History of Buchla, Eurorack formats & the origins of names.

This post was inspired by a discussion with my friend Adam over the confusion of naming Buchla modules. I have 2 vintage Buchla systems along with what many refer to as "Buchla Clones"

and lots of 3rd party 4U modules which make no attempt to pass themselves off as Buchla apart from the fact that they are 4U and share the same voltage specs.

I love all these modules. ... for different reasons and am happy to use vintage alongside modern modules.
This format has been steadily growing over the years and I think this momentum will only gather pace.

Should they all be called Buchla ????
How do we make the distinction between vintage Buchla modules, their "clones", and modern manufacturers who use the format invented by Don Buchla?
I have recently started describing only vintage Buchla modules as Buchla, and the rest as "Buchla Format". Is this distinction good enough? Should the word Buchla only be used with modules that Don Buchla himself made or commissioned?
I think making this distinction is important to avoid confusion for musicians and their audiences.

Adam & I decided to compare this format to Eurorack.

 Original photo by Nina Richards

The Eurorack system was originally specified in 1996 by Doepfer Musikelektronik, but history could so easily have gone another direction.

Doepfer Musikelektronik GmbH is based in Gräfelfing, Germany and was founded by Dieter Döpfer.
Dieter developed a voice modular system in the early 1980s (the VMS) but with the advent of MIDI in 1983 & the release of the Yamaha DX7 again in 1983, it seemed that the world of the modular synthesizer was over.
In 1992 Doepfer developed the MAQ16/3 Sequencer which was heavily influenced by Kraftwerk.

He developed the Mogli Midi Glove and the MIDI-to-SYNC interface MSY1 in 1994.
Around this time second-hand Roland TB303s began to inflate in price and Dieter decided to develop a
 TB 303 inspired synth... the MS 404. 1995 was a big year. The MS404 was a huge success. It was a 1U rack mounted synth.

After this success, Dieter decided to try to develop a new modular system and by Autumn of 1996 he released the A-100 system. " The first A-100 modules were nothing more than circuits from the MS-404". (DD)

It had only 10 modules at the time. It's part of the history of Eurorack now.
I understand that the Eurorack name originated from the computer Eurocard systems which were developed by Acorn computers between 1979 to 1982.

This decision to use a standard 19" rackmount enclosure was critical.

 It looks very much like the modern Eurorack modular synth system of today.

At the time there were other manufacturers like Analogue Systems (AS) that used a similar rack system. AS had small technical differences such as the power connectors but they later adapted some of  their products to offer "Eurorack compatibility".
Over time more and more manufacturers adopted this system.

The module height was three rack units and the width varied depending on the specific module
Width was measured in the Eurocard-specific Horizontal Pitch standard. Here 1HP = 0.2 inches, or 5.08 mm. 

 This 3U system is now the largest format with hundreds of manufacturers from all over the world. What makes it so popular I think is it's open source nature.

 The A-111 is a doepfer module. It sits happily along side two US manufacturers.

There is of course strict adherence to the format size/and voltage specs, but manufacturers are free to
name their modules what they like, using their own distinctive panel designs and names.
These module manufacturers are fortunate to have the name "Eurorack" to use. It's a generic title.

Is there a generic name that could be applied to all modules using the format invented by Don Buchla?  BF (for Buchlaformat)?, 4U? , 4UB maybe?
I don't think 4U is sufficient as there are other module manufacturers using the 4U size.
4URack ?
4rack?


Links:
+ What U is that synth?
+ Eurorack - Wikipedia
+ Doepfer - wikipedia
+ Eurocard -wiki
+ Doepfer time line History