Buchla & Friends synth event took place for the first time on 27 Jan 2024 in LA parallel to the NAMM 2024; here is a complete video tour.
NAMM 2024 was the top topic last week. Music dealers, distributors, and the press gathered again at the Anaheim Convention Center. A lot of new music-related products and innovations were introduced, including synths. However, many don’t. This was mainly because many manufacturers didn’t have a booth at NAMM. Too expensive, too loud…
Another reason could be the Buchla & Friends, an event organized by Buchla USA. This took place parallel to NAMM 2024 on Saturday in LA. And if you look at the exhibitor list, some names were previously in Anaheim: Dreadbox, Elektron, Erica Synths, Noise Engineering, Polyend, TipTop Audio…
Buchla & Friends 2024
The event was created by Eric Fox, founder of Buchla USA. Unlike NAMM’s large exhibition hall, the event occurred in LA’s Arts District community center. Cuckoo made a video tour of it, and it seems a lovely industrial-touched location, which goes well with synthesizers.
It was a small synth event with over 25 brands—no comparison to the peak season at NAMM or the last Superbooth.
Everything starts small. Also, the Superbooth when it took place for the first time independently of the Musikmesse in Berlin in 2016.
The Buchla & Friends Events could become an essential new synth event in the US only if the creators stick with the project and develop it further. I’m pretty sure. With more developers and a bigger audience in the next years. Possibly also in a bigger location.
The Superbooth shows clearly. Synthesizer developers, especially small companies, no longer need to be present at NAMM. Events like Superbooth, Soundmit, SynthFest France/Bristol, Bristonnica, or the new Buchla & Friends are perfect for them. They give small, independent manufacturers a booth at affordable prices.
And the most important players in the market also come together at these cozy “living-room” events. Buyers, the press, and the mighty community, which is largely excluded from NAMM because of its B2B setup.
Sonicstate even sacrificed an entire NAMM day to make content at the Buchla & Friend event.
I hope the event will continue in the coming years. It has a lot of potential, even something similar to Superbooth but in the US.
More information here: Buchla USA
Totally agree! 🤞🏻
Moogfest was on this path, sad that Covid and business shut that down