Mechanized Meditation – Leo de Boisgisson discovers fm3 and their hypnotic Buddah Machine, text tran

fm3, a most intriguing duet, have produced the most inovative concept to come out of the minuscule Chinese abstract-electronic music scene. The two lap-toppers–Christiaan Virant, an American expat who has lived in China for 17 years, and Zhang Jian, a Sichuan-born man who looks as though a manga artist created him–talk about their music in terms of inhalation and vibration rather than rhythm or melody. Their performances are like strange ceremonies; they shroud the audience in diffused, meditative sounds and silences. fm3’s use of quiet recalls the sonorities of Buddist prayer.

Mechanized Meditation

Leo de Boisgisson discovers fm3 and their hypnotic Buddah Machine, text translated by Fabrizio Zambuto

Mechanized Meditation

fm3’s Buddha Machine, 2005.

fm3, a most intriguing duet, have produced the most inovative concept to come out of the minuscule Chinese abstract-electronic music scene. The two lap-toppers–Christiaan Virant, an American expat who has lived in China for 17 years, and Zhang Jian, a Sichuan-born man who looks as though a manga artist created him–talk about their music in terms of inhalation and vibration rather than rhythm or melody. Their performances are like strange ceremonies; they shroud the audience in diffused, meditative sounds and silences. fm3’s use of quiet recalls the sonorities of Buddist prayer.

The Buddha machine is an extremely simple little plastic box, the size of a pack of cigarettes, in a range of different colors. The Buddha machine takes its inspiration from some sutra boxes, the kind usually found at the exit of most temples in China. The Buddha machine contains 9 original creations, 9 hypnotizing loops.

Christiaan Virant, of fm3, explains the workings behind the Buddah Machine

The fm3 Buddha Machine is a battery-powered, custom-made hardware loop player produced in south China. With a built-in speaker, volume control, stereo headphone output and provision for mains power, the fm3 Buddha Machine is a self-contained, go-anywhere music delivery device. On-board RAM provides nine "classic" fm3 loops, which will play continuously for hundreds of hours on one pair of AA batteries.

The machine is based on similar devices found at Buddhist temples throughout Asia that feature chanting monks or nuns on continuous loop. The name "Buddha Machine" is a direct translation of the Chinese for these devices, Chang Fo Ji. Early prototypes of the fm3 Buddha Machine were hacked versions of these temple objects. Years of negotiation and discussion with a Buddhist-run factory in south China led to the mass production of the fm3 Buddha Machine.

The fm3 buddha machine will be released in a limited edition of 300 by Staalplaat Records in Berlin in 2005. A further 500 fm3 buddha machines in various colors will be used by fm3 for live performances and sound installations.