Buchla & Friends

Whew. Just getting back from the Buchla & Friends show in L.A. This year’s show represented a massive jump in attendance and energy, and Peter and his crew put in a ton of work to make it all happen. If there’s one show to get to in the US, it’s BnF.

We had a great table right at the entrance, and were around some of our favorite device-makers: 1010, Dirtywave, Bitwig, Torso. It’s such a supportive community, and Aaron and Christine from 1010 have been mentors throughout Zero’s development. I also really love a chance to shoot the breeze with Tim from Dirtywave about anything.

We also uncovered an interesting failure mode in Zero’s hardware. The dry L.A. breezes floating through the open entrance area and wooly industrial carpeting at the venue are a static electricity nightmare scenario. Zero’s portability means it has to withstand punishing environmental conditions, so I’ve always worked to make it robust, but this was a new one. Since we were right at the entrance, we were the first device some people came in and touched – the demo units bore the brunt of the day’s electro-static discharge activity. It was a terrifying moment when two devices went down within the first hour of the show, but ultimately it uncovered a really important need for ESD protection on a part of the device I had assumed was safe. We’re revising the PCB design this week and spinning a new round of test boards to confirm the fix.

We also had a really exciting visit with Matt, Gus, and the crew at Perfect Circuit in Burbank. Even made a few new friends who happened to be in the store to catch a demo. Hi guys…