Suzanne Ciani on the Buchla | Red Bull Music Academy

In this impressive display of expert knowledge, filmed at the 2016 Red Bull Music Academy in Montréal, the synthesizer pioneer takes us inside the Buchla in all its complex glory.
Created in the early 1960s by Don Buchla, the Buchla synthesizer revolutionized electronic music through its innovative design and endlessly variable modular system, encouraging new methods of creation and performance. Few artists pursued the emotional and sonic possibilities as comprehensively as Suzanne Ciani, an early disciple of Buchla and an undeniable master of the machine who first got her start composing music for advertisements before redefining herself as a Grammy-nominated new age artist. In Ciani’s hands, what can often look like an impenetrable tangle of wires becomes an instrument of beauty, capable of producing truly far-out sounds.
For more RBMA Studio Science episodes, head here: daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/...
The Red Bull Music Academy is a global music institution committed to fostering creativity in music. We celebrate music, its culture, and the transformative minds behind it. Begun in 1998, the Academy has taken the core principles that underlie its annual workshop for selected participants and applied this curatorial approach to events, lectures, and city-wide festivals throughout the year.
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[@DeiNostri]

Suzanne Ciani is a great teacher. Everytime she explains something she sounds humble, nice and a little bit quiet. She never sounds dominant, but she has got a charming, cute charisma that makes you want to sit and listen like a child listening to a bedtime story. On old videos with her, she is a little bit quirky and goofy in a good way. Her stamina and discipline to learn advanced sound synthesis exceeds most of us. She is a true legend!

[@teamkiller5003]

"Uncertainty is one of my favourite spices in performance" lol, beautiful !

[@TheRealSamPreece]

a great ingredient in the recipe for creativity

[@oldolfmann8927]

because even she doesn't know what the next sound will be coming out

[@backroads6695]

The Diva Of The Diode continues her journey!

[@horowizard]

Heaven bless Suzanne Ciani. Bless her with all your heart and soul.

[@snoolee7950]

maybe heaven can bless her to speak clearly and use nouns instead of "thing" pronoun

[@horowizard]

@@snoolee7950 She speaks the universal language of Music. And Audio. I don't think you appreciate her sense of humor. It highlights her attitude and feelings towards objects such as Tablets. She's obviously more about Knobs, Switches and Touch Pads and less about Touch Screens.

[@jgunther3398]

@@horowizard the universal youtube language of music is blabbering about equipment to the exclusion of all musical substance

[@cglittle683]

As a person who always wanted to know more of how a synth works, I'm so happy to hear this maestro describe it so slowly and meticulously.

[@LimeEye13]

She brings these machines to life in ways that just feel so personal and soulful.

[@boboladouche5268]

Suzanne is a national treasure. Now that Robert Moog has moved on to the next plane of existence, she is all that more important.

[@sargeant45]

_.kerrigan wendy carlos

[@selbalamir]

I can listen to her voice all day

[@freedomseven8600]

This is absolutely amazing Ive never heard such beautiful sounds come out of a synth before Suzanne Ciani is a Legend

[@JyotiMishra]

A wonderful lecture! Thank you!

[@runner0075]

For the cameraman: when you film this kind of documentary we need to see exactly which knob of switch is going to be touched..

[@daysweregolden]

as she said though she had repatched it so extensively that the dial wouldn’t do the same thing if you tried to replicate it so it’s arbitrary really anyway

[@ThomasMueller44]

She is the voice of XENON. Best Pinball ever!

[@mixolydian2010]

Thanks for the video and thanks to Suzanne for her music.

[@MysticDonBlair]

I wish they would do more of these

[@cosmicmatrix6238]

very cool! living legend. really appreciate this!!! we love you suzanne! cool to hear what a buchla can do.

[@hollowmenrule]

so great she has created so much stuff. just a great person. we love you Suzanne

[@steveg219]

Amazing!! She's fantastic

[@wefysan58]

once again mindblown, shes all over it

[@TheGilounet]

Really interesting video. Thanks for posting!. Suzanne is so great!

