---
id: buchla
title: "Buchla & West Coast"
year: 1963
category: "Synthesizers"
lang: en
canonical: https://nodemusic.cc/node/buchla
source: node.music
---

# Buchla & West Coast (1963)

Synthesizers · https://nodemusic.cc/node/buchla

## Summary

Don Buchla declared war on the keyboard, viewing it as a 19th-century relic. His modular systems with touch plates created the "West Coast Synthesis" philosophy, where timbre matters more than notes.

## Full text

Buchla's approach (West Coast Synthesis) relied not on filtering, but on creating timbres from scratch via FM modulation and waveshaping. Instead of a keyboard, he used touch plates sensitive to finger pressure.

The main innovation was the sequencer. Buchla was the first to propose an instrument that plays itself. The musician didn't press notes but set up a system generating infinite, self-evolving rhythms. The artist's role shifted from performer to designer.

## People

- Don Buchla (1937–2016) — American engineer and visionary.

## Connections

### Influenced by

- [RCA Synthesizer](https://nodemusic.cc/node/rca.md) - INSPIRED

### Influenced

- [Eurorack Boom](https://nodemusic.cc/node/eurorack.md) - INSPIRED

### Opposed

- [Moog Modular](https://nodemusic.cc/node/moog.md) - OPPOSED