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The Buchla synthesizer, developed by Donald Buchla, is an electronic instrument that generates and modifies sounds. Unlike traditional instruments with fixed components, synthesizers are collections of parts that musicians can configure, a process often called "programming" or "patching." Buchla's instruments, introduced in 1964, notably differed from contemporaries like the Moog synthesizer by not featuring conventional keyboards. Instead, they used touch-sensitive contact pads for initiating sounds and patterns. These instruments were particularly favored by experimental composers, such as Morton Subotnick, who utilized them for influential electronic music compositions.123

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