Bits, Bytes, and Buchla: Exploring Buchla’s Computer Based Instruments

Photo credit: The Buchla Archives

Bits, Bytes, and Buchla: Exploring Buchla’s Computer Based Instruments

Join us for a day-long exploration of Buchla’s later and lesser-known digital instruments! The afternoon will consist of three different lecture-seminars. Ryan Gaston will present a lecture tracing the design trajectory of Buchla’s computer-based instruments from the Series 500 and 300 through the Touché, Series 400 and Series 700. Sarah Belle Reid will speak about the compositional techniques and strategies used in her newly composed piece for the Buchla 400 while also exploring the broader Buchla themes of sonic play and performer-instrument relationships. Finally, original Buchla collaborator David Rosenboom will present a lecture highlighting his work with Buchla from the late 1960s through the early 1980s. All of these talks will incorporate musical examples and include live demonstrations of instruments from our collection.

The evening will feature quadraphonic performance sets by all three artists. The concert will open with Reid and Gaston each debuting newly composed pieces for the rare Buchla 400. Reid's new work investigates human-machine collaboration and real-time responsiveness, embracing unpredictability through quadraphonic spatialization. Gaston's piece turns audience members into active performers via sound toys and projected visual cues, enabling group interaction with the Buchla 400 in a playful, co-creative, dynamic format. Following intermission, David will perform two pieces featuring a hybrid system combining original 1970s Buchla 200 Series modules with his Touché II software instrument (modeled after the original Touché digital-analog keyboard instrument David co-designed with Buchla in 1979-80). First he will revisit his groundbreaking 1978 work written for Don Buchla called Study for On Being Invisible: A Conceptual Scheme for a Biofeedback Work Involving Coherent-Wave, EEG Phenomena and Electronic Orchestrations, a piece which has never been fully realized on stage before. This will be followed by a second piece, Future Travel—Extractions, a new realization of the compositional model underlying his 1981 record, Future Travel—composed primarily with the Touché and recently reissued by Black Truffle Records.

There is no admission fee but donations are encouraged. Please be sure to register for each event separately. Seating is limited, so please contact us if you have signed up and can no longer attend so we can make your seats available to others. 

1:00-2:00pm Evolution of Language: Software Design in Donald Buchla's Electronic Musical Instruments by Ryan Gaston

Gaston, presenting on behalf of the Buchla Archives, will trace the multiple-decade design trajectory of Buchla's computer-based instruments -- from the Series 500 and 300 to Touché, the Series 400, and 700. Emphasizing software evolution and performative interaction, the talk highlights Buchla's intent to create tools that were at once musical, exploratory, and conceptual. Live demonstrations will feature rare working instruments from the Museum of Music Technology. (Photo credit: The Buchla Archives)

2:15-3:15pm  Designing Interaction: Creative Insights from Donald Buchla's Instrument Design Philosophy by Sarah Belle Reid

Reid will share compositional techniques and interactive strategies used in her newly composed piece for the Buchla 400, particularly exploring the her process and approach to PATCH-VI programming. The session will expand into broader themes of sonic play, controller mapping, and real time performer-instrument relationships -- offering valuable insights for both Buchla newcomers and experienced electronic musicians. (Photo credit: Sarah Belle Reid)

3:30-5:00pm  Interactive Uncertainties—Instruments as Endless Compositional Networks by David Rosenboom 

In this 90-minute presentation and discussion, Rosenboom will highlight the historical and philosophical foundations of his collaborative work with Donald Buchla, spanning the late 1960s through early 1980s. This session will feature detailed examples of musical compositions, improvisations, instrument designs, and propositional musical modeling practices that illustrate the potential of dynamically adaptive instruments in embodying whole musical worlds. (Photo credit: Judy Whalen)

NOTE: The building will close after the lecture and reopen at 7:30 for the evening concert.  We are happy to provide recommendations for area restaurants for dinner!

8:00PM Concert Performance

The evening will feature quadraphonic performance sets by all three artists. The concert will open with the world premiere of two new compositions composed specifically for this exhibition by Reid and Gaston for the rare Buchla 400. Both works will showcase the under-explored PATCH-VI software language and bring attention to the expressive potential of Buchla's digital legacy. Reid's new solo work (as yet untitled) investigates human-machine collaboration and real-time responsiveness, embracing unpredictability through quadraphonic spatialization. Gaston's piece, titled Terrestrial Edits to the Territory: Overlays for A Spare Earth's Worth of Desert Maps (and Alternative Energies), turns audience members into active performers via sound toys and projected visual cues, enabling group interaction with the Buchla 400 in a playful, co-creative, dynamic format. 

Following intermission, Rosenboom will perform two pieces featuring a hybrid system combining original 1970s Buchla 200 Series modules with his Touché II software instrument (modeled after the original Touché digital-analog keyboard instrument he co-designed with Buchla in 1979-80). First he will revisit his groundbreaking 1978 work written for Don Buchla called Study for On Being Invisible: A Conceptual Scheme for a Biofeedback Work Involving Coherent-Wave, EEG Phenomena and Electronic Orchestrations, a piece which has never been fully realized on stage before. This will be followed by a second piece, Future Travel—Extractions, a new realization of the compositional model underlying his 1981 record, Future Travel—composed primarily with the Touché and recently reissued by Black Truffle Records.

RYAN GASTON

Ryan Gaston is a composer and instrument designer who establishes unusual relationships between performers and sound through novel electronic musical instrument designs. Gaston is part of the Buchla Archives, an independent organization whose mission is to document and preserve Don Buchla’s work. The Buchla Archives assists with restoration and maintenance of vintage Buchla instruments and offers research support to artists, academic researchers, and institutions. More info can be found at buchlaarchives.com. (Photo credit: ryangastonmusic.com)

SARAH BELLE REID

Sarah Belle Reid is a composer-performer, researcher, and professor at the University of Victoria (BC). Her research focuses on electronic music composition, instrument design, and human–machine interaction; more specifically, she studies how Buchla’s instrument designs influence the user’s creative process. She is one of the world’s leading experts on Buchla’s Touché and Buchla 400 instruments. Reid works closely with the Buchla Archives. As a performer, she presents original electroacoustic works across North America and Europe. She also runs an online education platform focusing on synthesis and sound design. More info can be found at sarahbellereid.com. (Photo credit: sarahbellereid.com)

DAVID ROSENBOOM

David Rosenboom is an influential composer, performer, and interdisciplinary thinker whose career in electronic music has spanned more than five decades. His close collaboration with Don Buchla from the late 1960s through early 1980s helped shape the philosophical and technological foundations of adaptive musical instruments. Rosenboom’s legacy includes hybrid instrument designs such as the original Touché, a joint invention with Buchla that reimagined performance as a form of inquiry. More info can be found at davidrosenboom.com. (Photo credit: Nicki Voss)

This event is part of EMEAPP/MMT's special exhibition Instruments That Talk Back: Celebrating the Legacy of Don Buchla. Funding for this exhibition has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. We are deeply grateful for their support.