MOTM

--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Schreiber" <synth1@a...> wrote:
> What I want discussion on is the front panel styling. One of the 
err..unique aspects of the
> Buchla was that *every* module had a different front panel.

It sounds like everybody is voting for the status quo on this topic.

Are you guys working for the man, or what?

Paul, if you want to capture the Buchla spirit, you're going to have 
to put on some head music, tune in, and turn on! Maybe you could even 
have a love-in.

Seriously, you can't do Buchla justice without:
   * Embracing the complexity that comes from randomness
   * Separating structural controls from audio ones

In other words, you're going to have to let go of the grid if you 
want to do this series right. 

Much of what makes Buchla's & Moog's instruments great is 
interesting "mistakes". These guys were trying out a lot of new ideas 
and discovered a lot of cool serendipities.

There's got to be a lot more interesting "mistakes" for you to 
discover.

Buchla expressed his openness to experimentation in his instruments. 
His instruments encouraged, maybe even forced, musicians to try new 
ideas. "Until Spring" may not be for everybody, but then neither 
is "Switched on Bach". We could use more of that openness in this day 
and age.

MOTM has proven that you can refine and update Moog's ideas for 
sythesizers. You can't do the same to Buchla by wedging his ideas 
into a Moog mold. 

It would be great if you could use the 200 series not to put Buchla's 
ideas in MOTM panels, but instead to experiment and make some 
interesting mistakes of your own. 

About the panels - you mentioned you could tell the Buchla modules' 
functions across the room. That clarity of function, combined with 
some arbitrary weirdness, is opposite the established pattern of MOTM 
modules.

It doesn't look like Buchla made his panel controls conform to a 
predefined grid or organizational structure. I'd bet that if you 
asked him why he put a knob where he did, he reply, "Because that's 
where it belongs..."

Freak out a little. 

Whatever you end up doing, I'm sure these modules will be interesting!