My Modules!!!!! ♥ ♥ ♥

With my Skylab only two weeks away from delivery I tought I take a picture of the modules that are waiting for it. Not much but I think I will have a lot of fun with those five modules. 281e is next as well as some Module Modules with the Timbre from Roman already on order.

 

♥♥♥ Farwell VM-1 ♥♥♥

♥♥♥ Think of  all good times we have wasted, having good times  ♥♥♥

Rogan Knobs

I took part in a group buy on muff's a while ago for a  lot of Rogan knobs that are used on some of the Buchla 200 modules and also some later Buchla instruments. My intention is to try out some Buchla DIY projects that seem to go on everywhere at the moment. They look so nice and I just wanted to repost some of the pictures xpander, the men behind the group buy, took and posted on muff's.
The Buchla community will be forever thankfull.

"Seq-A" and the "Creature"

One of my favorite Modular Videos that features a Serge M-panel system. The Serge Modular is currently manufactured by Sound Transform Systems in Wisconsin. Enjoy!

Intellijel uStep ModuleModule

Intellijel's new ModuleModule is actually a reincarnation of Intellijel's uStep that is already available in the very popular Eurorack format.

features include:
separate sequence lengths (1-8 steps long each) or single 1x16 mode
seperate gate lengths
store/recall patterns (8 locations)
8 levels of shuffle
seperate sequence outputs with dedicated leds showing gate logic status
relative and absolute timing modes
gate range from 500us to 30minutes (capable of audio rate sequences)


use this module for:
beat/trigger sequencing (great for polyrhythms)
control of adsr/asr envelopes
clock dividing
swing clock
convert gate to trigger 


Price: $290

Available for direct order from Intellijel HQ.
Please e-mail orders@intellijel.com with your location info for shipping quote

LZX Industries

A few weeks ago I read more about video synthesis and looked again at the modular video synthesizer that is offered by LZX Visionary. Some of the video's on there homepage that where created with there video synthesizer are really amazing so I thought I share them and there introduction to the system here. I am thinking of buying a small system for myself. Maybe it will work nicely with the Buchla.

LZX Visionary: An Introduction

In today’s era of digital video and computer graphics, tools for the video artist wishing to experiment with the use of analogue circuitry for the creation and processing of images have largely been lost, left to a rich tradition of video artists from the 1960’s and 1970’s. We believe the past several years’ renaissance in the use of analogue synthesizers in music production, and the effectiveness of integrated analogue and digital workflows, to be a precursor to a similar renaissance in video technologies. There is a warmth and immediacy in the analogue, hardware-based video workflow which is lacking within software environments, and video artists worldwide have long been frustrated by lack of access to such tools outside of a few scattered studios. With LZX Visionary, it is our goal to both reintroduce classic vintage video processing and synthesis circuitry, and continually push development of new tools which enhance integration with the tools of the day and fulfill the needs of the modern video artist.
LZX Visionary is a line of EuroRack format synthesizer modules designed for creating and manipulating video and images. While our modules may be augmented within the same system by a wealth of interesting modules from other manufacturers intended for the creation of audio, our goal is to offer a complete system specifically designed for the demands of generating and processing video signals.

What is modular video synthesis?

A modular synthesizer is a type of analogue computer which is programmed by connecting the inputs and outputs of various functional modules to each other, typically in order to produce or process audio signals. The advantages of a modular synthesizer are its expandability and flexibility, since a system can be designed around goals the user wishes to achieve, and easily reconfigured (or patched) for multiple uses. Video synthesis is another application of the modular synthesizer, and while the application is different, the same principles of analogue signal paths and voltage-controlled parameters still apply.
While many functional modules are useful for both audio and video, some new module designs must be introduced which deal with the special requirements of video signals. The LZX Visionary modular video synthesizer can function as a traditional video mixer, keyer, or special effects unit, or delve into experimental territory such as the creation of abstract patterns with voltage-controlled oscillators, complex color space modulation, audiovisualization, and many as yet to be discovered techniques.

 

ModuleModules

The ModuleModule format for Buchla systems which was introduced by Chris Muir from Eardrill a while a go is on fire at the moment. In the last two weeks alone four new have surfaced. Intellijel has released there uStep for it. Roman F. from Russia a waveshaper based on the Music Easel and now Jason R. Butcher also announced two new modulemodules. 

The first is a Balanced Modulator which is based on the original Buchla 285.  The second one is a Reverb which uses a spring reverb emulator. Both will sell for 400$. I have too say that they look very tempting and they are also totally hand made. Great stuff!

Suzanne Ciani: Lixiviation

Labeled the “American Delia Derbyshire (Delia Ann Derbyshire (5 May 1937 – 3 July 2001) was an English musician and composer of electronic music and musique concrète) of the Atari generation,” Finders Keepers Record has released a compilation that features early compositions by the synth pioneer Suzanne Ciani who was one of the few women around that timethat made a career as a synthesist. This new album heavily features the Buchla 200.

