Buchla Music Easel
Item
Model
Buchla Music Easel
Make
Buchla
Type
Analog Modular Synth
Description
Made: 1970, Reissued 2013
Type: Semi-Modular
Oscillators: 2
Filters: 2
Sequencers: 1
VCAs: 2
Envelopes: 1
Overview
The Buchla Music Easel was originally released in 1972 as a small box with two two Buchla 200 modules, the 208 Stored Program Sound Source and 218 Touch Keyboard Controller. The 208 was a synthesizer module that had just about everything you could need to create sound. One of its key features was its complex oscillator, which allowed for a much wider range of timbres than any other synth at the time. This would become a defining feature of the Buchla sound. It even featured an early function of saving presets that involved cards that you would have to solder resistors into that could load up certain settings (thankfully this process has become easier over time). The 218 Keyboard is one of Buchla’s famous touchplate designs that set him apart from other synth designers at the time. Instead of a typical keyboard which imitates a piano or organ, Buchla made a 12 tone keyboard with metal plates that you would touch to generate the sound, and even included a CV output for the amount of pressure you put onto the plate with your finger. This is one of many ways that Buchla attempted to create more unique performing interfaces for early electronic musicians. It was a new tool for composers and musicians to create extraordinary worlds of sound that unfortunately few people got their hands on.
While anywhere from 100 to 200 of the original Buchla 200 Series modules were created in their brief running time, only 25 of the original Music Easel modules were ever made. Very few have survived over the years. This made it one of the most rare and coveted synthesizers of all time for many years. However, in 2013, Buchla reissued the Music Easel in all its glory. This is the version that TIMARA has, which is a faithful recreation of the original.
The easiest way to get sound out of the Music Easel is by raising the level sliders that are on the Dual Lopass Gate section (discussion of the lopass gate can be found here [will be link to the Buchla 200 files]). The first gate will give you the sound of the Complex Oscillator, and the second gate can act as the Modulation Oscillator, the Complex Oscillator, or can pass an external signal that you can plug in through the ⅛” input of the pre-amp section at the top of the 208 module. These internal connections are normalled.
To use the keyboard to control pitch, use three banana patch cables to connect the pulse, pressure and pitch jacks from the keyboard into the top synth module (they’re located on the left corners of the module). This allows the keyboard to connect with the sound module. Also turn on the respective oscillator’s keyboard switch.
Apart from its 1/8th inch preamp input, the Music Easel has only banana jacks. The patch points are all color coded. The most important ones are the black jacks, which are CV inputs. Each of the multicolored output jacks that surround the black jacks are multiples of the synth’s CV outputs (The full color coding schema of the Music Easel’s main CV jacks are listed below.) This makes it easy to use smaller cables in close proximity to each other. From the black jack inputs, there is an arrow that points up to a slider. These are used to attenuate the amount of control voltage for the slider to the right. For instance, a slider next to the oscillator’s frequency slider will attenuate the amount of CV being applied to change the oscillator frequency. The most common use of the CV inputs is routing the envelope generator output to control the level of the Lopass Gates, which creates a typical keyboard controlled synthesizer sound. From here, you can experiment with the ways in which the CV controls and keyboard can interact with each other and create interesting sonic patterns.
Color
CV Control
Black
CV Input
Blue
Sequencer Output
White
Random Triggered Voltage Output
Orange
Envelope Generator Output
Purple
Keyboard Pressure Output
Yellow
Pulser Output
Modules: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13vKgKsG1IoSY1Ashpq-F0qfpTL9HiMtMHm_1uu2gFsQ/edit?usp=sharingMore Information: https://buchla.com/music-easel/
Type: Semi-Modular
Oscillators: 2
Filters: 2
Sequencers: 1
VCAs: 2
Envelopes: 1
Overview
The Buchla Music Easel was originally released in 1972 as a small box with two two Buchla 200 modules, the 208 Stored Program Sound Source and 218 Touch Keyboard Controller. The 208 was a synthesizer module that had just about everything you could need to create sound. One of its key features was its complex oscillator, which allowed for a much wider range of timbres than any other synth at the time. This would become a defining feature of the Buchla sound. It even featured an early function of saving presets that involved cards that you would have to solder resistors into that could load up certain settings (thankfully this process has become easier over time). The 218 Keyboard is one of Buchla’s famous touchplate designs that set him apart from other synth designers at the time. Instead of a typical keyboard which imitates a piano or organ, Buchla made a 12 tone keyboard with metal plates that you would touch to generate the sound, and even included a CV output for the amount of pressure you put onto the plate with your finger. This is one of many ways that Buchla attempted to create more unique performing interfaces for early electronic musicians. It was a new tool for composers and musicians to create extraordinary worlds of sound that unfortunately few people got their hands on.
While anywhere from 100 to 200 of the original Buchla 200 Series modules were created in their brief running time, only 25 of the original Music Easel modules were ever made. Very few have survived over the years. This made it one of the most rare and coveted synthesizers of all time for many years. However, in 2013, Buchla reissued the Music Easel in all its glory. This is the version that TIMARA has, which is a faithful recreation of the original.
The easiest way to get sound out of the Music Easel is by raising the level sliders that are on the Dual Lopass Gate section (discussion of the lopass gate can be found here [will be link to the Buchla 200 files]). The first gate will give you the sound of the Complex Oscillator, and the second gate can act as the Modulation Oscillator, the Complex Oscillator, or can pass an external signal that you can plug in through the ⅛” input of the pre-amp section at the top of the 208 module. These internal connections are normalled.
To use the keyboard to control pitch, use three banana patch cables to connect the pulse, pressure and pitch jacks from the keyboard into the top synth module (they’re located on the left corners of the module). This allows the keyboard to connect with the sound module. Also turn on the respective oscillator’s keyboard switch.
Apart from its 1/8th inch preamp input, the Music Easel has only banana jacks. The patch points are all color coded. The most important ones are the black jacks, which are CV inputs. Each of the multicolored output jacks that surround the black jacks are multiples of the synth’s CV outputs (The full color coding schema of the Music Easel’s main CV jacks are listed below.) This makes it easy to use smaller cables in close proximity to each other. From the black jack inputs, there is an arrow that points up to a slider. These are used to attenuate the amount of control voltage for the slider to the right. For instance, a slider next to the oscillator’s frequency slider will attenuate the amount of CV being applied to change the oscillator frequency. The most common use of the CV inputs is routing the envelope generator output to control the level of the Lopass Gates, which creates a typical keyboard controlled synthesizer sound. From here, you can experiment with the ways in which the CV controls and keyboard can interact with each other and create interesting sonic patterns.
Color
CV Control
Black
CV Input
Blue
Sequencer Output
White
Random Triggered Voltage Output
Orange
Envelope Generator Output
Purple
Keyboard Pressure Output
Yellow
Pulser Output
Modules: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13vKgKsG1IoSY1Ashpq-F0qfpTL9HiMtMHm_1uu2gFsQ/edit?usp=sharingMore Information: https://buchla.com/music-easel/
Access
Those who have access to Studio 4
Location
Studio 4 Synth Table
