1979 has ported Mutable Instruments award-winning open-source algorithmic oscillator Plaits in the Buchla format with extra features
Anyone who thinks Eurorack is a niche in the Synthesizer world has never dealt with the Buchla format. Here we go even deeper. But here, too, the market is alive, and new modules are coming onto the market. Not as many as Eurorack but some.
I recently reported on a new adaptation of the Mutable Instruments Clouds module for Buchla from the 1979 company. Now they have made the Plaits fit for Buchla as well.
1979 Algorithmic Oscillator
The new Algorithmic Oscillator is a Buchla adaptation of the famous open-source Mutable Instruments Plaits macro oscillator. More precisely, it is the successor of the 1979 DAO (Dual Algorithmic Oscillator), which was based on the Mutable Instruments Braids but twice in one module.
According to the developer, AO gives you more knobs, parameters, and I/O than the DAO, plus new features not available on Plaits. Like the original MI Plaits, it’s a high-fidelity digital oscillator that runs at 48 kHz, 16 bit, and has the same 16 synthesis algorithms. You can find a dual oscillator, 2-operator FM, waveshaping oscillator… tons of timbres to explore.
However, the 1979 developers did not take over the module 1 to 1 from Eurorack to Buchla, but expanded it in many places. The module has a new voltage-controlled decay envelope, dedicated knobs for the envelope decay and VCF/A amplitude, and a new pitch quantizer (12-TET + octave options).
Then, you benefit from additional inverting attenuators for all CV inputs that range from 0-10V. Plus, you get an envelope CV output that also ranges from 0.-10V. Don’t forget, the module can be a standalone voice module for Buchla as it includes an internal envelope generator and a simulated LPG with adjustable vactrol response.
Nice to see that Buchla users are now getting into the versatility of the Mutable Instruments Plaits oscillator. But at a very steep price. Ok, prices that Buchla users already know from other modules.
1979 Algorithmic Oscillator is available now for $775 USD.
More information here: 1979
that’s a hella of a lot of money for Plaits; even with the extra knob, jack and three lines of code.
this front panel design extortion.
Looks very professional and costs less than half of a Buchla 200e osci like 261e which still has firmware bugs after 18 years. I want to see more innovation from Buchla USA, until then the 1979 modules are pretty good.