To Buchla and Beyond
Some call it “West Coast synthesis,” while others might describe it as the more-esoteric arm of synthesizer history, birthed from California’s voltaic cultural landscape of the 1960s. No matter what you call it, one thing is certain: Buchla has always occupied its own lane. Every instrument they’ve produced is brimming with character, uncompromising in its sonic scope, and never content to settle. Their LEM 218 v3 is no exception. It may be a 29-note controller, but to call it a “keyboard” would undermine its distinctive design. Nodding to Buchla’s history as they reinvent it, the LEM 218 v3 eschews conventional keys for a capacitive touch surface, just like its 1973 predecessor — the 218e Lunar Excursion Module — as featured in the Music Easel. Synthesists at Sweetwater are aghast at the new opportunities afforded by the LEM 218 v3, including a comprehensive I/O suite that accommodates Buchla CV, Eurorack, and MIDI — it’ll even do it all at once!
Related Videos: LEM 218 v3 29-note Capacitive Touch Controller
Familiar face with even more opportunities
As a Buchla product, the LEM 218 v3 naturally works with Buchla control voltage settings. Despite its heritage design features and familiar markings, the controller goes much further this time around. Its strip, gate, pressure, and pitch jacks are duplicated to the side of the controller, allowing you to plug in and use with any Eurorack module of your choosing. These four 3.5-millimeter jacks output 1v/octave pitch, zero to eight volts for pressure, utilize 5-volt gate outputs, and process voltages across the expressive touch strip. Moreover, it features an accommodating array of MIDI options, including TRS MIDI in and out as well as a USB-C port, letting you use the LEM 218 v3 with any assortment of soft synths, DAW-centered rigs, and MIDI-controlled devices. Buchla even throws in a 3.5-millimeter to 5-pin DIN MIDI adapter, so you’re ready to go.
Pictured with Buchla Easel Command (not included)Musical nuance like never before
Don Buchla was one of the first to incorporate capacitive touch into his approach to synthesizers, pioneering new avenues of music composition that sought to distinguish these instruments from the key-based instruments they resembled. Its slick surface features a satisfying tactility and unique accessibility, tracking pressure and velocity in ways mechanical keys simply could not do. This same technology is applied to the expressive touch strip, which can be used for virtually any parameter as it features its own CV ports. An onboard arpeggiator is accompanied by a host of preset-control knobs, allowing for quick access to preset recall and attenuating voltages, arpeggiation modes, and octave controls.
Buchla: the crossroads of sonic excellence and game-changing technology
The name Buchla is synonymous with some of the most compelling, convention-breaking technology to emerge in the musical spheres of the mid-20th-century’s electronic awakening. A pioneer of electronic music and instrument design, Don Buchla founded his namesake company in the 1960s, following the success of a modular electronic music system that was commissioned by composers on a Rockefeller Foundation grant. For the next 50 years, Don lived on the bleeding edge of electronic music synthesis. He incorporated uncommon coding languages, touch- and pressure-sensitive surfaces, and spatial location modulation, eventually innovating for the likes of Oberheim, CBS, Zeta Music, E-Mu Systems, and Moog. Meanwhile, he also dedicated himself to make good on MIDI’s promise of the 1980s to be more than just a piano keyboard controller. By the 2000s, Don introduced his magnum opus with the 200e, a love letter to a half century of unparalleled innovation in modular and analog synthesis. Today, Buchla U.S.A. works diligently to uphold Don’s rich legacy and provide his classic designs alongside new iterations of products that are “designed to introduce the unique world of Buchla synthesis to a whole new generation of electronic music makers.”
Buchla LEM 218 v3 Features:
- Capacitive touch surface captures unmatched nuance while affording unique play and performance opportunities unavailable with standard mechanical keys
- Versatile I/O suite accommodates Buchla CV, Eurorack, MIDI, and USB connectivity, even all at once
- 3.5mm to 5-pin DIN MIDI adapter included for straightforward control of your MIDI devices
- Onboard arpeggiator provides an excellent source of rhythmic control
- Dedicated preset control knobs make quick work of modifying presets, arpeggiator modes, and octave shifts
- Included 12V grounded PSU and 40W AC adapter make integration a breeze, including direct functionality with Easel Command
