Suzanne Ciani's Buchla Cookbook

sstuart78 3 days ago 17 commentsRead Article on echo.orpheusinstituut.be

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Discussion (17 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

outofpaper•17 minutes ago

This is an amazing resource, whether you're into hardware modular synths or virtual ones like VCV Rack and Cardinal. Read, learn, enjoy, and play.

P.S. I'll always remember first discovering Suzanne Ciani while watching 321 Contact as a child: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJiTDhOTamo

consumer451•about 2 hours ago

I own non-modular synths, but I have never owned modular voltage-controlled hardware. However, I have had a lot of fun playing with Bespoke Synth. It has a much lower barrier to entry than VCV Rack imho.

If you are wondering what everyone is talking about in this thread, please check it out:

https://github.com/BespokeSynth/BespokeSynth

wormius•25 minutes ago

That's funny because I find VCV much "easier" but perhaps it's because I'm not composing so much as noodling and texture-spelunking.

I do like bespoke and think its great, but it feels a bit janky to me (though it's been like a year since I tried).

It's fun to think about all the various ways people can implement such tools. I'd recommend bespoke for those who want a bit of a different modular system than just a skeuomorphic approach that copies Eurorack design.

harmoni-pet•about 2 hours ago

Tiptop Audio has a collaboration with Buchla where they're making eurorack versions of most of the classic models. Some would be very good starter modules. https://tiptopaudio.com/buchla/

glimshe•about 3 hours ago

Modular synths are very cool, but it's a bit like a swimming pool: it's great when someone close to you deals with the grind so you can just enjoy it.

I talked myself out investing in modulars because I know I'll never have the patience to deal with the wires when all I want is to play. Big respect for those who can do it!

udbhavs•about 1 hour ago

For me, the "wires" are the play! I go into VCV rack when the intention-oriented workflows in a DAW like Ableton feel too much "on the rails". The large exploration space of a virtual modular setup is tedious if you're trying to do a straightforward DAW task but wonderful if you are itching to have something unexpected and inspiring thrown at you within the action space of one or two knob or wiring changes.

CompoundEyes•about 2 hours ago

For around $1200 USD you can put together the “dark easel” of a Make Noise Strega, 0-Coast, 0-Ctrl off Reverb. That plus a little oscilloscope/tuner like the Korg NTS-2 and you’re set.

https://youtu.be/SofDTfm1QKUsi=On2kh85cCa5rgRmA

https://youtu.be/gO9qlVr6-HA?si=FltmhE1xiqPYmKNB

Slow_Hand•about 2 hours ago

No shame in that. I find modulars a bit too expansive for my taste. It sounds like you'd benefit from a more traditional hardware synth where the signal flow is mostly locked down.

wahnfrieden•20 minutes ago

The Easel has internal wiring that minimizes excessive wiring needs

import•about 3 hours ago

Once you can start to visualize the voltage flow in your brain its so much fun to deal with the cables.

Slow_Hand•about 2 hours ago

Yeah. Having a model of the signal flow in your mind and being creative with the structure is half the fun of synthesizers for me. And even if you don't comprehend everything in the moment, happy accidents are a big part of the fun.

Some modular performers like Keith Fullerton Whitman have a very dynamic approach to patching. I've seen shows where he was aggressively re-patching throughout the performance and hot-swapping connections on the fly. I'm talking several patches in a minute. It wasn't subtle, either. It was a nice contrast to many performers who tend to design their system as a fixed structure and then play from there.

brcmthrowaway•about 2 hours ago

VCV Rack?

mattjoyce•about 1 hour ago

Its a software emulation of hardware modular. It good fun to noodle about with. Does provide a good experience of modular.

wahnfrieden•22 minutes ago

I ordered the Buchla easel briefcase

wyager•about 2 hours ago

I have a probably ~$20k modular rack. It's a lot of fun to experiment with, but the fact that you don't have patch save/recall really slashes the utility.

Doing everything in a DAW is the most practical from a "business" standpoint, but it's way less amenable to creative exploration. You really have to know what you want already.

The practical compromise that works best for me is a well-designed hardware realtime synth. You have access to a small fraction of the design space of modular, but a higher fraction of the accessible design space sounds good, and you of course have patch save/recall.

Recently what I've been doing is creating modular patches, driving them with MIDI, and recording the output into my Elektron Tonverk using their on-device multisample recording. You can record samples at a bunch of different pitch/velocity pairs and save them into a multisample file.

harmoni-pet•19 minutes ago

You might find some joy in tossing an octatrack towards the end of your chain. It pairs really nicely with modular

wahnfrieden•19 minutes ago

The Buchla Easel is semimodular and has preset cards and a memory recall card