Cool-looking "Buddha Machine"
Submitted by Merlin on February 11, 2007 - 3:38pm.
I’ve been hearing about the $25 Buddha Machine for a while (I recall Leo mentioning it once) and was tempted enough to go ahead and order my own today over on Forced Exposure (probably not least because of the amazing exploded drawing they use as a logo).
From the FAQ (which comes from a Pop Matters review):
The Buddha Machine is a little plastic box that plays music.
Specifically, FM3 constructed nine drones, varying from two seconds to 42 seconds, which repeat endlessly in the listener’s ear until the “track” is switched to the next drone (or the two AA batteries run out).
Sean notes that the manufacturers will also let you download uncompressed versions of the 9 included drones for free, so you could presumably emulate some of the functionality on your iPod. Friendly.
Anybody out there got one of these? How you enjoying it?
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I have one. There's been...
I have one. There’s been lots of talk about what it means as a piece of ambient music, but I don’t know if it’s best to think of it in that way. What it is is a way of presenting music that’s quite special, and it forces you to approach it differently, just like you (well, at least I) are forced to interact with a record as opposed to mp3s or even CDs. With a record you have to pull it out of the sleeve, smell the vinyl, and place the needle on the record every 25 minutes or so. This has a lot of inherent flaws, but I enjoy it, even though I listen to MP3s 99.9% of the time. The Buddha Machine is another way, and it’s a very worthwhile artistic endeavor. The hype has been a bit much, I think, but if you approach it as a special album to buy instead of a gadget, you’ll get the most out of it.
Plus Christian Viraant and Zhang Jian (the two guys in FM3) are good folk.