This is a cool little gizmo. The device does nothing more than play a few ambient clips (or “drones” as they call them) from the group FM3. FM3 supposedly got the idea for the Buddha Machine from the little Buddhist chant boxes that are sold in temples throughout Asia. Instead of having the chants embedded into the memory chips, they had their drones embedded.
They come in many different colors including a very rare set that is made out of Pu-erh tea! Mmmmm…..Pu-erh tea, yummy.
My buddy John Lee from work translated the Chinese characters. For all I know, he is yanking my chain and knowing John, he probably is.
Here is the translation:
翅部 – Wing Area – as in Wing from a bird
事倍功半 – Twice the Output, Half the Effort – it’s a common Chinese saying, but not appropriate to describe 2 AA batteries.
路喂 – Road “Hi” – first character means Road, second character is common way to say hello over the phone, together they do not describe circuits
願望 – Desire/Hope/Wish – doesn’t mean plastic outer shell
心 – Heart – ok the Buddha, I get it
X裁 – don’t know if that first character is even a word, but the second one means to get rid of, as commonly used in laying off people (裁員)
Now, I haven’t held one of these gizmos although I have downloaded the tracks that are on the device. I don’t know what it is about the device, but I find them very intriguing. I read once that the music group Kraftwerk way back when they first started making digital music envisioned a time in the future where little machines would be everywhere creating music for people to enjoy. I can’t help but think that the Buddha Machine was the type of device they had in mind.