Historically,
a popular test of an innovative, new electronic instrument’s supposed musicality was whether
or not you could play three hundred year old Bach compositions on it. Clara
Rockmore performed Bach on the Theremin, and Wendy Carlos recorded Bach on the
Moog, for example, as did Erkki Kurenniemi when he designed his DIMI-A. But you
would be hard pressed to play Bach on a Benjolin! Nonetheless, with only eight controls the player can navigate across vast
terrains of in/determinacy, un/structure, and a/tonality. Still, since they
carry the stamp of Rob’s design in them through almost
any permutation of control settings, the sounds of a Benjolin are very
recognizable. The vast majority of people who ordered one from me were not
professional musicians, but rather collectors, hobbyists, and enthusiasts
playing them in their free time for enjoyment and without the intention of
performing or publishing the results.