Author: catsynth
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Pina and Modular
Beautiful calico cat Pina strolls in front of a massive Eurorack modular system.
From ssilentstrike on Instagram,
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Peter & Ozzy with Elektron Digitakt & Syntakt
It’s rare to see Peter and Ozzy together, but here they are on the platform behind the Elektron Digitakt and Syntakt boxes.
From Dani Durán on Instagram.
You can see a bit of the cats enjoying some beats on the two boxes here.
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Haku and Future Retro 777
Handsome Haku graces us with not just a single photo but an entire photo shoot with the Future Retro 777 synthesizer.
Submitted by our friend Erik Ribeiro via our Facebook page.
You can see Haku’s previous appearances via his tag.
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Grady and Yamaha DX11
Grady plays us a drone on the Yamaha DX11 FM synthesizer. From Doug Llewellyn (@doug_whoever) on Instagram.
The DX11 is essentially a version of the Yamaha TX81Z with a keyboard. It is a four-operator FM synthesizer with the added ability to switch waveforms on each operator (something the 6-operator synths like the DX7 didn’t have).
You can see Grady’s many other appearances on CatSynth via his tag.
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Tina and Tama Techstar TAM500
Tina blissfully sleeps in front of a rare Tama Techstar TAM500 drum machine. Submitted by AxWax via Mastodon.
The TAM500 is a relatively uncommon and lesser-known analog drum machine from the 1980s. It has 5 sounds, each with its own mixer channel and output. You can hear a bit of it in this video.
We at CatSynth have a soft spot for lesser-known drum machines of the era (i.e., outside the ubiquitous Roland TR series). This includes our Yamaha RX5, which I favor for musical projects over the more common options. A TAM500 would be something very different, but also fun to try.
You can see Tina’s previous appearance here.
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Octave, Moog, and Ensoniq
Adorable kitten Octave explores the Moog Messenger synthesizer. We also see the rackmount versions of the Ensoniq ASR-10 and ESQ-1.
Submitted by End If via our Facebook page.
We have a keyboard version of the ASR-10 in a closet here at CatSynth HQ. As for the ESQ-1, we recently reviewed Cherry Audio’s software recreation.
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Fang and ARP Axxe
Fang sits proudly atop a vintage ARP Axxe synthesizer. Submitted by Pete Jay via our Facebook page.
The ARP Axxe was a slimmed-down version of the classic Odyssey with a single oscillator. Note that it shares the same Helvetica and black-and-orange look as the Odyssey and other later ARP instruments (my favorite of their design themes).
