virtual 200 (2017)
Virtual 200 was a performance application and workstation based around some of the workflow of early 1970s Buchla modular synthesizers—specifically the common system configurations centered around the 212 Dodecamodule, 258 Dual Oscillator, and 217 touch keyboard. The software included my personal take on the 258, 212, 277 delay, 257 dual voltage processor, 242 pulse sequencer, 216 & 217 touch keyboards, and some additional voltage and audio processes inspired by additional parts of vintage Buchla 200 systems.
Virtual 200 also included a number of my own additions and extensions to the functionality of these designs. Partly made as an experiment in workflow, partly made as an educational tool, partly made in order to keep my bank account safe from the hardware that inspired it.
Virutal 200 was my first “modular” software tool, in which I tested out how signal routing ideas might play out in some other projects I was imagining. Patching occurs via drop-down menus at every potential input: every modulation source is available under the blue menus, audio sources under green menus, pulse sources under red menus, and quantized pitch sources under purple menus (so yes, tonal material is easily possible). Feedback can be generated in both the audio and control signal flows, so it is easy to create additional interesting signal sources via the Signal Delay, Frequency Shifter, Bandpass Filter, and Audio Mixer/Waveshaper in the style of "no input" mixing.
The system also featured a couple of "broken" functions: a sputtery, intermittent pink noise source, a fluctuating random that occasionally hangs around particular values, and "circuits" with some inherent self-noise, allowing for idiosyncratic and unpredictable behaviors that gave Virtual 200 character outside what is typical of virtual instruments. Even seemingly "duplicated" sections, such as the Envelope Generators, Lowpass Gates, and channels of the Output Mixer all behaved slightly differently from one another...some with built-in scratchiness, some responding more quickly than others, some behaving different under "voltage control," etc. These were not mistakes: they were simply built-in parts of the device's character that allow for a multiplicity of both intended and unintended uses outside of what the individual "modules" seemed like they should be able to do.
A reduced version of Virtual 200, which removed the pulse sequencer and keyboard in favor of purely generative control methods and performance via global state storage/recall.
All settings were fully recallable, so elaborate patches could be picked up later exactly as you left them. Up to 16 completely customizable "presets" were available at a single mouse click, with a theoretically infinite number available as .JSON text files with only slightly more effort. Recording of the master stereo output is facilitated on the front panel, with other audio routing options available under the hood.
Every parameter was OSC controllable. Key functions of the program were also playable via computer keyboard: the touch interface was completely based on interaction via QWERTY keyboard and mouse/trackpad, so you didn’t need an additional controller to get up and running.
Originally developed in Max/MSP, Virtual 200 was retired in 2017 in order to explore instrument concepts of my own design. Endless thanks to Don Buchla, Morton Subotnick, and Barry Schrader for their inspiration.