Re: fartin' in the church
2004-06-25 by Robair, Gino
Everyone on the list is familiar with your background by now, Konkuro, and I'm certainly not trying to say you don't know what you're talking about in terms of synthesis overall.. My point is, try using the Buchla to create equally tempered "traditional" music. It's entirely within the realm of possibility. Yes it was designed by and for people looking for new means of expression. But once you get your hands dirty with one, it's goes nearly anywhere you want it to. Maybe when we have the next AHBA, Konkuro, I'll show you what I mean. Wait a sec: is this the Buchla or Wiard list? I had the same experience with my big blue Wiard modules, which I used melodically on a couple of game projects. Stable as all get out, and with the Borg filter, absolutely bitchin'. Now I'm using a couple of the fracrac ones for a project. They go anywhere I need them to go.
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> ---------- > From: konkuro > Reply To: wiardgroup@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Friday, June 25, 2004 12:56 PM > To: wiardgroup@yahoogroups.com > Subject: [wiardgroup] Re: fartin' in the church > > I wrote: > > >>Hell, do you know how many manuals I wrote for Ampex without ever > seeing the equipment? << > > Gino wrote: > > >That's supposed to be a good thing? So, because you've heard a > Buchla album, this gives you enough experience to talk about the > instrument? < > > The point was that it's a tad unfair to dismiss me as "uninformed" > simply because I don't own a Buchla. I know the instrument's history > and the kinds of uses it was designed for. I've seen schematics. > > The Ampex analogy was to illustrate how it's possible to speake > intelligently about an instrument without owning one. I was literally > an authority that Ampex owners turned to to learn about their > equipment--yet I had no physical contact with it. (Just because an > astronomer hasn't been into space doesn't mean he can't describe > what's there and the properties thereof.) > > By the same token, I learned to program an analog synth a good decade > before owning one. I don't own an Arp 2600, but I'm willing to bet I > could sit down at one and come up with far more sophisticated sounds > than some owners who haven't the foggiest idea of what the thing is > really about. Ownership does not necessarily equate to knowledge, and > lack of ownership does not necessarily equate to ignorance. You will > never, ever hear me claim to be a Buchla authority. But please don't > assume I don't know enough about the system to discuss it > intelligently. > > > >>I would challenge you to name five traditional recordings using > Buchla.<< > > >I'm not sure what you mean by the word "traditional". The tradition > of electronic music is one thing: playing Bach on a modular synth is > not"traditional,"< > > The instrument isn't traditional but the music is. Perhaps I should > have said "equally tempered." > > >I would suggest that any Subotnick recording using the Buchla is a > traditional use of it.< > > No, you missed the point. Subotnick produced the very kind of > atonal, experimental work I spoke of, and for which the Buchla was > designed. Outside of that kind of thing, the Buchla doesn't seem to > be a very efficient choice of instrument. To quote Douglas Leedy, > > "[The Buchla] was conceived with a different purpose in mind from > that of the Moog instrument: it is most suitable for the exotic forms > of electronic musical expression. It can be programmed to > produce "random" music.....or it may be "played" by a performer in > the traditional sense (though to perform an arrangement of a pop song > or a Bach fugue would be extremely difficult)." > > >But I would like to remind you that Suzanne Ciani made her name > using the Buchla for commercial music, in NYC no less.< > > Yes, primarily as a sound effects machine. She turned to other synths > for more musical applications, if memory serves me.> > > >And she's currently getting it reconditioned from what I've heard, > so she must have some plans for it...< > > What? I thought her Buchla had been stolen. > > johnm > > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > >