The West Coast suitcase synth

Don Buchla’s electronic instruments were different by design. Embracing the Californian counter-culture, his machines bore little resemblance to the Moogs and ARPs of the day – he even disliked them being called synthesisers! Intending to encourage new forms of music, Buchla shied away from such tropes as the organ-styled keyboard, preferring to present a touch-plate interface that could facilitate new levels of expression. Still, much of its workings would be familiar to electronic musicians once they got past the odd nomenclature. For example, Buchla’s infamous Source of Uncertainty module was really a dressed-up noise generator and provider of semi-random voltages.

The Music Easel is a superb distillation of all things Buchla. The ideal blend of accessibility and avantgarde, its colourful look is a combo of chaos and convention that invites rather than intimidates. It looks fun and, in point of fact, it is fun. Perfectly capable of standard synthesis fare, it is also a source of unusual, self-playing textures and timbres that burst and bubble with life.