Buchla Program Manager Card

The Program Manager Card is the stage and studio’s best friend for the Music Easel!

The Program Manager Card is a preset sound control and storage system for the Buchla Easel Command 208C and upcoming Buchla Music Easel. It comes in a compact package, reminiscent of the original bare circuit boards used to make presets for the original 1973 Music Easel. It implements a USB-C connection, with memory for 48 presets, three-button presets selection and recall system, and works with software for macOS and Windows. This is, of course, a vastly improved system over the original bare circuit board program managers, which required soldering of specific resistor values to achieve repeatable results!

The Program Manager Card works in conversation with the software. Sound designers and musicians can program their Easel and Easel Command synthesizers from the computer and save the presets to the Card. The application also serves as an endless sink for infinite presets and preset banks, and a hub for importing and exporting presets and banks to share with others. With computer precision, it’s possible to tune the parameters in ways that simply can’t happen by hand on the front panel controls. Additionally, each virtual banana jack in the app can be scaled, even to inverted values - for example, the  “timbre CV control” cable can be scaled to “-1,” directing timbre to go down instead of up.

For the Easel Command and upcoming 2023 Music Easel, the Program Manager can be embedded into the case, using the optional embed kit. Fitting the Program Manger into the Easel can give it a clean look and lower profile for transport. For those who installed the 208C into their 200e case, it could make the Program Manager much more useful, as it could provide a more usable angle. These kits are available at nominal cost though select dealers and at buchla.com.