Monday 5 September 2011

From Bananas to Blippoos

Some pictures from a day in Richard Scott's studio.









Richard's studio is an Aladdin's Cave of Banana-jack synths. The Buchla VCO was on its way to its new owner, so I was lucky to get a chance to hear it. While it looks fantastic, I wasn't taken by its sound. Financially speaking, this is probably a good thing. The Serge & CGS system was much more to my taste. I was surprised at how familiar I was with its patching vocabulary, due in part to certain Serge-inspired Euro modules, and was able to dive straight in. The Bugbrand is a cracking, compact system with a gutsy sound. But of all the synths in the studio, I lost my heart to the two Hordijk boxes, the wonderful Blippoo and Benjolin.

Thanks to Richard for a wonderful afternoon and the pukka pakoras!

4 comments:

mudlogger said...

Hi Navs - out of curiosity what did you not like about the sound of the Buchla 261e Osc...comparing to your favorite Euro Osc for example?

Navs said...

Hard to say given the limited time I had with it, but I didn't find it engaging. Maybe I just prefer analogue oscillators. The ZO, M15 + TWF cover the same ground and sound more organic to my ears. I'd still like to play with a full Buchla system, tho - I'm sure the working methods are where its real strength lie.

mudlogger said...

I've only heard Buchla demos online - it seems to be the 258v Verbos Osc that sounds the most smooth..analogy.

Navs said...

And the 258v seems to be very popular with Buchla owners ...