Buchla/TT 257t - a drone-man’s dream come true?

[Ben Asaro]

Forgive the pun, but I have been experimenting with a combination of harmonically rich wave forms, mixer, low pass filter, and the 257t voltage processor, to create some very gnarly drones this week.

With the 257t set to +5 and output directly to the cv of the filter, it creates a very subtle sweep that doesn’t really sound like a filter sweep; it’s more like a ‘blooming’ of sound, but if it was a tear in the fabric of space-time. It feels to me to me a much better way to perform filter sweeps that add harmonics but don’t noticeably make the drone louder like turning the frequency knob directly does.

Adding the polyphrase ping pong delay set looong (around 6 seconds) into the Blackhole widens the drone across the stereo image.

Continuing my experiments today by adding a second layer using the other half of the 257t.

Sorry, no audio clips, that will have to wait for Jamuary.

Edit: also need to experiment with getting pitch changes to the VCOs, or does that violate some sort of drone Geneva Convention?

[Arpangel]

it’s more like a ‘blooming’ of sound, but if it was a tear in the fabric of space-time.

You’ve sold it to me.

[Ben Asaro]

Gonna be working on more droneworks today. Looking forward to it!

[Arpangel]

Ben, have you bought any Buchla oscillators yet? The "sound" is very much in them, especially the 258, and the 281 Function, sometimes, it’s very difficult to tell if your sounds are coming from acoustic instruments, or electronic ones, my last album is a good example.

[Ben Asaro]

Ben, have you bought any Buchla oscillators yet? The "sound" is very much in them, especially the 258, and the 281 Function, sometimes, it’s very difficult to tell if your sounds are coming from acoustic instruments, or electronic ones, my last album is a good example.

Yes, I have the 258t, which I use all the time into Make Noise Dynamix low pass gates.

[Arpangel]

Ben, have you bought any Buchla oscillators yet? The "sound" is very much in them, especially the 258, and the 281 Function, sometimes, it’s very difficult to tell if your sounds are coming from acoustic instruments, or electronic ones, my last album is a good example.

Yes, I have the 258t, which I use all the time into Make Noise Dynamix low pass gates.

I wanted the Buchla LPG, but not now they’ve dropped the vactrols, not sure how the Dynamix compares?

[Ben Asaro]

I wanted the Buchla LPG, but not now they’ve dropped the vactrols, not sure how the Dynamix compares?

No clue, I've had it for a while and really like it. I don't really use the side chain part of it. I do use the attenuverters a LOT, however. It also functions like a mixer so it's quite versatile.

[Ben Asaro]

It looks like I need to revisit this topic every couple of months.

I had a pretty extraordinary jam this evening with the 245t and 257t, Buchla/TT dual VCO, Wiretap, and Pet Rock.

The core of the patch is taking lane A and B from the 245t and and patching them into Va and Vc on the 257t's upper processor. I then do the same for lanes C and D into the lower processor.

The voltage output gets patched through Wiretap and Wiretap's envelopes are triggered by Pet Rock, which is getting a multed clock pulse. Wiretap's through inputs are patched to a Doepfer dual quantizer.

The envelopes are patched to a low pass gate, Doepfer mixer, and finally a strymon aa.1.

This may be my favorite exploratory patch to date. As Vc is mixed with va, the range between notes shifts. The voltage output acts like a shift register.

The result is that I'm never quite sure what I will end up with, but it all sounds fab! There's something alluring about turning a dial, ending in a strange place, and not quite finding your way back. It's very "modular', I wouldn't know where to begin patching this in software or on a fixed architecture synth.

The quantizer keeps things musical to my ears, but someone more daring can easily forego it.

The Buchla modules are really something special if you're willing to go down the rabbit hole.

