Buchla & Tiptop Audio - 259t

Buchla & Tiptop Audio - 259t Programmable Complex Waveform Generator

34 HP

(still in prototype phase)

The Return of a Cult Classic: 259t Complex Waveform Generator

The 259t is a Eurorack recreation of the original Buchla 200 Series Programmable Complex Waveform Generator. It is the original complex oscillator, which a lot of manufacturers tried to copy to recreate or emulate its particular sonic characteristics.

The 259t has a few functional changes compared to the original. But for most, the sound will be the most important thing, and Tiptop has repeatedly proven they're more than capable of accurately capturing the magic of these original Buchla designs.

The concept of a complex oscillator, Two wide-ranging oscillators are mounted together behind a single panel: a Principal Oscillator which is usually the one you'll listen to in most patches, and a Modulation Oscillator to affect the other—but of course, it can be used on its own, too! Between the two oscillators, you can find a variety of different standard waveforms via switches and discrete outputs.

"Complex" means the variety of rich timbres that it can create, with two primary means of doing so. Running down the middle of the module are a few switches that allow internal routing of the Modulation Oscillator to affect the Principal—namely its amplitude (AM), pitch (FM), and timbre. The Timbre section corresponds to the Final output of the Principal oscillator, with its controls found on the right side of the module. The Timbre knob itself is a Buchla wavefolder, with additional controls above for the Symmetry (balance) and Order (brightness) of even and odd harmonics.

The Phase Lock feature offers both a switch in the middle of the module and an external input for the Primary Oscillator. Not to be confused with hard sync or even Phase-Locked Loops (PLLs)
Locking into integer frequency ratios between the oscillators and eliminating the dissonance and beating that occurs from being slightly out of tune. This switch does the reverse—as hinted by the arrow above. You can also pass external sources into the Primary input for extended chaining of oscillators.

The original 259 also featured remote control and auto-tuning capabilities, interfacing with computer-controlled systems introduced with the Buchla 300 series. While those systems worked surprisingly well for the time they were introduced in the 1970s, Tiptop Audio offers a different approach in the 259t—something which happens to be a key component of their current endeavors outside of the Buchla line.

price and availablility is still to be announced, probably by fall this year