There’s nothing quite like a Buchla. The “West Coast” modular that inspired the likes of Morton Subotnick and Suzanne Ciani has an approach to signal and expression that is both uniquely experimental and uniquely musical. It’s its own animal.
So it’s about time we see that philosophy applied to the open patching of Reaktor. The Cloudlab 200t isn’t a Buchla clone – its creators are quick to issue a disclaimer there, and say this is all just for fun. But fun it is, with a lovely approach to patch design.
Trevor Gavilan produced the design, with contributions and components from a fine group of Reaktor builders and hardware advisors (Peter Dine, Jesse Voccia, Antonio Isaac, Leonardo Mendez, Maurice Gallagher, Scott Abstract Cats.)
Of course Richard Devine is all over it.
But, boys and girls, you don’t have to be Richard Devine. In fact, you don’t have to have the money for a Buchla. (Good – I don’t, even as filthy rich as of course CDM is making me. Ahem.)
Having used a 200 series as my first modular, I think this is brilliant – especially as you can tinker around in the Reaktor innards.
So have at it, free – another reason to get Reaktor 6, and maybe a slightly faster PC (hey, still more affordable than modular hardware for a lot of us!):
You can always spin Silver Apples of the Moon if you need some inspiration.
One more video: