“Almost everything he made was unprecedented.”
September 16, 2016 8:51 PM Subscribe
Rest in peace, Don Buchla. The synthesizer pioneer is perhaps best known for the Buchla 200 and the Buchla Music Easel, both of which are still in use today. A thorough obit is in The Guardian, with smaller ones at FACT, Pitchfork, Thump, Resident Advisor, and FADER. The offical corporate history at Buchla and Associates also provides some useful background.
A 2011 interview with Buchla for the National Association of Music Merchants’ oral history project.
A 2011 interview with Buchla for the National Association of Music Merchants’ oral history project.
Where's the patch cable emoji? :(
posted by oceanjesse at 9:01 PM on September 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by oceanjesse at 9:01 PM on September 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
RIP. An enormously important figure and a brilliant, iconoclastic man. His synthesizers are cosmic, explorative, otherworldly. A personal hero.
This just came out from two Buchla-loving musicians, Suzanne Ciani and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, and is the best sonic eulogy to Don Buchla I can think of, even if it wasn't intended as such. Worth a listen if you want an example of what his instruments sound like in good hands.
posted by naju at 9:03 PM on September 16, 2016 [9 favorites]
This just came out from two Buchla-loving musicians, Suzanne Ciani and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, and is the best sonic eulogy to Don Buchla I can think of, even if it wasn't intended as such. Worth a listen if you want an example of what his instruments sound like in good hands.
posted by naju at 9:03 PM on September 16, 2016 [9 favorites]
This just came out from two Buchla-loving musicians, Suzanne Ciani and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, and is the best sonic eulogy to Don Buchla I can think of, even if it wasn't intended as such.
I was planning a post on Sunergy, and then this happened.
posted by Going To Maine at 9:33 PM on September 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
I was planning a post on Sunergy, and then this happened.
posted by Going To Maine at 9:33 PM on September 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
West Coast Synthesis Reprazent In Peace.
posted by symbioid at 10:29 PM on September 16, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by symbioid at 10:29 PM on September 16, 2016 [2 favorites]
At the Trips Festival in San Francisco during January 1966, Buchla played his Buchla synthesizer as an accompaniment to a pre-Janis Joplin version of Big Brother & the Holding Company. He was definitely there at the juncture between psychedelic rock and avant-garde 20th century music.
.
posted by jonp72 at 11:24 PM on September 16, 2016 [2 favorites]
.
posted by jonp72 at 11:24 PM on September 16, 2016 [2 favorites]
For more Buchla music, I can recommend Lyonel Bouchet's Buchla Tunes Volumes 1 thru 6.
posted by bouvin at 2:31 AM on September 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by bouvin at 2:31 AM on September 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
His synthesizers were like nothing else out there, an original sonic wizard, the likes of which are are increasingly rare species. He was the West coast counterpart to Bob Moog on the East coast, may they now both collaborate on some wild, wacky filters in the Continuum. More spectrum, infinite waveforms, and less impedance.
.
posted by dbiedny at 7:55 AM on September 17, 2016 [4 favorites]
.
posted by dbiedny at 7:55 AM on September 17, 2016 [4 favorites]
I watched this video of someone playing on a skylab and thought - wow wouldn't that be fun!
Guess I'll start saving now...
posted by stinkfoot at 8:10 AM on September 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
Guess I'll start saving now...
posted by stinkfoot at 8:10 AM on September 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
Another person whose synth artistry has been felt and heard in music for a very long time, and even now it can be felt in the most modern EDM and other electronica.
*smashes a synth in memoriam*
.
posted by marienbad at 8:26 AM on September 17, 2016
*smashes a synth in memoriam*
.
posted by marienbad at 8:26 AM on September 17, 2016
.
posted by oneironaut at 8:45 AM on September 17, 2016
posted by oneironaut at 8:45 AM on September 17, 2016
There was this epic party in January 2000 in Downtown LA during NAMM. The Alesis Andromeda/A6 was debuted, and Buchla brought his new Marimba Lumina. Bob Moog was also in attendance. The late Mr. Nerd and I were standing somewhat near Buchla when a pipe filled with green was being passed around. You better believe I took the opportunity to have a hit off of the same pipe as Buchla!
I saw a System 200 of his in my very early days with the late Mr. Nerd. They sound so wonderful and almost organic and earthy. Very beautiful.
Enjoy the afterlife, Don Buchla.
posted by luckynerd at 9:14 AM on September 17, 2016 [5 favorites]
I saw a System 200 of his in my very early days with the late Mr. Nerd. They sound so wonderful and almost organic and earthy. Very beautiful.
Enjoy the afterlife, Don Buchla.
posted by luckynerd at 9:14 AM on September 17, 2016 [5 favorites]
I was planning a post on Sunergy, and then this happened.
Yeah, I was wondering about doing that too. Aquarium Drunkard posted an interview with Ciani and Smith on Thursday, and linked to the Sunergy documentary.
posted by LeLiLo at 8:02 PM on September 17, 2016
Yeah, I was wondering about doing that too. Aquarium Drunkard posted an interview with Ciani and Smith on Thursday, and linked to the Sunergy documentary.
posted by LeLiLo at 8:02 PM on September 17, 2016
Another interview with Ciano discussing her "intense ten years of Buchla" (great read from August, 2016).
posted by oceanjesse at 8:56 PM on September 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by oceanjesse at 8:56 PM on September 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
Oli Warwick at FACT: “The genius of Don Buchla, by the generations of synth disciples he inspired”
posted by Going To Maine at 3:03 PM on September 26, 2016
posted by Going To Maine at 3:03 PM on September 26, 2016
« Older At least we know she knows where France is. | Rule 409 - Advance Clear to Stop Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by Going To Maine at 8:57 PM on September 16, 2016 [1 favorite]