[@gloverelaxis]

there's something strange about seeing like a 40-year veteran of electronics still do the "hovering arched mum hand" when using the iPad's touchscreen. these sounds she's producing are incredible, cool session

[@LfunkeyA]

electronics (and all technology) evolve

[@StormBurnX]

what's really incredible is that a 70+ year old is able to still navigate the iPad relatively fluidly, instead of just avoiding it all together

[@elyssapalmer2298]

Buchlas have been around since the late 60s, iPads are a bit newer and very different haha

[@horowizard]

The thing is could you navigate your way around a recording console and the other electronic gizmos the way she can? An iPad is really not a contender against some of the hardware she's handled. In the long run it's not so much the electronics as what she does with it.

[@tonystephen6312]

hovering arched mum hand - whut?

[@louietartanelli7413]

I love Suzanne Ciani! A true pioneer!

[@terrypussypower]

Those Eventide H9’s are crazy good!

[@GingerDrums]

wow shes so incredibly lovely.

[@znolive]

I cant say how much that this video is fantastic.

[@steveg219]

Awesomely cool sounds

[@diggleboy]

You're a wizard! Just awesome to hear the simple electronics working in the background including oscillators, frequency generators and so much more. I used to love hooking up my oscilloscopes to my home made synths and watching the electrons produced by the sound generators. I wish I had more time to get back into music. That, I am working on right now. So glad I found you and your works here on KZbin.

[@oliveroneill1388]

Stop people using that bastard of a word awesome. 😒

[@AndyWarpol]

Suzanne + Jodorowsky = paradise

[@jimmy_jamesjams_a_lot4171]

You can always tell a serious musician when they talk about pitching for TWO Eventide H9s as though it’s more important than a car and the expense is completely inherent. It goes without question, they are serious about their profession! I’d love to see her make some demonstration of the H9, specifically how does Suzanne implement the quad sound through them.

[@jgunther3398]

i don't know what you're saying... but what you're seeing is a trained composer, which is a rarity

[@three-leggedcat6241]

日本語の翻訳をありがとう。25:16〜素晴らしい👍‼️ Great music. Thank you for uploading this video.

[@RobertParenton]

Thank You.

[@Zeal808]

Many naps taken listening to this

[@Jwdude123]

Master Class

[@tomculver3837]

Suzanne is very good at conveying a lot about creativity and making use of what's available. She is inspiring in ways that go beyond just the technical. I like Suzanne's approach in general. Her communication is clear, concise, and very logical. I write for big bands and also 6 trombones and other ensembles. What Suzanne does here is also music to my ears.

[@Neurodisco77]

She studied and recently wrote orchestral brass music too, reckon that's why you can relate with her

[@olectrix]

Wow... I just see a bunch of wires, knobs and LEDs ... I´m impressed! =)

[@EaselCat]

Great stuff!

[@mark1092]

This is so awesome thank you for uploading

[@oliveroneill1388]

Stop using that bastard word awesome

[@stillben]

she is an absolute BOSS

[@MacXpert74]

@40:08 "The Buchla doesn't like to be in tune" Haha, thats really funny!

[@lordundhimself1310]

Behold, a Synth Lord!

[@LeonvanBokhorst]

Great talk 😎👍

[@daniellewis409]

Marvelous

[@mpingo91]

Her voice... ♥♥♥

[@marctronixx]

Heck she was hot when she got into this and she's hot(er) now. Italian too?! sassy young cuss she is...

[@logonazo]

Great!!! Thanx!!!!!!!!!

[@timdowns7937]

A beautiful and gifted human being v

[@DVincentW]

Wow man truly cool.

[@robertsyrett1992]

Suzanne is the BEST

[@boboladouche5268]

The best what?

[@boostermcblast2197]

The best I know from her are the GREAT sounds for Xenon Pinball. Now I try to learn more about her.

[@m5st5gr5s]

Hey man thank you for your contribution Could you please send me a link where i can heard "the great sounds Xenon Pinball" from Suzanne Ciani ? Please let me know

[@ikeaboy_damo]

I look forward to hearing the instrument she’s designing.

