Buchla Electronic Musical Instruments
Buchla Electronic Musical Instruments (BEMI) was a manufacturer of synthesizers and unique MIDI controllers. The origins of the company could be found in Buchla & Associates, created in 1963 by synthesizer pioneer Don Buchla of Berkeley, California. In 2012 the original company led by Don Buchla was acquired by a group of Australian investors trading as Audio Supermarket Pty. Ltd. The company was renamed Buchla Electronic Musical Instruments as part of the acquisition. In 2018 the assets of BEMI were acquired by a new entity, Buchla U.S.A., and the company continues under new ownership.
Products[edit]
Buchla 100 series (1960s)[edit]
The original Buchla modular synthesizer was commissioned by Morton Subotnick and Ramon Sender and funded by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. The earliest modules are labeled "San Francisco Tape Music Center." Later modules were offered through the musical instruments division of CBS.
Current status[edit]
In 2015, various websites, including FACT,[20] reported that Don Buchla had taken the owners of BEMI to court, citing health problems due in part to unpaid consulting fees and asserting a claim to his original intellectual property. The lawsuit alleged breach of contract and "bad-faith conduct" on the part of BEMI's owners and sought $500,000 in compensation.[21]
Legal documents[22] filed with the state of California indicate that the court ordered the case to be settled by arbitration in July 2015. In August 2016, the court dismissed the case in light of the fact that the parties had reached an out-of-court settlement.
Don Buchla died shortly afterward, on September 14, 2016. His obituary was reported in the New York Times[23] and elsewhere, noting his significant achievements to the world of electronic music and technology.
BEMI attended NAMM 2017 and released the Easel AUX Expander. BEMI also established a new distribution model, discontinuing direct sales to customers and integrating more closely with a worldwide network of dealers.
