Breaking Out of "West Coast" Synthesis With the Modern Buchla Easel

#buchla #modularsynth #keyboard
The Buchla Modern Music Easel is the third iteration of the modular synthesizer originally designed by Don Buchla over 50 years ago, defining the concept of West Coast synthesis.
Shop the Modern Music Easel and read more at rb.gy/88ujmg
Filmed at Narwhal Studios in Chicago.
narwhalchicago.com/
0:00 - Intro Jam
1:12 - What's New
5:41 - JAM 1
6:07 - Creating a Patch
11:43 - JAM 2
12:14 - The Arpeggiator
15:43 - Voltage Sequencer & Pulser
19:27 - JAM 3
19:52 - Integrating MIDI & Other Devices
21:42 - JAM 4
22:25 - Using External Audio & the Envelope Generator
23:00 - JAM 5
23:39 - Outro

[@sound.workshop]

Hey Fess, it was awesome to hear Easel alongside some fun beats. Sounded great!

[@bronamartin2101]

This is a great demonstration! Thanks so much!

[@JoelDavel]

Quick correction. Don didn't add those new additions on the 208C before he passed away in 2016. But it was not difficult to update and made sense for me to add those and the ability to control the sequencer stages on the front panel in 2019. The changes made it more useful like a module. Because unlike the modules from the 100 and 200 series, the Easel wasn't really thought of as "modular". Don thought of it as an integrated instrument, especially in its original form without the direct oscillator outputs and newer additional CV control of the 208C.
EMBIO: I wish you'd mentioned how on the very last patch you use, that you use the envelope detector CV to go into the CV-to-pulse section on the EMBIO to then send to the keyboard pulse input. That's a good use of that part of the EMBIO. Bravo.
But other places you demo the EMBIO could have been done without the EMBIO. For instance if you use the attenuverter, there's no reason to go into the inverter first. At 14 min.You re-inverted it when you went negative on the attenuverter so then the voltage actually went positive. And since you still have the mod osc keyboard input switch on, that didn't do too much. Also later in the video, you go positive on the attenuverter, and yet you could have just attenuated the sequencer signal with the mod osc input fader and not used the attenuverter there either.
Note that the random outputs are only different in that they don't put out the same voltage simultaneously. Their outputs are the same voltage range and character, so there's no reason to favor one random output over the other.
Overall the video explains some important things to newbies and some my above comments are nit-picky, but I just wanted to clarify a few things. I do appreciate you that the sales people other musicians like yourself do presentations since that's not what they pay me to do. But after I saw this I did pull out my phone do my own quick overview of some of this in my video: ruclips.net/video/mb0UpwpRVZM/видео.html

[@RMMChicagoOfficial]

Sick, Sick!

[@DragDealer]

Love buchla never seen one in real life, never played one ☝🏻 but I love Buchla 😊

[@russ254]

some great grooves there!

[@WatchTheThrown]

hands free for buchla things.

[@_functionless]

oh yeah lets gooooooo!!

[@VictorSteiner]

Looking forward to the Behringer version so we can afford it :D

[@temporoboto]

💙

[@aopaul]

And if this is too rich for your wallet, there's also the 0-Coast and the West Pest that do some pretty good West coast synthesis. Anyone know any other affordable options?

[@donkeyfacekilla1]

Would love a Buchla clone!

[@DragDealer]

Wh about volca modular

[@josephhoward4010]

Acoustic guitar at the local pawn shop?

[@aopaul]

@@josephhoward4010 here comes dad with the zingers

[@russ254]

I'm having a blast with software modular, Voltage Modular with the "West Coast Bundle" from DMT Audio. Real cheap and super fun!

[@kentvanschuyler9520]

Horse hockey 😂

[@Batsinthebelltower]

Very underwhelming

[@kierenmoore3236]

Was some cool sound when he played with the timbre slider. The rest sounded boring af, ngl.