About
For years now, I have had what might be described as an unhealthy obsession with the musical instruments produced by the artist Donald Buchla—as well as the mystery that surrounds his designs and the philosophies at work in his obscure musical artifacts. My experience during this time included a decade-long friendship and apprenticeship with Don, in which I was involved in instrument construction, marketing, conceptual design, and the maintenance of both his modern and vintage creations.
The Buchla Archives is the result of over twenty years of work collecting and cataloging everything that I could pertaining to the development of Buchla's unique body of work. Today, the archive includes a significant collection of documentation, ranging from schematics and production files to user manuals, software, photographs, sketches, correspondences, and much more. Additionally, the Buchla Archives collection includes meticulously restored, functional, original examples of nearly every Buchla instrument ever created—in some cases, the only remaining fully functional examples of their kind, altogether.
The Buchla Archives mission is to thoroughly, thoughtfully, and respectfully document and preserve this peculiar piece of music history: the instruments, the documents, their story, and the ideas that led to their creation.
Richard Smith
The Buchla Archives
Richard Smith
Richard Smith (b. 1976) is a designer, musician and electronics technician with over twenty-five years of experience in the restoration of historic high-end systems by Buchla, Moog, ARP, and EMS. His clients include some of the most influential electronic artists of the last sixty years, musicians such as Morton Subotnick, Suzanne Ciani, Aphex Twin, and The Chemical Brothers, as well as respected institutions such as The National Music Centre, Mills College, New York University, and the Library of Congress. As an apprentice with Donald Buchla at Buchla & Associates (Berkeley, California), Smith immersed himself in the philosophy of instrument design, while also learning how to manufacture the most sought-after electronic music systems in the world. Over the last two decades, Smith has amassed the most complete collection of original Buchla electronics and documentation ever assembled and is recognized as an authority on Buchla instrumentation and history. Smith performs and records as Shasta Cults for imprint Important Records.
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Ryan Gaston
Ryan Gaston (b. 1990) is a performer/composer, instrument designer, and writer who makes devices and music that combine sonic elements of noise, free improvisation, and experimental electroacoustic music. His writing focuses on the history and techniques of experimental electronic music and electronic musical instrument design—as well as the potential futures of electronic music. His creative work deploys chaotic, unpredictable electronic structures as the conceptual framework for both electronic instruments and musical compositions.
Gaston holds an MFA in Music Composition and Experimental Sound Practices from the California Institute of the Arts (2016) as well as a BA in Music Composition from Hendrix College (2012). His writing and instruments have been featured in a variety of conferences and publications, including the New Interfaces for Musical Expression conference, the Canadian Electroacoustic Community's eContact!, the Southern California Institute of Architecture's Offramp, and others. Gaston joined the Buchla Archives team in 2023, acting as a research consultant, copy editor, and writer.