Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
In this video, I explore an extremely rare electronic instrument called the Touché, created by Buchla and Associates in 1980. Filmed at the Buchla Archives in Vancouver, this is a rare opportunity to hear and see an instrument that very few people have ever encountered firsthand. Only around five Touchés are known to have been built, and very few remain functional today. Because of this, the instrument has remained largely absent from public performance and documentation. This video helps bridge that gap by sharing the Touché’s sound, design, and historical context.
While Don Buchla is best known for his modular synthesizers such as the 100 and 200 Series, he also created a number of non-modular, computer-based instruments that explored new relationships between performance, software, and sound. The Touché is one such instrument. Conceived by Don Buchla in collaboration with composer David Rosenboom, it is a bi-timbral, eight-voice polyphonic keyboard instrument that combines digital sound generation, analog processing, and computer-mediated control.
The video begins with a historical overview of how the Touché grew out of Buchla’s computer-controlled instruments of the 1970s, including the 300 Series systems. From there, the video moves into a detailed walkthrough of Touché’s sound architecture, including many musical demos.
This video was created in collaboration with the Buchla Archives, an organization dedicated to the thorough and thoughtful documentation and preservation of Donald Buchla’s work.
Special thank you to Ryan Gaston and David Rosenboom for research assistance.
LINKS:
Timbre & Digital Nonlinear Waveshaping (Buchla Archives): buchlaarchives.com/blog/timbre-digital-nonlinear-waveshaping
Nova Wind (1983, David Rosenboom): youtube.com/watch?v=a2Wj_7twrB4
Circuits and Fingers – Composer-Performer Convergence in Electronic Instrument Designs (w/ David Rosenboom): youtube.com/watch?v=vgi0wx7cJO0
Shasta Cults - self titled album: shastacults.bandcamp.com/album/shasta-cults
Future Travel (David Rosenboom): blacktruffle.bandcamp.com/album/future-travel
Daytime Viewing (Jacqueline Humbert & David Rosenboom) jacquelinehumbertdavidrosenboom.bandcamp.com/album/daytime-viewing
Zones of Influence (David Rosenboom) davidrosenboom.bandcamp.com/album/zones-of-influence
Exploring the First Buchla 100 Modular Synthesizer: youtube.com/watch?v=CiqhM-bNBrY&t=4s
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Introduction
2:58 A Brief History
7:41 Touché Overview
10:23 Touché's Signal Path
14:38 Parameter Articulation
21:28 FOIL + Time-Varying Functions
27:47 FOIL + Modulation Sources
32:17 Bi-Timbral Operation
37:45 Touché's Sequencer
39:58 Programmed Stimuli
42:29 Evolution of Touché
47:19 Touché Today
The Electric Music Box: Exploring a Vintage Buchla 200 Modular System: youtube.com/watch?v=Su8op8Xhs_8
Free Intro to Modular Synths Course: soundandsynthesis.com/firstsynthpatch
Join me on Patreon!
patreon.com/sarahbellereid
Sarah Belle Reid is a Canadian performer-composer, active in the fields of electroacoustic trumpet performance, intermedia arts, music technology, and improvisation.
sarahbellereid.com
In this video, I explore an extremely rare electronic instrument called the Touché, created by Buchla and Associates in 1980. Filmed at the Buchla Archives in Vancouver, this is a rare opportunity to hear and see an instrument that very few people have ever encountered firsthand. Only around five Touchés are known to have been built, and very few remain functional today. Because of this, the instrument has remained largely absent from public performance and documentation. This video helps bridge that gap by sharing the Touché’s sound, design, and historical context.
While Don Buchla is best known for his modular synthesizers such as the 100 and 200 Series, he also created a number of non-modular, computer-based instruments that explored new relationships between performance, software, and sound. The Touché is one such instrument. Conceived by Don Buchla in collaboration with composer David Rosenboom, it is a bi-timbral, eight-voice polyphonic keyboard instrument that combines digital sound generation, analog processing, and computer-mediated control.
The video begins with a historical overview of how the Touché grew out of Buchla’s computer-controlled instruments of the 1970s, including the 300 Series systems. From there, the video moves into a detailed walkthrough of Touché’s sound architecture, including many musical demos.
This video was created in collaboration with the Buchla Archives, an organization dedicated to the thorough and thoughtful documentation and preservation of Donald Buchla’s work.
Special thank you to Ryan Gaston and David Rosenboom for research assistance.
LINKS:
Timbre & Digital Nonlinear Waveshaping (Buchla Archives): buchlaarchives.com/blog/timbre-digital-nonlinear-waveshaping
Nova Wind (1983, David Rosenboom): youtube.com/watch?v=a2Wj_7twrB4
Circuits and Fingers – Composer-Performer Convergence in Electronic Instrument Designs (w/ David Rosenboom): youtube.com/watch?v=vgi0wx7cJO0
Shasta Cults - self titled album: shastacults.bandcamp.com/album/shasta-cults
Future Travel (David Rosenboom): blacktruffle.bandcamp.com/album/future-travel
Daytime Viewing (Jacqueline Humbert & David Rosenboom) jacquelinehumbertdavidrosenboom.bandcamp.com/album/daytime-viewing
Zones of Influence (David Rosenboom) davidrosenboom.bandcamp.com/album/zones-of-influence
Exploring the First Buchla 100 Modular Synthesizer: youtube.com/watch?v=CiqhM-bNBrY&t=4s
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Introduction
2:58 A Brief History
7:41 Touché Overview
10:23 Touché's Signal Path
14:38 Parameter Articulation
21:28 FOIL + Time-Varying Functions
27:47 FOIL + Modulation Sources
32:17 Bi-Timbral Operation
37:45 Touché's Sequencer
39:58 Programmed Stimuli
42:29 Evolution of Touché
47:19 Touché Today
The Electric Music Box: Exploring a Vintage Buchla 200 Modular System: youtube.com/watch?v=Su8op8Xhs_8
Free Intro to Modular Synths Course: soundandsynthesis.com/firstsynthpatch
Join me on Patreon!
patreon.com/sarahbellereid
Sarah Belle Reid is a Canadian performer-composer, active in the fields of electroacoustic trumpet performance, intermedia arts, music technology, and improvisation.
sarahbellereid.com
