand.
Live from REC. Festival, tune in the 2nd of November and witness an unique performance in a darkened Transport Rotterdam, where artists, installation and audience will occupy the space together!
Suzanne Ciani is a true synthesizer pioneer. She was one of the early disciples of 70’s synth maker Don Buchla and uses his modular equipment ever since. She was responsible for a revolution in advertising sound design, by the creation of the famous Coca-Cola ‘plop’ sound. A distinctive sound, that is recognized all over the world. The real breakthrough came in the 80’s, with calming new age space-music, earning her 5 Grammy nominations.
---------------------------
DATE
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THURSDAY 02/11
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NICK VERSTAND
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Nick Verstand is a contemporary artist researching human perception and consciousness. His large-scale immersive art installations - spatial compositions of visuals, light and sound - transform human behaviour into hypnotic environments. Nick Accompanies Ciani by composing with light corresponding with her music performance. Using control voltages from Ciani’s modular Buchla synthesizer, he transforms sound envelopes, rhythms and spatial dynamics into light parameters."
Suzanne Ciani's Buchla Concerts from 1975 will soon be available from Finder Keepers Records on April 29th. Click through for the full write-up and two demos.
"These 'concerts' are the epitome of rare music technology historic documents, performed by a real musician whose skills and academic education in classical composition already outweighed her male synthesiser contemporaries of twice her age. At the very start of her fragile career these recordings are nothing short of sacrificial ode to her mentor and machine, sonic pickets of the revolution and love letters to an absolutely genuine vision of and ‘alternative’ musical future. In denouncing her own precocious polymathmatic past in a bid to persuade the world to sing from a new hymn sheet, Suzanne Ciani created a bi-product of never before heard music that would render the pigeon holes “ambient” and “futuristic” utterly inadequate. Providing nothing short of an entirely different feminine take on the experimental “records” of Morton Subotnick and proving to a small, judgmental audience and jury the true versatility of one of the most radical and idiosyncratic musical instruments of the 20th century. These recordings have not been heard since then."
La sua vita con il Buchla, dalla fabbrica sulla West Coast al suo ruolo di compositrice e di donna nel mondo della musica elettronica degli ultimi 50 anni.
Suzanne is a five-time Grammy award-nominated composer, electronic music pioneer, and neo-classical recording artist who has released over 20 solo albums including "Seven Waves," and "The Velocity of Love," along with a landmark quad LP “LIVE Quadraphonic,” which restarted her Buchla modular performances. Her work has been featured in films, games, and countless commercials as well.
She was inducted into the first class of Keyboard Magazine's Hall of Fame alongside other synth luminaries, including Bob Moog, Don Buchla and Dave Smith and received the Moog Innovation Award. Most recently, she is the recipient of the Independent Icon Award from A2IM.
Suzanne has provided the voice and sounds for Bally's groundbreaking "Xenon" pinball machine, created Coca-Cola’s pop-and-pour sound, designed logos for Fortune 500 companies, and carved out a niche as one of the most creatively successful female composers in the world. A Life in Waves, a documentary about Ciani’s life and work, debuted at SXSW in 2017 and is available to watch on all digital platforms.
Ciani is a graduate of Wellesley College and holds a Masters in Music Composition from the University of California, Berkeley."
"Created in the early 1960s by Don Buchla, the Buchla synthesizer revolutionized electronic music through its innovative design and endlessly variable modular system, encouraging new methods of creation and performance. Few artists pursued the emotional and sonic possibilities as comprehensively as Suzanne Ciani, an early disciple of Buchla and an undeniable master of the machine who first got her start composing music for advertisements before redefining herself as a Grammy-nominated new age artist. In Ciani’s hands, what can often look like an impenetrable tangle of wires becomes an instrument of beauty, capable of producing truly far-out sounds.
The Red Bull Music Academy is a global music institution committed to fostering creativity in music. We celebrate music, its culture, and the transformative minds behind it. Begun in 1998, the Academy has taken the core principles that underlie its annual workshop for selected participants and applied this curatorial approach to events, lectures, and city-wide festivals throughout the year."
"The 2017 Moog Innovation Award will be presented to Suzanne Ciani at Moogfest 2017, the annual music, art and technology festival in Durham, North Carolina. This award recognizes her 45 plus years of genre-defying work that exemplifies the bold, innovative spirit of Bob Moog. Past recipients include visionary artists like Gary Numan, Devo, Brian Eno, Bernie Worrell, and Thomas Dolby, and synth designers like Herb Deutsch.
Ciani, the first woman to receive the award, superseded many of her male contemporaries as a synthesist, sound designer, and composer. Well known as an early protege and long-time devotee of Don Buchla, and a friend of Bob Moog, her use of synthesizers created entirely new sounds that opened minds around the globe to electronic music as a valid form of expression. She is a five-time Grammy nominated composer and the first woman to score a Hollywood film. Her work has been featured in countless commercials, video games, and feature films.
