Buddha Machine 4

The Buddha Machine is a small plastic box that plays meditative music composed by Christiaan Virant and Zhang Jian.

Since its introduction in 2005, the Buddha Machine has won global praise for its novel approach to music enjoyment and has been used in hundreds of recording and performance projects from a wide range of artists.

The original Buddha Machine was released in 2005. It features nine tracks and comes in 7 colours.

Buddha Machine 2.0 was released in November 2008. It offers an additional 9 pieces of hypnotic music and adds a pitch-control, which allows you to change the speed of the music to suit your mood.

Buddha 3, dubbed Chan Fang 禅房, was released in winter 2010. It boasts higher audio quality and four long loops of Chinese classical music composed and recorded on the ancient Gu Qin.

Here is what a few other people say about the machine:
“It’s bliss” (The Washington Post)
“Beautifully useless” (New York Times)
“Addictive, spellbinding, hypnotic” (Santa Fe Reporter)
“Defiantly rough” (Wall Street Journal)
“Mesmerizing” (Pop Matters)
“I can’t stop playing with it” (Pitchfork)


唱佛机亦称念佛机，是国内寺院里常见售卖的一种佛具，实是粗陋且山寨的本土自产电子器械，把两节五号电视、一枚载音芯片（在FM3所画的唱佛机三维剖分图里，此片化身为佛）和一个小型扩音器盛在一尊拳头大小的盒子里，即成。芯片可连续不断地重复播放三分钟以内的佛经唱诵，常见其载录的是《大悲咒》、《心经》等短经，以至仅念佛号。成佛的道路有千万万条，仅持佛号当然也算一种—形式上，这不正是无限往复的低限主义？以及吡啵粗粝的声音质感和佛具的本来身份，令FM3偶然发现这件妙物之后爱不释手，恰似当年鲁班刚被草叶的锯齿割破手指后一般兴奋。2005年，FM3在某电子厂定制了一批唱佛机，灌录了他们9首—最长一首40秒，最短一首5秒—的微音片段，以《唱佛机（Buddha Machine）》为名在德国某独立音乐厂牌出版；他们继而在现场不复准备电脑和乐器，而仅是摆弄数台唱佛机，选择不同的重复片段，调配开关的时刻，乃至喇叭跟麦克风的相对位置等等来编造音乐。FM3和他们的小盒子迅速在西方前卫电子音乐圈蹿红，不久，FM3开始网售唱佛机，它在佛具、播放器、乐器、时尚之物，乃至催眠设备之间变换着嘴脸，迅速在西方风靡。（南方周末.杨波）

Fm3，中国最重要的，一个关于声音的小组。 由张荐和老赵组成。 fm3早期的工作，涉及到具有环境声音的、有剧场感的表演。发明和发现唱佛机，是对日常生活的直接挪用，将音频，音声和音乐，转化为 一个可循环的。 声音硬件。这个声音的硬件，在2000年左右出现，与当时的声音的表达方式，相悖。 这个声音的硬件借助手持设备成为一个有趣的app。声音软件的观念，通过很具体的形象设计，已经完整模拟硬件的互动性，完整的表达和传达给观众。 这一数字时代转型期的悖论。（李振华）