Made on a wide assortment of Buchla Electric Music Boxes, Beanoise’s Buchlaworks: Module III is a beautiful display of the instruments’ ability to create otherworldly soundscapes. At times contemplative or eerie, and other times upbeat and agitated, this collection of “Panoramics” has a crunchy, organic quality that you expect from modular synthesizers. As an aside, Don doesn’t tend to call his instruments synthesizers because he doesn’t want to give the impression that his instruments were imitating existing sounds, they were in fact creating new sounds.
Recorded during an extended stay at Panoramic House in Stinson Beach, this album was created around improvised performance. It was there that Beau Sorenson was inspired by a visit from one of his musical heroes (I’m guessing fellow synth enthusiast Suzanne Ciani) to embrace the spontaneous nature of the Buchla Music Box. Expect the unexpected and burrow into this warm piece of electric vibrations.
