Images(12)

Ken Kesey PA Controller

Not available for use in Recording Studios

On exhibit

Artifact TypeSound Equipment, PA Controller

Manufacturer Donald Buchla

Manufacturer LocationUSA, North America

Datec. 1966

Equal parts primitive and groovy, this P.A. controller was likely used as a basic amplification system by the Merry Pranksters—novelist Ken Kesey’s notorious counterculture troupe—on a cross-country bus trip to Woodstock in 1969. Donald Buchla, a member of the troupe, designed it to be used with his first voltage-controlled modular synthesizer. Buchla’s instruments, lauded for their alternative approach to control and performance, were strongly associated with the counterculture movement of the late ’60s and early ’70s.

Operation/FunctionThis particular artifact contains four synthesizer modules housed within a basic wooden enclosure. From left to right: San Francisco Tape Music Center Inc. model 190 Dual Reverberator, contains two spring reverberation units, each with two 1/8” outputs, one 1/8” input, and one level knob, features ‘Ken Kesey’ signature in gold ink and ‘Buchla Box’ in black ink; San Francisco Tape Music Center Inc. model 170 Dual Microphone Preamplifier, contains two microphone preamps, each with two 1/8” outputs, one XLR input, one impedance level adjustment with 50k, 150-250, and 30-50 points, and one gain adjustment knob; San Francisco Tape Music Center Inc. model 106 Six Channel Mixer, contains six 1/8” inputs each with adjustment knob, one 1/8” output for channels 1 through 3, two 1/8” outputs for all six channels, and one 1/8” output for channels 4 through 6; and, one custom orange module labeled ‘POT BOX’ in red Dymo, with two 1/8” outputs each for left and right for low Z/impedance, one Jones speaker plug each for left and right for high Z/impedance, one 1/4” output each for left and right for “stereo ears”, one 1/4" output each for left and right for speakers accompanied by an on/off switch, signed ‘Ken Babbs’. This custom module is a speaker-switching panel that was made on the back of a filter panel, likely a model 192 Dual Lopass Filter.Cultural SignificanceAlthough this particular artifact was not included on the original cross-country bus trip that the Merry Pranksters took in the summer of 1964, it stands as a potent representation of the Prankster attitude and aesthetic that effectively defined the psychedelic movement of the 1960s. As Kesey famously stated, the Pranksters were, “too young to be beats, and too old to be hippies.” With their outlandish clothing and long hair, the Pranksters were dissociated from the beatniks of the 1950s, including famed novelist Jack Kerouac, who was repulsed by their appearance and apparent disregard for the sanctity of the American flag. The first trip in 1964 occurred at a time when The Beatles were still dominating the airwaves and the Civil Rights Act had just been passed, with the hippie-inspired countercultural movement not coming into full effect until slightly later in the decade. As such, the Pranksters were somewhat in a league of their own, moving in unmapped territory. That being said, however, the visual representation they developed – which included garish clothing, unkempt grooming, and vivid, DayGlo-inspired patterns and designs – as well as the ideals they espoused – which embraced peaceful subversion, communal lifestyle, and expanded consciousness via the ingestion of hallucinogenic drugs – effectively defined what became known as the psychedelic era of the 1960s. Hippie subculture, which was inspired by the psychedelic aesthetic and made up the largest group within the countercultural movement of the late 1960s, blossomed soon after throughout the country, though perhaps nowhere more notably than in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of the Pranksters’ San Francisco Bay Area headquarters. Along with the Beatniks of mid century and the European Bohemians of the late nineteenth century, the hippie subculture, consisting in those born during the Baby Boomer generation, remains one of the most potent cultural icons of a bygone era in contemporary Western history. Although hippies were not the only group to characterize the American countercultural movement of the late 1960s, all associated members shared similar political and social concerns toward racial segregation, sexual liberation, a rejection of the war in Vietnam, the threat of nuclear war, and the materialistic values reflected in the mainstream culture of the Silent Generation and its so-called American Dream. Typically, Robert Moog is more popularly associated with the introduction of the first synthesizers. However, in the mid 1960s, both Don Buchla and Robert Moog – who was, at the time, based in New York – independently developed the first voltage-controlled synthesizers, both employing a modular structure and offering similar functions. Although their instruments catered to different demographics, both designers were highly influential to the next generation of synthesizer manufacturers, though perhaps in varying ways. Buchla stood primarily as an inspiration to designers looking to implement ideas that were less conventional and more aesthetically minded. The emergence of Buchla’s first instrument at a time when the counterculture of the 1960s was near