Today, Ciani continues to inspire generosity, curiosity, and experimentation for a resurgent, multi-generational community of synth-enthusiasts and electronic music fans. Ciani’s 4-hour durational performance at Moogfest 2016 modulated between a rolling quadraphonic soundscape, stories about her early days working in New York, and tips for operating rare Buchla synths while spatializing audio. Ciani returns to Moogfest 2017 to receive the Moog Innovation award, where she will perform and be celebrated in a workshop, featured conversation as well as host a screening of a recently released documentary about her innovative life in electronic music.
Additionally, we are pleased to have more voices added to the choir at Moogfest...
Comedians often are the reflexive lens of culture, giving uplifting commentary to our often complex world. With this spirit in mind, comedian and actor Hannibal Buress will be joining us as the comedic lens and moderator in two conversations: One with the wildly inventive hip-hop producer & lyricist Flying Lotus, and another with psych-pop trio Animal Collective and legendary 1970’s synth pioneers and psych outfit, Syrinx.
Chicago based experimental song stylists Circuit de Yeux will be added to this year’s line-up, bringing her conversely expressionate sense of abstract pop to the Moogfest stage.
About Moogfest
Moogfest is the synthesis of music, art, and technology. Since 2004, Moogfest has brought together artists, futurist thinkers, inventors, entrepreneurs, designers, engineers, scientists, and musicians. By day, Moogfest is a platform for conversation and experimentation. By night, Moogfest presents cutting-edge music in venues throughout the city. This mind-expanding conference attracts creative and technology enthusiasts for three days of participatory programming in Durham, North Carolina. Performing artists include early pioneers in electronic music, alongside pop and avant-garde experimentalists of today.
Ticket information:
Engineer Festival Pass (limited quantity) - $1500
This two-day synth-building workshop, led by Moog engineers, invites a select group of enthusiasts to build their very own unreleased Moog analog synthesizer and sequencer. The hands-on workshop is conducted in two three-hour sessions within the Pop-up Moog production facility. No experience is necessary, but basic soldering knowledge is recommended. Participants in the Engineering workshop also have VIP access for the duration of the event. Priority access to all festival venues for performances and conference programming: conversations, workshops, and installations. Access to exclusive VIP viewing areas and events and gift bag. Complimentary food and drink in select locations. Workshops are available via RSVP. Engineer Festival Pass holders will receive first priority on a limited basis. Pre-Sale Engineer Festival Passes available for a limited time, while supplies last.
VIP Festival Pass - $499
VIP access for the duration of the event. Priority access to all festival venues for performances and conference programming: conversations, workshops, and installations. Access to exclusive VIP viewing areas and events and gift bag. Complimentary food and drink in select locations. Workshops are available via RSVP. VIP Festival Pass holders will receive first priority on a limited basis.
Festival Pass - $249
General Admission for the duration of the event. Access to all festival venues for performances and conference programming: conversations, workshops, and installations. Workshops are available via RSVP. VIP Festival Pass holders will receive first priority on a limited basis.
Payment plans are also available. Simply select 'Monthly Payments with Affirm' as your payment method during checkout. More details are available here."
"We were beyond delighted that the legendary Suzanne Ciani paid a visit to our Glasgow showroom ahead of her performance as part of Sonica 2026. Luke and Tom spoke to her about being synonymous with Buchla, and her long career in electronic music - from building synths in California in the 1960s to collaborating with Actress and continuing to tour the world with her 200-series system. Big thanks to Su ‘SHHE’ Shaw and Jenn at Electric Shores for setting this up for us.
Get in touch with questions, feedback and suggestions via signalflow@signalsounds.com
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:28 On being synonymous with the Buchla
08:45 Working in quad and giving life to sound
13:19 How audiences have changed
16:33 Reacting against the male-dominated classical world
20:20 Collaborating with Actress and others
25:01 Buchla vs Serge
29:04 Setup for current live performances
32:15 Outro"
This one is in via Stefan who had the following to say about it:
"Yesterday evening 19th october, i was lucky enough to see and hear Suzanne Ciani performing live with her Buchla system in quadraphonic, together with an orchestra.
It was an amazing concert. On the site of Metropole Orkest there is more in depth info and interviews with Suzanne Ciani and Simon Dobson and the arrangers. Someone uploaded a short video [above].
Afterwards there was a standing ovation :"
Suzanne Ciani + Metropole Orkest standing ovation. ADE 2022
video upload by osixoone sevenone
"here's a picture of a buchla 500 that i've never seen posted before. it's most buchla 200 stuff, that 500 series keyboard controller, and the 300 series patchbay (same as in ciani's) and osc bank (i think, i forget what david told me it was, it's in his 300 too). got it from the buchla 700 group. there's some other shots there too.
# - 500/300 series wavetable osc right? i forget, corrections?
% - 500/300 series patchbay, for get the numbers, similar two the 228-2 (228-1?) or the strips; used in Ciani's 300
Here's a link to a set i played with easel player charles cohen if your interested. i've been trying to get him to do some sound samples or youtube vids. its under br'er and Charles Cohen" [under Music on the right - the track features the Buchla Music Easel]
images:
charles playing out recently, his other 200, the easel (and some guys laptop)