[@angelodomino]

Awesome

[@calabozoradioactivod]

Amazing

[@synthanatomy]

very interesting video :)

[@robertolocati7431]

Eccellente pianista, musicista completa, Artista in continua Evoluzione

[@michelzenitud5524]

Suzanne génie de L'analogique 👌 Excellent ! Magique, j'adore ✌😚😚😚😚😚😚😚😚

[@oliveroneill1388]

Your spelling is terrible

[@TheCrazybeatz]

Best Instrument on World

[@dwaynecarroll6098]

I want this synth!

[@udomatthiasdrums5322]

cool stuff like it!!

[@the_colorful_christian]

My hero 🙏💖

[@dvoiceotruth]

She is

[@alijanahabdullah]

"I have enough patch cables !" Says no one who runs a Buchla

[@juandelacal8343]

The one and only Suzzane Ciani!!!

[@sillyworm]

36:50 ...NOW you are talking! This is beautiful.I'm trying to figure THIS out with my new gear and some good one fashioned knob twiddlin.

[@setphaser]

These big consoles are hard to talk about and perform on, plus with Buchla you can't assume everyone knows the instrument so I appreciate the explanation of the possibilities. But the best part is when she talks thru her performance from the night before. Once you know that she's working in quad, and that there are two sequences, and that she can voltage control spatial, filter, wave shape, plus the special actions of the keyboard, it all starts to make sense.

[@redirishmanxlt]

I understood "octave". Buchla's are totally enigma to me, and there's no affordable to get your feet wet.

[@drlohertz8233]

She’s obviously very good at doing it, not so good at explaining it

[@marzzz1]

I never understood why anyone would want to spend $25K or more for a Buchla....until now.

[@aaron5222]

marzzz1 you should check out sonoio lots of the music is made in a music easel. the guy is currently playing for nine inch nails

[@metromodular6253]

Indeed. That's him sitting in the audience watching at 5:37 ;-)

[@WilliamCharlesShaver]

Metro Modular Looks a bit like Cortini but I don't think that's him...a little young. BTW check out the Sonic State channel for a comprehensive interview with Alessandro in his studio.

[@jwhipp]

No it's not. :)

[@boboladouche5268]

This is a Eurorack clone. It will set you back a small fraction of an original Buchla.

[@m.g.kroger]

So, she makes various phase shifting sequences with the Buchla and she plays the Animoog on ipad. There's still hope for those who cannot afford super expensive gear, since this can be done in very cheaper ways.

[@dwaynecarroll6098]

Agree. The Buchla is so inherently musical though. I want one!

[@johnkrummrich4948]

She is amazing And the fact that she incorporated modern technology makes her even more badass

[@oldolfmann8927]

she was just a kid playing with a toy and millions do it now, way better

[@kidmack1121]

Ciani should be given more credit and should definitely be referenced more. She is a Griot and innovator and she reminds me of Yogi Lilias Folan in that were both doing great things in the 70's, but not many know that.

[@Despondo]

I'm surprised the audience is so sparse. Where was this held? Had I known, I would have been there to help fill up the seats.

[@infesticon]

She has a such a wonderful energy. But damm the kind of Brain can that can master this stuff. Buchla's baffle me.

[@soundsurface4881]

I'd like to pull all those cables out & then ask Suzanne to re-patch & comment while I watched... I wonder how long THAT would take!...? LOL!! Also, I ♥ 21:35

[@hhh123837]

The sounds seem like they were good in the old old sci-fi movies and Soylant Green movie trailer...

[@mauriciogomezangla9781]

Sigue igual de hermosa y su voz tan linda sensual

[@dgetzin]

Someone needs to put Suzanne in the same room with Laetitia Sadier - and then have Tim Gane come onstage and watch him elevate into the next plane of existence in joy and simultaneously melt with paralyzing embarrassment.

[@mariuspoppFM]

Why embarrassment?

[@idngafaa]

hey, red bull, how about showing us more of what she's actually effecting on the modules? thanks, ppl who want to understand what theyre trying to learn. suzanne kills it tho, nice job

[@midilyfestyle]

Ordinary Schlowmo I agree that it would be nice to see what she's doing, but she talks you through the process. "Send an envelope to simultaneously modulate the noise amount, the filter and the panning" makes sense to me, and it's gonna look differently on my system bc I don't make that Buchla money anyways :) They're all just ideas for patching. They aren't synth-specific.

