Buchla 281e Quad Function Generator Module

The Buchla 281e Quad Function Generator Module, an absolutly essential piece for any 200e modular system. Essential four A/D envelopes which can be externally triggered, cycled, looped and stacked in very interesting ways.

The 281e is comprised for four independant attack, decay envelope generators. Each has a pulse input, a end of attack pulse output, end of decay pulse output, mode switching and bi-polar voltage outputs and can be used either independantly or in quadrature mode to create more complex, and eventful functions. There's also a couple of OR outputs which sum the two channel groups together to create pseudo ADSR style envelope responses.

A 281 can really be the beating heart of a 200E system, all you need a is a pulse to bring this module to life. The resulting voltages the 281e produces can be used in a variety of ways, obvious options here are controlling the frequency or velocity input of a 292, but when used in quadrature mode, the resulting voltages can be applied to something like the timbre index of a 261e, to create some very beautiful sound transitions.

The loop functionality, end of attack and end of decay pulse outputs can also be put to very good use when designing a generative patch. You can even have this module re-trigger itself when the fourth decay stage ends (for example), thus creating a predictable, looped result of voltages to plumb around at your leisure.

A function generator is vital to any Buchla system and the 281e is quite simple one of the most flexible and interesting things to work with in the format.

The main features of the Buchla 281e Quad Function Generator Module include

Quad AD envelope generator

Can be used as four envelopes or two complex envelopes

OR outputs provide even more complex ADSR style results

Each AD stage can be loop or cycled

200E remote enabled