Donald Buchla started building and designing electronic instruments in 1960 when he was commisioned by the Avant Garde composer Morton Subotnik to build an instrument for live electronic music and composing. With a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation Buchla started building his first modular synthesisers in 1963 under the name "San Fransisco Tape Music Center", the name of Subotnik's music studio. Buchla's early synthesisers were experimental in design to accomadate the experimental music they were intended to produce, utilising unusual control features such as touch sensitive and resistance sensitive plates. Buchla's early pioneering work included the first analogue sequencers.
Buchla started to commercially produce his synthesisers in 1969 with a manufacturing deal from CBS/Fender. This deal eventually came to an end as CBS were unwilling to fund further research into instrument design. Today, Buchla continues to produce electronic musical instruments in the form of MIDI controlllers:Buchla & Associates
