Ezra Buchla, king of all geeks

Not only is that a bad ass rig he is using - he's using in the 16.8.2 surround sound system at Recombinant Media Laps that I played a major role in designing ;-)

UNfortunately, I was not present for this event.... but I tell ya - after you go 16.8.2, 5.1 starts sounding pretty flat!

V~
 

Man....I have to check my typing...should have said "he's using IT in the 16.8.2 surround system at......"

I was just so excited to see "my" room represented on the web....
 

Ezra's kinda cute :)
 

but i hear he could use a bit of deoderant
 

This picture makes me think he's probably performing that 80's song "Einstein a go-go"
 

You gotta love buchlas for naming a module "source of uncertainty".
 

Oh yeah. The extravagant life of the boutique modular synth designer. It is well known get-rich-quick-scheme. Those guys are just rolling in the cash. I hear that his staff of servants help him snort caviar and the Evian flows like water.
 

buchla. rich?

synthworld fame doesn't carry with it any fortune. most famous synth designers are middleclass at best.
 

I'm not convinced about the uber utilitarian looks of the monome. He basically has 192 buttons there and not a single piece of legending anywhere.
Either the Buchla's really are genii or he's not really using them or most likely he has no real idea whats going on.
 

ezra's not in mae shi anymore, unfortunately. their album 'terrorbird' on 5rc is absolutely amazing, though & worth picking up. can't say for sure, but it sure sounds like there's some fantastic buchla synthwork on that record.

his other band 'gowns' is alright, and i've never heard him play solo but hear that he's great.

as much as one wants to hate him for his parentage, he's both a great guy & musician. seriously check out that mae shi record
 

Ummmm....I don't think that modular synth makers are typically very rich. USERS might typically have some extra income they could have spent elsewhere....but that's a different story.
Ezra is a fine fellow and makes some quality music. I think we know how he afforded the 200 (!) and the Monome devices are perhaps on loan as this photo was likely shot at the Monome press rollout party.
Some other "overprivledged wankers" who inherently can't make quality music due to their family's wealth include: Tom Waits and Jimmy Page (and OH so many others). I uderstand feeling bitter when you WANT toys (ok "tools") and can't afford them, but lay off.
So there.
 

Tom Waits's family rich? huh?

Waits is my fave.
 

if you dont think Buchla has at least a million in the bank, you are fooling yourself

K Macbeth or the Metasonix guy or people like that might not - but Buchla has been around for quite a while, and im sure he has people that have invested his earnings wisely over the years
 

Yes - Tom Waits comes from a very well off family. it's the myth of the down-and-outer. But my point was: WHOOO CARES - he makes really great music.

Any one who manages to save $1,000,000 of their earnings from designing and selling amazingly beautiful instruments: More Power to You!

If Buchla has done this - it aint my business - but i'd applaud him for it.
 

i know Don and I know he doesnt have a million in the bank. he invests all his time and money in his instruments and the expense is astronomical.

people complaining about the price have no clue what they are talking about.
 

As an Anonymous speculated above, those shots of Ezra are from the Monome Release Party at Asphodel. He used only one Monome with the 200e. Two of Monomes in the shot were set up for use by other artists.

He played the 200e as part of Gowns. It was beautiful washes of processed sound from tapes and live vox. I was there, and while it may be a matter of taste, they were very good.
 

you ought to check out Monstro, an avant-folk band he was in with one of the guys from Ozma. he played viola and synth and sang on his half of the tracks.
 

The jews only own the entertainment industry because they built it.
 

I saw this set.. all that gear and he still make crappy third rate experimental music. He keep destorying my earsby pullout hot cables out mix.. who cares because it it all about your name.
 

oh, anonymous... where have you been all my life.

i suppose i could disabuse some notions right now. but i'm not sure if it's really worth the trouble for people who would rather speculate about how my music sucks than spend five minutes finding it on the internet.

oh well, here goes:

- i don't think i'm exactly as rich as f*cking shi*t[sic]. how rich is f*cking shi*t[sic]? does f*cking shi*t[sic] own a drill press and a working fridge and a 1986 honda? i do. maybe i am rich as f*cking shi*t[sic]!

- the monome becomes very easy to use if you set it up to act like 64 loop pedals. dude, what a great idea! i must be a f*cking geni*us.

- at least i*f my synthesizer millions ever run dry i* will sti*ll have my highly lucrati*ve recording contracts. whoa!

- most of you, of course, seem very ni*ce.

- that show was really fun! i'm pretty sure i was there because of my friends and co-workers, not because of my last name... or did you mean my first name? it is jewish, after all, and we do own the 'entertainment industry,' which consists of one arty record label in san francisco and an open-source hardware/software company in philadelphia. yeah...

- i forgot how entertaining these third-rate experimental internet discussions can be.

love (or, a hot cable in your ear),

e
 

best artist retort to anonymous uninformed internet speculation EVER...
 

It's never really a good idea to respond to anonymous trolls on the internet.

That being said, I checked out Ezra's myspace page. Sounds not too impressive for such a rig of gear. Maybe I need to hear it in 16.8.2 surround.
 

i'm sorry you're not impressed by my teenage stylings with a casio cz-1 and a portable tape recorder.

then again, impressing you was not really the point.

as for the trolls, you're right. i despair, and i am done.

e

www.myrobobedroom.com
music.calarts.edu/~ebuchla
 

Actually, we've met sevral times, Ezra - I was one of the primary designers of the space at Asphodel in which you did this demo. I wish I could have been there but I'm based up north now.
sorry to post as Anonymous - I just havn't gotten around to registering.

Vance
 

Ezra played at Parish Hall in Cleveland, Ohio a couple months back with Gowns and they pretty much ruled.

Check out Gowns "Red State" if you haven't heard...
 

I just saw The Gowns and Acre(Aaron Davis)a couple of nights ago and truely enjoyed the sound. I spoke with Ezra for a bit and he seemed like a really decent fellow.
 

i really like ezra's music. i went to oberlin with him before he figured out he wasn't happy there and left for cali. we used to play piano together in fairchild. ezra is an intrepid musician, and the gowns are a fantastic, creepy, beautiful band.

that's not my opinion