SUPERBOOTH 2026: US brand Buchla is closely associated with West Coast synthesis; an approach to modular instrument design with an emphasis on complex oscillators, which lends itself to adventurous, experimental music making.
Buchla gear is also known for being expensive – often almost prohibitively so. The company’s iconic, suitcase-housed Easel synths retail for around £/$5000, while its full Skylab modular system is priced at an eye-watering $15,000. So the arrival of a new, self-contained Buchla synth with a retail price (just) below £/$1000 is something worth getting seriously excited about.
Ziggy is a desktop monosynth that brings the look and character of classic Buchla synths to a self-contained and relatively accessible instrument.
Article continues belowAt the heart of its sound engine is a complex oscillator, a sine wave generator that can be shaped via audio-rate modulation of either its amplitude or frequency. This is paired with a second modulation oscillator with a wide frequency range that allows it to function like both an LFO and audio source.
The oscillator section also includes a wavefolder for further shaping the output – a feature typical of Buchla synth designs.
The oscillators are shaped using a low-pass gate, another classic feature of West Coast synth design, which is based around a Sallen-Key filter and combines the functionality of both an amp envelope and low-pass filter.
Ziggy also has a modulation generator labelled Cycler. This can function in a variety of ways, from producing punchy percussive envelopes to cycling like a classic LFO, and can also be triggered for single-cycle modulation via MIDI or CV. It also has an ‘uncertainty’ parameter, for creating randomised modulation variations. A further XLFO provides an additional triangle wave modulation source.
READ MORE: East Coast vs West Coast synthesis: what's the difference?
One of the most notable aspects of Ziggy’s design is that, unlike the vast majority of Buchla gear, it’s not a modular instrument, meaning there’s no need to physically patch one element to another in order to produce sound. Instead the instrument is equipped with a flexible modulation system that allows users to route one element to another by adjusting the front panel dials or sliders.
Ziggy’s design combines elements of both analogue and digital. Its complex oscillator, modulation sources and low-pass gate are all analogue, but are digitally controlled, allowing the synth to save and recall patches. The sound engine is also complimented by a digital effects module, capable of applying processes including reverb, delay and distortion.
According to Buchla, “Ziggy incorporates many of the Buchla innovations that have long been taken for granted: digital control over the analogue audio, additive synthesis, unique and musical interactions, and the focus on making an ‘instrument’ rather than a ‘synthesizer.’”
Although Ziggy isn’t a modular synth, it does include CV inputs for gate, pitch and modulation, allowing it to be integrated into Eurorack setups. As well as these analogue control inputs, the instrument also has both MIDI and USB connections, along with an auxiliary audio input. Ziggy has a stereo pair of main outputs, joined by a 3.5mm headphone output port.
Ziggy is available to preorder now priced at $999/£915. The first units are estimated to start shipping in August or September of this year.
Ziggy is also designed to pair with Buchla’s own LEM218 touch keyboard, and can be ordered as a bundle for $1,999.
Head to the official Buchla site for more information, where you can also hear audio examples of it in action.