its apex, as well as his involvement in related concerts and events such as the infamous Altamont Free Concert in 1969, certainly helped establish the designer as something of a figurehead for the movement. Moreover, being situated in the San Francisco Bay Area, which has been historically recognized as a national haven for innovation and less-than-conventional attitudes for several decades, allowed for Buchla’s instruments to enjoy a heightened reception that may not have been as prevalent elsewhere in the country.Technological SignificanceTechnologically, there is little that is significant about this artifact as it is a fairly primitive system, lacking several of the key components required to render it a fully functional amplification device. That being said, it is comprised of early modules from Donald Buchla’s 100 Series modular system; along with Robert Moog’s first modular system, the 100 Series represents what was effectively the first voltage-controlled synthesizer. The voltage-controlled synthesizer revolutionized electronic music when it garnered popular commercial interest in the late 1960s, with Buchla’s uniquely interfaced systems appealing particularly to the burgeoning experimental scene in the west coast. An interesting feature of Buchla module design is that a number of modules are of a dual nature, meaning that two independent units of the same function are housed within a single module. This perhaps inadvertently proved to be very helpful in the context of an amplification system, allowing a single module to support the production of stereo signals. Notable modules that were later offered in the 100 Series include the Model 117 Dual Proximity Detector, which employs Theremin-style antennae, the Model 123 and 146 Sequential Voltage Sources, which could control up to three different parameters, such as pitch, amplitude, and duration, at once, and, the various effects modules, such as the Model 148 Harmonic Generator, the Model 185 Frequency Shifter, and the Model 196 Phase Shifter. Perhaps, though, the most extraordinary modules Buchla offered were the Models 112 and 114 Touch Controlled Voltage Source, typically referred to as touch plates, which give the user a highly flexible alternative to the traditional, equal tempered keyboard of the twelve-pitch octave. Even the naming scheme Buchla gave to his 100 and later 200 Series modules was unique: instead of an oscillator, Buchla & Associates offered a Complex Waveform Generator; instead of a low frequency oscillator or envelope generator, Buchla offered the Multiple Arbitrary Function Generator (MARF); instead of a noise generator, Buchla designed The Source of Uncertainty, which produces various noise colours as well as random, fluctuating voltages. Most paramount to the design aesthetic adopted by Buchla & Associates was the ability to offer the user direct and immediate control of all musical parameters. Perhaps on account of his background in physiology, Buchla seemed to be particularly preoccupied in eliminating the distance between the user and the machine; of course, this is especially clear in the design of his controllers, including the touch plates of the early systems and the MIDI controllers of the 1990s. Although Buchla & Associates remained more or less on the fringe of the mainstream from the 1970s onward, their instruments were still regarded as among the most innovative, unique, and sophisticated. Buchla & Associates were also regarded as never having fully bowed to commercial pressures, instead continuing to expand their idiomatic design aesthetic throughout the 1970s and 1980s despite a lack of popular usage. As a designer, Buchla was also unique in that he approached his instruments both as an engineer and as a musician.Users/PerformersIt goes without saying that the most well known member of the Merry Pranksters troupe is its founder, author Ken Elton Kesey. Kesey was born 17 September 1935 in La Junta, Colorado, relocating in 1946 with his parents to a dairy farm in Springfield, Oregon. Despite his later reputation, Kesey led a relatively normal early life as an amateur wrestling star, marrying his high school sweetheart, Norma Faye Haxby, in 1956, with whom he fathered three children, and joining the Beta Theta Pi fraternity chapter at the University of Oregon, where he graduated with a degree in journalism in 1957. Upon receiving the prestigious Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship in early 1958, Kesey relocated to Palo Alto, California to pursue graduate studies in creative writing at Stanford University. In the following year, he was encouraged by a neighbor and graduate student in the university’s psychology department to volunteer in a classified, government-sponsored study of the effects of psychoactive drugs – then still legal – taking place at the nearby Menlo Park Veterans Hospital. Kesey was later employed by the hospital as an attendant in the psychiatric ward and this, combined with the detailed documentation he kept of his drug trip experiences, would serve as the inspiration for a manuscript that would become One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The novel was met with critical acclaim upon its release in 1962, allowing Kesey and his family to relocate to a new home in the secluded