Event Lectures and Symposia Morton Subotnick and the Buchla 100

Date and Location

Part of Concerts from the Library of Congress

The event is free, but tickets are required, and there may be special restrictions. Click the "Get Tickets" link below for more information and to secure your ticket.

Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov.

Speakers
Morton Subotnick, composer
Steve Antosca, composer

Members of the Modular Electronic Music Systems (MEMS) team:
Chip Flynn, MEMS Research Associate
Mark Milanovich, MEMS Research Associate
Andrew Northrop, Film and Media Technician, Slade School of Fine Art/UCL

Composer and electronic music pioneer Morton Subotnick offers some background and insights into his work with the famed Buchla 100, which he used to create the genre-defining album “Silver Apples of the Moon.” Recently restored, Subotnick’s original Buchla 100 will be on display and some of its possible sounds demonstrated by the participants.

The Buchla 100 was restored as part of a broader ‘knowledge exchange and innovation funding’ project funded by University College London. This was a collaboration between Andrew Northrop (Film and Media Technician, Slade School of Fine Art), the Library of Congress Music Division and the MEMS Project (Chip Flynn & Mark Milanovich).

The project saw the repair of the Buchla 100 as an opportunity to extensively research and document the unique and historic equipment, with high resolution photographs of each module and a short documentary shot on 16mm film as part of its output. The repair was carried out in March of 2024. 

The film will be shown as part of this event:
Null Adjustments (Andrew Northrop, NR, 2024)
A study of the Library of Congress’s Buchla 100 modular synthesizer and its repair, captured on 16mm film. Signs of use on the instrument’s surfaces evoke its use at Morton Subotnick’s Bleecker St studio in the 1960s, whilst the repair of its individual modules point to a future where researchers and composers can be inspired by inventor Don Buchla’s unique design philosophies.

Ticketing Information
Seating will be by general admission on a space-available basis.

Webinar Registration
This event will also be available remotely as a webinar. Click here to register. Please note that some portions of the event may not be accessible to the remote audience.

 

Featuring

  • Morton Subotnick