[@GuitarsAndSynths]

I think she is using the two Eventide H9 in the video for reverb/delay and other effects.

[@arlingtonhynes]

She’s got Animoog running on an iPad to the right of the Buchla.

[@void-citizen]

What a babe

[@spurv]

Closeups would've been nice.

[@xyz43210]

EMS Synthi could do most of this back in 77 with a slightly more intuitive patch bay. The great thing about the Buchla and similar machines is the total immersion you feel when operating/composing. Engage your brain and open your ears. Thanks Suzanne.

[@KentBuchla]

You just demonstrated how little you know of each system!

[@RISCGames]

I wonder if anyone in the audience really understands just how incredible being there at that moment in time actually was. Were they all forced there as part of a college class or something? Does anyone recognize how fortunate they were to have been there for that demonstration?

[@oldgoodrandomroutine]

28:39 The Cube OST, anyone?

[@babyfoodserpent]

i love listening to her talk but the fact that I can barely see her patching drives me crazy.

[@NidalMorra]

Camera placement and live-directing was subpar.

[@leontomalik5019]

19:50 - thought she's going to play Nothing else matters

[@pablomoreno5788]

Does anyone remember the name of that pad controller?

[@michaelbauers8800]

Is that Animoog on the pad?

[@marctronixx]

exactly!!

[@Frisbieinstein]

I was using a Buchla back in 1978. Getting the keyboard in tune it was hardly possible. Chord changes, no way. It was however pretty good as the first drum machine.

[@CaalamusTube]

I'm torn between wishing Doña Suzanne was my Mom & wishing she was my Wife. What a beautiful, inquisitive human being! I guess I luck out anyway. She is my Patron Saint!

[@CaalamusTube]

This ain't Mississippi boy! :P ...appropriate name :P

[@thesoftestvoice8396]

zahnsegoth

[@dgetzin]

Nieghbour across the street growing up would have been perfect. This is the look on all those men’s faces: “Uhh, Hi, uh Mrs Ciani, Billy says you, um could how us your modular synth works n’ stuff?”

[@disoprano1982]

Awesome 👍 🙏

[@Lia-A-Eastwood]

As a kid of the 70's and a youngster of the 80's I was surrounded by synth music and prog rock. - I actually learned about Suzanne Ciani TODAY. - Better late than never? Goodness, how could I have missed her?!!?!? -- By the way: my favoruite poti of this whole device is the "uncertainty source".

[@michelzenitud5524]

🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹👌🎹🎹🎹🎧

[@alessiodelperugia]

Hi, at 10:40.. what is the story about "gate through envelopes" ? I didn't get it. I mean: I know what both things are but how do you make it work "one through the other"? Cheers

[@compo36]

19:52

[@reallivebluescat]

28:30

[@levonpoe]

A little complicated for me but still enjoyed her lecture. Gave me many ideas. The approach of not using a keyboard is hard for me to get my mind around. I do understand a conventional keyboard is only a triggering device. I would like to try a device like this someday. Thank you

[@HumanBeanbag]

She could be making all of this up and I'd still have no idea what's happening.

[@andrew_nayes]

what is the app around 39:20 ??

[@compo36]

" Animoog "

[@VenusHeadTrap2]

Asmr

[@774434]

I think i see a blunt being passed around

[@lordundhimself1310]

I would love to get blazed and sit in this audience. Have a glass of wine and just take in the lessons and sounds of a true synth master

[@UlyssesWachowski-vw5vi]

Hot.

[@theuberman7170]

I bet you they all listen to Tame Impala.

[@augustiina]

Lol i thought it was aphex twin 🤣 @5:37

[@2bin]

0:40 Electronic spaghetti!

[@GuitarsAndSynths]

Very cool sounds but who has 20k plus for a Buchla setup? I get similar sounds and tracks out of my Make Noise 0-coast and Elektron Analog 4 for 1/10th the cost.

[@evertanders7744]

MATRIARCHY FOR ALL.!.!.!.! QE

[@mk1st]

It's weird how they set it up with her back to the audience, especially as everyone could see what she's doing on the screens.

[@bertvdlast]

Here i am, thinking the patching of my MS-20 and Neutron gives me a cold sweat. Silly me.