forested hills of La Honda, California. Soon after, this house became the site of the infamous Acid Tests, a series of parties Kesey held for others to try LSD and related hallucinogenic drugs such as psilocybin and mescaline, the space often outfitted with lighting and sound meant to enhance the experience. As the story goes, even the trees in the surrounding area were painted in DayGlo, or blacklight-reactive ink. A newly formed local band called The Warlocks frequently performed at the house; this band, fronted by folk guitarist Jerry Garcia, and featuring members Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, and Ron McKernan, would become known from 1966 as The Grateful Dead. Following the success of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, a stage play adaptation was developed, premiering in New York City in 1963. Kesey took his family on a road trip across the country to attend the premiere and, upon returning, felt that it would be a meaningful experience to repeat and document on film, this time with members of the Acid Tests in tow. Kesey’s next novel, Sometimes a Great Notion, was published in early 1964 and, on June 17 of that year, Kesey and his troupe of Acid Test attendees, now christened the Merry Pranksters, embarked on their first cross-country trip, headed for the World’s Fair in New York. Their vehicle of choice was a 1939 International Harvester school bus that had been converted into a camper, complete with bunk beds and a small kitchen, purchased from a San Francisco advert. The destination marquee read ‘Furthur’, and the exterior was painted by troupe members in freely formed Technicolor strokes of bright blues, yellows, and reds. A basic sound system – though not the one that makes up this particular artifact – was also outfitted on the bus to project crude musical performances and rambling vocal commentaries. Throughout their travels, the Merry Pranksters got stuck in a bog in the Arizona River, lost a member to a bad LSD trip in Texas, and met the famed beatnik poet, Alan Ginsberg, who took the group to Millbrook, New York to meet Dr. Timothy Leary, a former professor of psychology at Harvard University and staunch advocate of psychedelic drugs, who famously advised the newly emerging psychedelic generation to, “Turn on, tune in, and drop out.” Furthur was driven by Prankster Neal Cassady, who was depicted as the character Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac’s seminal On the Road of 1957. Although this first bus trip was a few years too early to have initiated the counterculture movement that exploded in San Francisco in the late 1960s, it is often regarded as having single-handedly defined the psychedelic scene that informed much of the 1960s, including the counterculture. Indeed, Kesey famously cited that the Merry Pranksters were, “too young to be beats, and too old to be hippies.” The audio and video collected while on the bus trip were recorded separately and reproduced at different speeds, making it difficult to be synchronized with the means of the time; it would not be another thirty years until the appropriate digital technology emerged to enable some form of coordination. That being said, the rough documentation the group was able to gather provided fellow American author Tom Wolfe (born 2 March 1931 in Richmond, Virginia) with the material required to form the events of the novel The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test of 1968. Several other road trips followed in subsequent years, including another cross-country trip that took place in the summer of 1969, with a new bus, Furthur II, featuring this particular artifact, designed by fellow Prankster, Donald Buchla, as its basic sound system. This time, the bus was headed to the Woodstock Festival in Bethel, New York. Kesey lived out his later life with his family on a farm in Pleasant Hill, Oregon, teaching at the University of Oregon, and succumbed to complications due to liver cancer on 10 November 2001. His coffin, which was painted in a manner similar to the Furthur busses, was transported to a gravesite on his farm in a replication of the original bus. He was buried next to his son, Jed, who passed away in 1984 following a car accident. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was adapted into a major motion picture in 1975, starring Jack Nicholson, and earning five academy awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director. In addition to Kesey, Cassady, and Buchla, other notable Pranksters included Kesey’s closest friend, Ken Babbs, Carolyn “Mountain Girl” Garcia, former wife of Jerry Garcia and mother of a fourth child had by Kesey, Jane Burton, Del Close, Paul Krassner, and Stewart Brand. The Merry Pranksters were also known to have had relations with the notorious Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang, whom they had met through freelance journalist Hunter S. Thompson, with many having attended the original Acid Test parties despite having never previously taken the drug. In 2011, Magic Trip, a documentary featuring much of the original footage from the first trip, synchronized as much as is possible, was released. The original Furthur bus still resides in Kesey’s family farm in Oregon.

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