[Arpangel]

I’m having a strange time with my TT Buchla, I’ve found I only ever use three modules, the 245T, 266T and the dual oscillator, they seem to give me the essence of that Buchla sound, a very ambiguous semi-acoustic-electronic sound.
I listen to my tracks and think "where did that trombone come from!"
Also, I sit down with that Complex Oscillator and it initially impresses me, but then I seem to get farther away from anything interesting, and give up.
I’m selling it, and the 257T, both aren’t earning their keep, every time I use the 257T I have to virtually relearn it.
I think the 259T is too complex, it just becomes too much, and it’s confusing to use.
I love the 281T, and the 266T, they are the stars of the show for me, every time I use them something nice comes out.

[Ben Asaro]

The 257t voltage processor is definitely a tricky one to wrap my brain around. I would describe it as a combination offset/CV mixer/slew limiter in the way that I'm using it. If you're using one of the lanes from the 245t to influence another, that's when the 257t starts to shine and earn its keep, otherwise it's a very big hp sink of unused space.

I was using an AV2 and patching the Sum output from the voltage blocks to input A and B, but it doesn't produce the same results as using the voltage processor; even though they appear to be doing the same thing, the 257t gives me less predictable results, which is what I'm aiming for here.

The skiff I put together yesterday (for tonight's synth meet) is essentially two 'cells'; one is melodic (245t > 257t > quantizer> low pass gate) and the other is rhythmic (Wiretap > Pet Rock > low pass gate) but they both influence each other: If I change the voltage on one of the stages on the 245t, it has a trickle-down effect on the rhythm, depending on which logic output I'm using from Wiretap. It's both organic and unpredictable. Lots of fun!

[Arpangel]

The 257t voltage processor is definitely a tricky one to wrap my brain around. I would describe it as a combination offset/CV mixer/slew limiter in the way that I'm using it. If you're using one of the lanes from the 245t to influence another, that's when the 257t starts to shine and earn its keep, otherwise it's a very big hp sink of unused space.

I was using an AV2 and patching the Sum output from the voltage blocks to input A and B, but it doesn't produce the same results as using the voltage processor; even though they appear to be doing the same thing, the 257t gives me less predictable results, which is what I'm aiming for here.

The skiff I put together yesterday (for tonight's synth meet) is essentially two 'cells'; one is melodic (245t > 257t > quantizer> low pass gate) and the other is rhythmic (Wiretap > Pet Rock > low pass gate) but they both influence each other: If I change the voltage on one of the stages on the 245t, it has a trickle-down effect on the rhythm, depending on which logic output I'm using from Wiretap. It's both organic and unpredictable. Lots of fun!

Glad you’re getting good results from it. You’re right, the Buchla stuff is big, and unless it’s being used it’s not viable.
I’m happy with just patching my random modules, that’s what I enjoy, Rings is still the heart of anything vaguely melodic that I do, it just provides a bit of sweetness, amongst all the noise.

[Arpangel]

Ben, one module I’ve got to get ASAP, Pam’s Pro Workout, it’s going to be really useful with all those modulation outputs plus quantiser!

[Ben Asaro]

Ben, one module I’ve got to get ASAP, Pam’s Pro Workout, it’s going to be really useful with all those modulation outputs plus quantiser!

Awesome! I have the og Pam's and that's a powerhouse -- and it only does a fraction of what PPW does!

[Ben Asaro]

Today’s thought experiment: I wonder if, instead of viewing this skiff as two intersecting sequencers, I can approach this as a single “cell”, feeding A+B from the 245t as I currently am, but instead of just using the top half as a single voice, take C+D, patch those into the bottom processor, and feed that output into the Vc input…?

Looking forward to testing this out!

[Ben Asaro]

The re org worked a treat! The hi pass tightens up the sound and using the summed output of one processor to affect the other worked as well. Getting the attenuators dialed in is probably the most challenging part.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/nLNMrQuuuSqnPJoy8

[Ben Asaro]

Current iteration of the Buchla skiff worked GREAT on Sunday night! Audio clips to follow, but it did everything I could have hoped it would. Jamming for 3 hours with this system was no issue at all.