
The Horizons of Instrument Design: A Conversation with Don Buchla (1982) - troydavis
https://www.keyboardmag.com/artists/the-horizons-of-instrument-design-a-conversation-with-don-buchla
======
danbmil99
Wow, I learned my synth chops on a Buchla synthesizer at Brandeis University
in 1977.

The professor there claimed that the instrument was relatively useless since
it couldn't produce a diatonic scale. I proved him wrong by using attenuators
to dial down the sensitivity of the oscillator inputs to the point where they
could be fine-tuned to recognizable notes on a twelve-tone octave.

Fun times!

------
jim-jim-jim
I've always liked the idea of electronic music that eschews keyboards and the
12 tones, but a lot of the stuff I've heard is, uh, wank.

I don't think the problem stems from the technology used or the musical ideas
at play, but rather the fact that something like a Buchla or Max or whatever
invites solitary improvisation, which rarely ends well. My criticism extends
to all the bullshit made on conventional modular systems with standard
keyboards as well. It's too easy to have fun and forget to write an actual
song.

So I'm interested in hearing these tools used in a collaborative and polished
setting. There's still a lot of potential there.

Here's Richard Boulanger playing some weird 3D controller (made by Max Mathews
I think?) The piece is in Bohlen-Pierce scale. Yet it still sounds
heartwarming and musical. I need more stuff like it in my life:

[https://youtube.com/watch?v=Jq8RIE3iDD4](https://youtube.com/watch?v=Jq8RIE3iDD4)

~~~
boomlinde
_> It's too easy to have fun and forget to write an actual song._

Like any other musical technique, improvisation takes time to master. In my
view, this is simply a matter of the difference between a skilled
performer/composer and an unskilled one. No surprises there; a skilled
improvisor will keep you interested and avoid the meandering and drawn out
"wank" that characterizes unskilled improvisation.

Of course, meandering and drawn out music has its place too, but I find it
easy to tell when it's applied intently and for good reason and when it's not.

------
mmjaa
Anyone who wants to get into synthesizers would be wise to check out VCVRack -
it is currently the best way to explore Eurorack-based modular synthesis
without selling the kids:

[http://vcvrack.com/](http://vcvrack.com/)

Set it up, get an account, and add all the free plugins - then manage the
plugins in the app, and voila - rejoice at having literally a THOUSAND new
Eurorack modules to play with, virtually, for free...

Beware: modular synthesis is addictive and frustrating in equal amounts. Its a
form of analog computing - meaning you won't get good results unless you
program it from the ground up. But if you do, and if your system can handle
it, you can gain access to a world of sounds that would normally have required
thousands of dollars of investment .. truly one of the greatest value software
packages out there at the moment. Can't thank Andrew Belt (VCVRack developer)
enough for building the system he has, and delivering an open and easy model
for people to use in exploring synthesis.

What's really interesting is the fact that a lot of the physical hardware
manufacturers of Eurorack modules have embraced VCVRack as their sales
promotion/prototyping/demo platform. So many great Eurorack modules are now
available for free in software versions specifically for VCVRack ..

------
mastazi
I've been into synths for a long time but only relatively recently got into
West Coast synthesis - I was intrigued by the fact that there was a completely
different paradigm out there. I quickly started reading about Buchla and
Serge, then tried the Ripplemaker iOS app and finally purchased an Erica Pico
3.

I really enjoy West Coast sounds, they are different from ordinary subtractive
sounds, they can be a bit "cold" sometimes but if you strike the right balance
you get crisp tones, you can create percussive sounds using the natural
"pluckiness" of the vactrols and you can get really wild with waveshaping/FM.

Besides Morton Subotnick, some artists that have used Buchla and Serge
synthesizers are Suzanne Ciani, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Alessandro Cortini.

Edit: another interesting aspect is the fact that Buchla and Serge synths
contained ideas that influenced later synths like the Yamaha DX7 and the Casio
CZ101 (and today, many successful contemporary synths are also based on those
ideas). Often articles about the history of synthesis declare that "East Coast
synthesis won" but that's not really the case.

------
jdkee
If you want something unique, like the Buchla 200, I highly recommend Wiard. A
few modules are end of life but you can add in some Euro rack to add
sequencing or other modulation sources.

[http://www.wiard.com/](http://www.wiard.com/)

------
mmjaa
The synthesizer world is a strange one. I've been working in and around it for
a few decades and noticed a few things.

First of all, the Germans are winning. The synth market would have fallen to
pieces if there weren't so many German manufacturers making cool synthesizers.
Americans play guitar, Germans prefer keys. This wouldn't be a problem except
that most of the German synthesizers are physically designed by a single
individual - and his horrid design choices have propagated throughout the
industry. Such things as having knobs placed too close to each other, such
that you can't grab one with thumb and forefinger without also disturbing
another. Or having LED's that wash out the panel so you can't see anything
under low light (stage) conditions. Or, endless menu's to scroll through. Or,
you know, different brands looking altogether too similar, since their designs
were copy/pasted from the same designer.

Another weird thing about this industry is that everyone thinks standards suck
until they themselves invent one, and expect everyone else to comply with it.
Synthesizers with, functionally, the same basic engine are nevertheless
entirely incompatible with each other.

There are two kinds of synth user: players and tweakers.

Players want better factory presets and don't care about making great new
sounds as long as they have their rhodes and DX mono bass and so on - tweakers
throw away the factory presets and want a better editing interface. This would
be fine, except there is a secondary market of 'consultants' who write all the
factory presets for most synth manufacturers, and they don't want their
territory encroached on by tweakers. So, they have a lot to say about how
complicated the UI should be, in order to protect their business model, and
this propagates throughout the whole design phase, such that most synth UI's
are a dogs breakfast of 'conveniently left out editing features that are not
necessary because everyone just uses presets anyway'.

Its a very interesting market to observe from a tech perspective. Musicians
are a fickle lot - 2 million new musicians are made every year (school music
programs) which means that even if your product is mediocre, the new market
bodies don't know better - you can get away with producing mundane things in
those conditions. Musicians spend on average $500/month on new music gear
(until GAS wears out/they get married), which means there is always a new toy
to play with, even if its all been done before, so many times over.

~~~
te_chris
I mean the German thing isn't that surprising: Europe is the home of
electronic music these days and Germany really kicked things off and still to
this day has the thriving performance and retail scene that keeps it all
going, a lot of it centered around Germany (specifcally Berlin and Hamburg).
Not that it doesn't happen elsewhere in the world, but it's like a religion in
a place like Berlin.

Interesting what you say about players and tweakers. Personally I think that's
a bit too binary, but it is interseting to see softsynths with more intuitive
UI's finally coming out, like Pigments from Arturia.

~~~
mmjaa
>a bit too binary

Every synth manufacturer has to make this conclusion at some point. A
surprisingly large number of synth customers never get past the presets - its
a dirty little secret of the business.

Not that there's anything wrong with this, of course - but it does make
designing a "one UI for all" kind of difficult. It also explains why so many
of the 'big manufacturers' focus mostly on player- interfaces, eschewing the
work required to make more detailed editing surfaces.

However this is all changing - look at companies like Modal, who led the way
with providing as sophisticated interfaces as necessary for both end-user
types ..

