[sdiy] So just what *is* the Buchla 291?

[David G. Dixon]

> >> So, is Buchla a mad genius, or did he just dick around on a
> >> breadboard until
> >> he got something interesting?
> >I suspect these are not mutually exclusive. ;)
> 
> There are remarkably few truly creative originators in ANY field.
> But they have one thing in common: a total and intuitive understanding
> of the materials and processes involved.

The contrast between Moog's and Buchla's stories is interesting.  Moog
arrived at the idea of using VCOs and VCAs through his interaction with
musician Herb Deutsch, the VCF was a suggestion by Professor Ciamaga in
Toronto, and the ADSR was the idea of Columbia composer Vladimir
Ussachevsky.  Moog appropriated the sequencer idea from Buchla.  When
Deutsch came to Moog, he was barely scraping by building cheap guitar
amplifiers.

Buchla also had significant input from musicians, most notably Morton
Subotnick, but he seems to have gone away and cooked up the Buchla 100
largely on his own, like Athena born whole from the head of Zeus.

Mad genius, indeed.

> It is possible for anyone to fluke a useful circuit - but to consistently
> produce new stuff, is rather exceptional. I have known a couple of
> successful inventors - they certainly APPEAR to be 'dicking around'
> sometimes, but it's acutally pretty focussed dicking.
> 
> The definitive article on this is:
> "Where do little circuits come from?" by Barrie Gilbert chap 19 of
> Analog Circuit Design: Art, Science and Personalities.
> 
> Personally, I don't find that 'successfully creative' people have any
> personality traits in common (apart from an ability to concentrate,
> and an overwhelming passion for their field.)
> 
> paul perry Melbourne Australia
> 
> 
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