In the 60's sculptor Harold Paris first introduced her to Don Buchla, whose studio building was next door to the UC Berkeley in the industrial waterfront section of Oakland. She worked for Don Buchla in his factory and by doing so got her first Buchla 200.

For me she is not just making music but creates landscapes that unfold in front of you as
you listen to the record. And it takes you to places where you have never been before.

Suzanne Ciani says about one of the pieces included on this compilation:
“This is an exampleof a Buchla piece where the music is generated by the machine itself, after lots of careful programming. I would spend weeks just living with the machine, always on, and tweak the parameters that were interacting to create this “automatic” composition. The idea was that you worked with the machine, setting up sequences and envelopes and filter modulations that interacted  in an organic way. The composition then infolded infinitely, going for weeks.”

Suzanne Ciani has a very detailed but also in my eyes, joyful approche in a way that I realy like and I would say that this record is definitely a piece of electronic music history.

Eardrill's new module: the Morphun

Eardrill, a company that is making Buchla compatible modules has just anounced that they will be releasing a new ModuleModule in the next couple of weeks. Chris Muir introduced the ModuleModule format a while back and is continuing to come up with great designs that compliment the 200e or old 200 systems. Finally also some other manufacturer have dicovered that the ModuleModule is a great platform for some of there designs. For example the Eurorack manufacturer Intelijel will be releasing their uStep module which is a 8-step (or 16 step) stepsequencer.

The new ModuleModule is called Morphun. With the Morphun it you can easily reshape control voltages making it a playable CV processor. The interesting part for me is that it can also be used as a simple eight step sequenzer.

Chris Muir wrote on his home page that the Morphun will have four main modes.

Morph The mode I started with is the morph mode. As a historical reference, Morph mode is sort of like the Tracking Generator found on an Oberheim Xpander, and sort of like the breakpoint generator on the 256e/257e. In this mode, a control voltage coming into the morph jack scans across the values on the sliders, interpolating between slider values as it goes. This lets you sculpt / reshape a control voltage into many curious shapes. 

Snap Then I added snap mode, which snaps between the values on the sliders. A full-scale ramp at the morph input will act as a sort of sequencer, stepping through the eight values on the slider. For example, if you drive the Morphun from an LFO with an ascending sawtooth wave, the sliders will be output in order, if from a descending saw the sliders will be output in reverse order. If you drive it with a Source of Uncertainty Quantized Random section set to 8 steps, the Morphun will randomly select among the eight sliders to output. 

Clock Clock mode is more or less a normal sequencer.

Strobe Strobe mode is sort of a cross between morph and clock mode, the value at the morph input is sampled every clock, than the interpolated value is looked up on the sliders.

Looking forward to this module and I hope I can place an order soon. Love that it has sliders like some old Buchla 200 modules.

My old system and the 258v

My old system before I had to sell it (Sitting on top of the Eurorack). Sadly I have never used an original 258 but the 258v by Mark Verbos is one of the most amazing oscillators I have ever heard. Outer space FM, amazing drones and bell sounds this oscillator does it all. And the great part there are two in one module. The best part is when you crossmodulate both oscillators. Mark even added a trimmed 1.2 volt/octave CV input.

From the Buchla historical homepage: "Two independent voltage-controlled oscillators, continuously tunable from 5 Hz to 20 kHz. Each has two processing inputs and a frequency modulation input. Waveshapes as well as frequency can be voltage controlled. Model 258 oscillators feature low sine wave harmonic content, negligible settling error, and high short and long-term stability, even with rapidly changing ambient temperatures."

This will be my next oscillator for sure as I miss it dearly.

The 281e Quad Function Generator

This was actually my first real Buchla Module. But the first one I had to sell. So after I recived my 259e I picked this one up on Muffs as it was already in Europa and so I avoided the usual import taxes. It was realy nice of the seller to include a double banana plug.

The 281e is a very usefull, fun and also important modules for the Buchla system. It is basicaly four simple Attack Release transient envelope generators in one module. It is not as esoteric as some other Buchla modules but it does what it does pretty well. It can be used as a simple LFO but there is one downside to it. Without a voltage processor like the 256e or the 254v by Mark Verbos the 281e in cycling mode won't go slower than 10 seconds. But appart from that I totaly love it. Reminds me of the days when I still had my Eurorack and used my Math with the QMMG.

In the beginning there was a garden

My passion with modular gear started a few years ago. When my best friend and I where looking for some Roland keybord synths we discoverd the world of modular synthesizers. We decided, after almost a year of  planning, calculating and recalculating to start a Eurorack together. But after dicovering the Buchla 200 and after finding out that Don Buchla is not only still in business but his new 200e series sets new standards for innovative musician interfaces I knew that sooner or later I had too place an order. The idea that that the Buchla is more than just a collection of modules and feels more like an instrument is still facinating to me. The dream too sit in the garden and wove the sounds that suround me so ever tempting.