high-tech performance instrument
from Buchla and Associates
HERE'S AN INSTRUMENT THAT PUTS THE POWER OF COMPUTER
TECHNOLOGY AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
Touché combines both analog and digital circuitry in a unique hybrid
architecture that develops the advantages of both approaches. User communications
and data processing are handled by a self-contained 16 bit computer operating
under the direction of FOIL, an advanced interactive music language especially
designed for Touché. Easy to learn and use, FOIL applies techniques
of man-machine communication that facilitate rapid access to Touché's
vocabulary and enable real-time editing and performance.
Sound production in Touché is accomplished with a pipelined, multiplexed
digital signal generator that assures absolute pitch accuracy (crystal derived)
and provides timbral possibilities formerly available only to those with
access to major computer installations. Touché's 24 digital oscillators
are combined into eight voices that are playable in a variety of polyphonic,
split keyboard, and multi-instrument modes.
Additionally, Touché contains a specialized hybrid processor that
accepts multiple user inputs and simultaneously directs the progress of
64 acoustic parameters, each with a time resolution of 1/1000 of a second.
This facility enables precise specification of complex sonic detail and
offers expanded possibilities for expressive articulation.
Touché's programmability extends far beyond the storage of knob settings
- instrument definitions include precise specification of multiple temporal
variables as well as minute details of the timbral palette. Up to 32 labeled
instrument definitions are instantly accessible; additional definitions
may be stored on tape for subsequent retrieval.
Touché is flexible - with practically unlimited signal generation
capabilities, Touché relies on software to realize its operational
characteristics. And that makes updating easy and economical - new versions
of FOIL will keep Touché a growing and vital instrument with ever-expanding
resources.
SO GET YOUR DIGITS DANCING TO THE TUNE OF TOUCHE´.
YOU'LL NEVER BE KEYBORED AGAIN!