Our black-and-white feline friend returns in this black-and-white photo featuring the Arturia MiniBrute, first edition. Submitted by Steve Peglar via our Facebook page.
We at CatSynth have been having a lot of fun with the Arturia MiniBrute 2, which builds on the original’s unique sound (and “brute factor”). You can see our video demo here.
Today’s pic comes from Ok Housecat on Facebook.
This effect makes your music smell like cat litter
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Please visit their page for more custom-electronics fun 😺
Eli returns, with a Roland TR-707 rhythm composer. Submitted by Elias Laughton via our Facebook page.
A bit about the TR-707 from Vintage Synth Explorer:
A very underrated drum machine! It resembles the popular TR-909, and better yet, its hi-hat, cymbals, and clap sound almost identical to the TR-909! The TR-707 is a great source for cheap 909 samples. It has some other cool features too such as its Matrix display which clearly maps out your pattern for you in an easy to read display panel. It also features both MIDI in/out and DIN sync control – the best of both worlds. Why this unit even has individual outputs for each of its drum tones!
Those individual outputs might come in handy when using together with a modern modular synthesizer setup.
You can see Eli’s previous appearance here.
We rely on keeping our sight, hearing, and thoughts in sync with one another. It is necessary for everyday tasks such as walking, extraordinary abilities such as sinking 3-point shots in basketball, or just about anything we do in musical performance. Indeed, I am often reminded when performing in ensembles how important it is to keep all three of those processes tightly coupled.
But decoupling has tremendous value as well and relates directly to what I termed “the disintegration of thought” in a previous article. It is a practice that has been particularly welcome in the past couple of days as psychic entropy reached a crescendo. Indeed, doing so this afternoon relieved some of that stress, even as personal and professional challenges and relentless cruelty of current events swirl around.
It is a relatively simple process, and not that different from more traditional forms of meditation except that there is no focus or control. One lies flat in a comfortable place, not too dark but not too bright. It should be quiet but not silent to allow for deep listening. I find the bedroom area of HQ during the day perfect for this. The urban sounds beyond the windows form a gentle syncopation with just enough detail. With eyes closed, one turns to mental visuals – I once heard them described as “eyelid movies”. It’s important not to concentrate on either the internal visuals or the sounds, but not to ignore them either. Just experience them decoupled. In this way, thoughts seem to organize themselves into their own separate stream, often nonsensical but organized nonetheless. The decoupled channels together form a complex free improvisation, not too different from free improvisation in music when it is at it best.
Most of the thoughts are words are forgettable. But in a session this afternoon, one phrase, in particular, popped out: fifth nest. I have no idea what it means, and honestly, it doesn’t really matter. I didn’t want to dwell on it, as it would break the spell of the experience.
Today’s session was successful in that I emerged calm with much of the entropy dissipated but not groggy the way one would after a nap (it’s important not to fall asleep). There is a deep melancholy in the calm, but that is OK. And the phrase “fifth nest” seems to have stayed with me. I still have no idea what it means, but it could be a point of departure for a piece of music or creative writing in the future.
Our new friend Shadow returns for a solo on his M-Audio Axiom keyboard. Submitted by Anne Corwin via our Facebook page.
My boy Shadow likes the heavy beats.
You can see Shadow’s debut last week along with his brother Brodie in this post.
We introduce two new kitty pals today: Fluffy and Hissy. They are outdoor kitties who live in the Temescal neighborhood of Oakland, California.
This is Fluffy. He is a big fellow, and quite friendly. As far as we know, he lives outdoors full time, but he is very comfortable around humans, especially when they provide food.
By contrast, Hissy is much more skittish around people, and it is quite difficult to photograph her.
Usually, Hissy backs away, but if one does get close, she lives up to her name.
Both Fluffy and Hissy seem to be healthy and well fed in comparison to some of the street cats I have encountered in the neighborhood, so they probably have a network of food and safety options, beyond our “satellite office” in the neighborhood.
We hope to get some better photographs of them soon.
Beautiful black cat Luna strikes a “noir” pose atop one keyboard and next to another. Submitted by Matthew Vasquez via our Facebook page. I really like the way the stripes of light play against the keyboards, which in turn heighten the black cat’s figure.
This is Luna is not our Luna, but looks so much like her! You can read our more recent tribute to the late great Luna of CatSynth here.
Identification of the synths/keyboards left as an exercise to the reader.
Meet Shadow and Brodie, two new synth-cat friends. Here we see them singing along to a tune played on an M-Audio Axiom keyboard controlling an off-screen synth or software instrument.
Submitted by Anne Corwin via our Facebook page.
Looking south on Orizaba Avenue in southwestern San Francisco from Lakeview and Ashton Mini Park. You can read more about our visit to this spot in this article.
