LEM218 V3 Touch Plate Keyboard MIDI + CV Controller

Buchla LEM218 v3

Buchla’s LEM218 v3 is their newest touchplate keyboard controller based on the original 1970s Music Easel keyboard interface, bringing a familiar piano-style layout to your Easel Command, Eurorack, and MIDI-capable gear. Incredibly sensitive, you can press as hard or as soft as you’d like to produce pitch, pulse, and pressure CV or MIDI output (with velocity!). A touch strip gives you another point of interaction, great for modulation or triggering with the dedicated CV and Pulse outputs.

Just like the most recent iteration of the 218 Touch Activated Voltage Source, an arpeggiator mode lets you change between ascending and random patterns, with the speed set by a dedicated rate knob.

Four voltage presets are also available, accessed via four touch plates—each of which has a dedicated voltage knob. These preset voltages may be added to the pitch CV or act as their own independent CV and Pulse sources, turning the Preset Voltage Source into a full-fledged four-key keyboard all its own.

While the LEM218 has banana jacks on the top for use with other Buchla hardware, you can use the USB-C, MIDI 3.5mm jacks, or Eurorack 3.5mm connections built into the enclosure with just about any piece of hardware. You can even send MIDI notes to the LEM218 and convert MIDI data to CV. In fact, you can also send MIDI CCs and other MIDI data from the touch strip and Preset Voltage Source…turning the LEM218 into a remarkably well-appointed controller.

Buchla’s LEM218 might be the most versatile touch plate controller available, and with its format-agnostic approach, it’s at home in any studio environment with a myriad of hardware setups.

LEM218 v3 Features

• The perfect controller pairing for Buchla Easel Command
• 29-key touchplate controller
• Banana jacks, 3.5mm MIDI I/O, 4x Eurorack outputs, and USB-C MIDI
• Touch strip with CV and Pulse outputs (and 3.5mm CV output)
• 4x tunable Preset Voltages for transposition and modulation
• Preset Voltage Source features a dedicated pulse output
• Arpeggiator with ascending and random modes
• Portamento control
• Polyphonic MIDI note transmission
• Can interface with Buchla 200e data bus
• 3.5mm–5-Pin MIDI adapters included
• Grounding strap included