Buchla Ziggy Is a Modern Analog Synthesizer With Patch Memory
Now's your chance to own a Buchla!
4,8 / 5,0 | 
Buchla Ziggy · Source: Thomann
Buchla Ziggy · Source: Thomann
Buchla Ziggy · Source: Thomann
Buchla Ziggy · Source: Thomann
Ever wanted a Buchla but couldn’t afford it? Well, now’s your chance with Buchla Ziggy, a mono synth from the legendary company at a surprising price. Didn’t see that coming, did you?
Buchla Ziggy
Superbooth hasn’t even started and the shocking surprises are already underway. I honestly couldn’t believe this when it popped up in the editorial assignment list this morning. A desktop performance synthesizer from Buchla that’s actually kind of affordable. (OK, yes, it’s still on the expensive side for a monophonic synth, but for a Buchla? It’s an absolute steal.)
This is Ziggy and it’s like an encapsulation of all things Buchla in a modern tabletop form factor. I’m sure it will sell bucketloads and I already want one even though I haven’t even heard it yet. Come on, it’s a Buchla synthesizer!
Granted, Ziggy isn’t Buchla’s first standalone analog synth. There was the Music Easel in 1973, and the recent reissues, including the Easel and Easel Command. Ziggy is a decidedly less complex instrument – though it still has complex oscillators, as you might expect. Think of it like when Moog made Mother-32. It’s a distillation of what the company does best in an affordable and approachable package.
Buchla Ziggy: California Love
Buchla is all about West Coast synthesis. Or rather, West Coast synthesis is all about Buchla, as Don created the variant of analog synthesis in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1960s. In keeping with that, Ziggy has all the hallmarks of classic Buchla synthesis.
This starts with a complex oscillator based on a modulatable sine wave with variable sound shaping via amplitude and frequency modulation, a timbre wavefolder, and a blendable spike, square, or sawtooth wave. There’s also a modulation oscillator with a wide frequency spectrum that goes into the audio range with sawtooth, square, or triangle waveforms.
Rather than an East Coast-style lowpass filter, Buchla Ziggy has (wait for it) a Low Pass Gate. The LPG can function as a VCA, filter, or both, and is based on a Sallen-Key filter architecture with a variety of envelope shapes on hand.
Buchla Ziggy: It’s All About Experimentation
Buchla originally created his modular system for the San Francisco Tape Music Center, a collective of experimental musicians. His instruments, then, are less about “playing music” than they are about experimentation. That ethos continues with Ziggy and its Cycler, a unique modulation source that behaves like a clock, envelope generator, LFO and random generator via the Uncertainty parameter. The XLFO and its triangle wave act as an additional modulation source.
Although analog in signal, Ziggy continues Buchla’s pioneering use of digital control, with a modern modulation assignment system and LEDs to indicate assigned targets. It also offers patch memory to save routings, with 100 presets, and a screen for visual reference. Yes, a screen!
Digital power extends into the effects section (yes, effects!) with chorus, delay, filter, reverb, pitch shift, and more, along with macro control. You can also access a variety of unusual tunings for experimental flavors.
It appears that there’s even a web browser via WebMIDI that you can use to edit and save patches.
Buchla Ziggy: Connectivity
Ziggy seems designed to play nicely with modern setups. It’s got MIDI input with both a five-pin DIN socket and Type-A TRS, plus USB-C MIDI, as well as gate, CV pitch, and modulation inputs in 3.5mm format, making it Eurorack-compatible.
In terms of audio, it has stereo output, a headphone mini jack, and a 3.5mm audio in for processing through the Low Pass Gate and effects.
It all runs off USB-C power.
Buchla Ziggy: Pricing and Availability
Buchla Ziggy looks like a fantastic little synthesizer and an affordable way to get into Buchla-style West Coast synthesis. I imagine we’re going to be hearing a lot of Buchla bongos in techno tracks over the next few years as everyone rinses this.
Ziggy is available for preorder now at Thomann* for $1019 / £915 / €1039.
More Information
- Buchla Ziggy homepage
- More about Buchla
- More about synthesizers
- Buy synthesizers at Thomann*
*Note: This article contains advertising links that help us pay for this site. Don’t worry: the price for you will always be the same! If you buy something through these links, we will receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!
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