Published
Mon, Feb 6, 2023, 18:10
- The historic US synth brand is offering a new version of its highly expressive capacitor interface.
Buchla has released an update of its LEM218 control keyboard, based on the seminal Buchla Music Easel from 1973.
The LEM218v3 allows users to control Eurorack, software synths or any other MIDI-compatible gear using Buchla's revered touchplate system. It also offers MIDI-to-control voltage conversion, a CV and MIDI touch-strip, pressure-sensitive control over MIDI and CV data, and USB connectivity to sync up to a modern DAW.
The new edition features a redesigned touch bed that offers improved sensitivity and accuracy. Users can generate different levels of control voltage by adjusting the amount of pressure they apply to the capacitors. Pressure and velocity on the keys also output MIDI data, allowing you to control almost any parameter of another synth or a modular setup in highly expressive ways.
Buchla Electronic Musical Instruments (BEMI) was set up in 1963 by Don Buchla, the originator of the West Coast style of synthesis. His synth designs disregarded traditional keyboards, with most using touchplates often laid out to encourage experimental composition and the creation of new sounds.
Synths such as the Buchla Music Easel have become highly prized instruments lauded by musicians such as Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Alessandro Cortini, while early Buchla modular systems are among the most prized vintage synths in the world.
Don Buchla died in 2016 but BEMI still releases limited re-editions of his synths.
Watch a video on the Buchla LEM218v3.
The LEM218v3 is out now, priced $1,299.