I'm tempted to say the Buchla probably still offers deeper creative
possibilities in certain areas, but the Doepfer seems to outdo it in
others. Timbrally it's a lost cause to argue that the Buchla goes
further. And yes, let's face it, size, especially in terms of
CV-related modules, translates pretty well into creative potential.
There's tremendous allure to some of the Buchla modules, like the Dual
Arbitrary Function Generator:

http://www.buchla.com/200e/249e.html

While there's a certain amount of mystification inherent in the
abstractness of the description of its functions, it's still quite a
thing. Will it outdo two A155s chained to an A154 In most respects,
probably not, or at least not in any way that makes its $1900 seem like
a sensible alternative to the $769 for the 2x A155 + A154, for my own
purposes anyway.

The Buchla philosphy seems to lend itself to an attitude of
let's-disappear-down-the-electronic-rabbit-hole, sort of entering into
equal partnership with abstract functionality derived from a kind of
here's-what-we-can-do-electronically idea, where the assumption is that
the music you make with it will be opened up via a deep encounter with
the instrument's own CV resources, whereas the Doepfer seems at least
initially to have emerged from a much more East Coast
synthesizer-as-toolkit-under-my-control philosophy, which given the
breadth of the Doepfer catalog can open up in a very Buchla-like way
when desired. You can actually probably credit the Doepfer with greater
flexibility, but the Buchla with an inherently trippier and more elegant
intellectual bent that by its very nature might lead you places you
wouldn't go even with a properly equipped big Doepfer.


From: Bakis Sirros <synth_freak_2000@y...>
Date: Thu Sep 2, 2004 2:45 am
Subject: RE: 1 Re: OT: new buchla 259

hello,
exactly what i'm saying is, that i admit the superior
parts quality of the buchla modules, but these more
expensive parts and R&D just doesn't justify the HUGE
difference in price! but, i, too, like the buchla
modular and i, too, think that it looks and sounds
fantastic.but to me it doesn't sound better than my
a100.
and another thing: i am sure that there is no buchla
modular owner that has a really big buchla
modular(because of the prices, of course). so, the
bottom line is that no buchla modular owner can have
the huge creative possibilities that me and
vogelscheiss have, because we have huge and very
capable modulars. if we owned buchla modulars, we'd
only have 20-30 modules...
so, in the end, which modular gives you the most crazy
and complex possibilities
bakis.