Buchla Music Easel (Modern)

The Buchla Music Easel was one of the first truly portable electronic music instruments. Fifty years ago, in 1973, only a few dozen were made. Unlike many iconic technologies, the influence was not grown through force of scale, but rather the force of the ideas. The Music Easel made available virtually every musical dimension: timbre, melody, rhythm, and time; how these dimensions intersected was no longer the court of acoustics and material, but signals and voltage. The 208 Stored Program Sound Source engendered “a new functional organization [with a] particularly rapid system of patching and program storage via plug-in cards.”

Taking cues from the then-recent discipline of cybernetics, the 218 touch plate was for “real-time communication” to help realize the “potential vocabulary” of the Easel, rather than exploiting existing modes of musical virtuosity. The Stored Program Cards ensured rapid repeatability and repertoire on its own terms. The battery terminals made sure the music was as portable as any acoustic instrument. And the name let you know it was designed for art rather than science.

More than a retro novelty, the Music Easel still speaks to a future we strive for. A technology that invites conversation, not chats, and controls that engage expression, not work. There are many new worlds to explore in this instrument created at the crossroads of the jazz and computer ages. Designed as “an integrated assemblage of functions“, rather than a collection of modules, the Music Easel’s color coding, comfortable access to controls, and solid patch connections allow for satisfying sessions of sonic discovery.