CATSYNTH

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Author: catsynth

  • One Random Note: Roland SH1000

    One Random Note: Roland SH1000

    Josie performs a one-note jam on a Roland SH1000 courtesy of our friend Merce the cat. Here are some more detailed photos.

    The SH1000 was perhaps Roland’s first keyboard synthesizer. It had a single oscillator and filter, along with an ADSR, two LFOs, and separate noise sources. It’s look is more like an electric organ and demonstrates the conceptual bridge between these instruments, even if their architecture and playing techniques are quite different. As our feline friend demonstrates, it is particularly good for drones or unique bass tones.

    [The SH-1000] features 10 Preset sounds, but they are pretty weak. Fortunately you can create your own sounds for some really great mono-synth bass, lead, percussion and FX sounds. Basic square, ramp and pulse-width waveforms are available from the oscillator and the LFOs have sine, square and sample+hold. It has a terrific ‘Growl’ and ‘Wow’ effect for a pretty scary analog sound. It also features white noise, pink noise, portamento, octave transposition and a Random Note Generator. Although there is no user memory, unique sounds can still be quickly recreated or discovered thanks to its simple interface.

    http://www.vintagesynth.com/roland/sh1000.php

    It also paved the way for later classics like the SH1 and SH101.

  • CatSynth Pic: Milo and MOTM 490

    CatSynth Pic: Milo and MOTM 490

    Our pal Milo is inspecting an MOTM 490 filter that has been modified by Keith Winstanley.

    It looks like Milo is falling asleep on the job 😸

    The MOTM 490 is a lowpass ladder filter designed to sound like classic synthesizers from the 1970s – or as Synthesis Technology puts it, “that synthesizer sound”. You can hear some demos on MOTM’s site.

    MOTM-490

  • Wordless Wednesday: Alta Plaza Vista (San Francisco)

    Wordless Wednesday: Alta Plaza Vista (San Francisco)

    View of old and new architecture in San Francisco from Alta Plaza Park, one of my favorite small parks in the city.

  • CatSynth Pic: Sequential, Elektron, and Modular

    CatSynth Pic: Sequential, Elektron, and Modular

    A cat sits in the middle of a rather impressive setup including two Elektron instruments, a Sequential Prophet 6, and a large modular system. From markuswansart via Instagram.

  • CatSynth Pic: Ed and PJ (Roland Boutiques)

    CatSynth Pic: Ed and PJ (Roland Boutiques)

    Ed and PJ faithfully guard the kit of Pete Dolan. (Photo submitted via our Facebook page.)

    we see three Roland Boutiques on the shelf, along with the original boxes arranged in a colorful pattern. Among them is the JP-08 that we have here at HQ. Two of the keyboards are (wisely) under dust covers, and the identity of the third is left as an exercise to the reader.

    You can see our many posts featuring the Roland Boutiques here.

  • #808Day and #WorldCatDay

    #808Day and #WorldCatDay

    Today is both 808 Day – after the Roland TR-808 drum machine – and World Cat Day. As a bonus, the date works in both American and international formats. Is there a greater confluence of this blog’s core themes than this date? 😸 🎹

    The picture above was from an old Reddit post. We have featured a few cats with the TR-808’s successor, the TR-8, such as this post from 2017, courtesy of adrianhalo on Instagram.

    They have a very different look – the TR-8 was part of Roland’s AIRA series with the glowing controls. The sound and technology is also different, but both instruments have found their way into a great variety of music.

  • CatSynth Pic: Moog Grandmother and Sub 37 (Universal Audio)

    CatSynth Pic: Moog Grandmother and Sub 37 (Universal Audio)

    Our friends at Universal Audio are getting into the CatSynth-pic business with this post on Instagram 😺

    Who’s making music in their living room these days 🙋‍♂️⠀

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CAWVWL0jT-0/

    We see Moog Granthmother and Sub 37 synthesizers, a few pedals, and of course a UA Apollo interface.

  • CatSynth Pic: Lilli in the Studio

    CatSynth Pic: Lilli in the Studio

    Lilli finds a comfortable spot in the studio between some mixers and a 500 series rack. From Edda Jayne Hill.

    Lilli waiting for me to power up the mixers so she can get stuck in and mix down our new track 😁

    Here at CatSynth, Sam Sam often looks forward to mixing tracks and post-production for our videos.

  • Wordless Wednesday: Jade Study 1

    Wordless Wednesday: Jade Study 1

    Close-up of the jade plant on the patio at CatSynth HQ. Canon EOS 60D / 24mm fixed lens, post-processing in Adobe Lightroom 2020.

  • CatSynth Pic: Loki, Novation Bass Station, Korg Poly 800

    CatSynth Pic: Loki, Novation Bass Station, Korg Poly 800

    Loki finds the purrfect spot on a Korg Poly 800 in front of a Novation Bass Station. From the thedigitalpurrgatory on Instagram.

    Loki the Cat distracting me, once again, just after setting the synths for a jam.

    You can see Loki’s previous appearances on CatSynth here.

    The Novation Bass Station is quite a popular instrument at the moment, an analog mono bass synth in the spirit of Moog past and present, and in someways similar to the Arturia MiniBrute 2 that we use here at CatSynth studios. The Poly 800 is a small vintage synthesizer, a transition from Korg’s earlier “Mono/Poly” classic into their instruments of the 1980s. I was actually interested in the later Poly 800ii though never acquired one.