Author: catsynth

  • Newt on the Piano (Rock Cats)

    Newt on the Piano (Rock Cats)

    Newt has been practicing and getting more adept at the piano. She is one of the Amazing Acro-Cats and a member of their band the Rock Cats.

    To find out more about the Acro Cats, including upcoming shows and their rescue work, please visit https://rockcatsrescue.org/

  • Wordless Wednesday: Chollas

    Wordless Wednesday: Chollas

    Chollas in Joshua Tree National Park this past spring. Photo taken with my Soviet-era Helios 44-2 lens and edited in Adobe Lightroom the partial monochrome effect.

  • Bread and Teenage Engineering OP-1

    Bread and Teenage Engineering OP-1

    Bread is curled up on the Teenage Engineering OP-1. We saw Bread’s sibling Kielbasa (aka “Not Tuna”) with the same OP-1 recently.

    From thedigtalpurrgatory on Instagram.

    Bread snuggled up between me and the OP-1. Good morning, Bread.

  • Sidney Crosby on Pedals and Mini-Synths

    Sidney Crosby on Pedals and Mini-Synths

    Sidney Crosby does what cats do best and has jumped up on the platform with numerous pedals and mini-synths belonging Scott Smigiel.

    Submitted by bittersweetdb on Mastodon.

    Here’s Sidney Crosby on @ssmigiel’s live setup of many pedals and mini synths.

    https://mstdn.social/@bittersweetdb@mastodon.social/110996206662452109

  • Big Merp on the Modular Desk

    Big Merp on the Modular Desk

    Big Merp loves attention and always wants to be where the action is. So it’s fairly common to find him on this spot between the MacBook Pro and the Modular system. And in this instance, he struck a particularly handsome pose 😻. You can see quite a few of our Eurorack modules, including our prized Metasonix yellow and silver tube modules in the upper left corner of the case, as well as many others that have appeared in our recordings and videos over the years. A full list of brands is in the tags.

    This is also where we shoot a lot of our hardware demo videos, so it often ends up cluttered. But we always make sure there is space because you never know when Merp is going to jump up and say hi.

  • Wordless Wednesday: 1156 (St. Mary’s Square)

    Wordless Wednesday: 1156 (St. Mary’s Square)

    View eastward from the extended St. Mary’s Square Park in San Francisco, looking over Kearney Street. In the lower left, we see the Comfort Women Memorial. More info about the memorial can be found here.

  • Lou and Yamaha CS-15

    Lou and Yamaha CS-15

    Lou basks in the sun above a vintage Yamaha CS-15 synthesis. From synthguy216 on Instagram.

    That’s what a sunny afternoon is for. Lou recharging next to my CS-15

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CdEQoKeOBGb/

    The CS-15 is not one I know much about, compared to some of the others in Yamaha’s famous CS series. A bit from Vintage Synth Explorer:

    This synth really has its own sound. The CS-15’s got style. Built like a tank with a lot of nice knobs and best of all, not one but two of those funny sounding multimode filters…The best things about it are the flexibility of the VCFs and the routings to the filters and envelopes. You can rout VCO 1 to both VCFs and the VCFs to any of the envelopes positive or negative voltage. The VCFs are 12 dB/Oct and are switchable between low, band or high-pass. They are the key to the nice sound of the Yamaha CS family. Other nice features are noise, external-in for processing other sounds, LFO with Sample & Hold for those bubbling sounds and an individual auto-bend for the VCOs.

    https://www.vintagesynth.com/yamaha/cs15.php
  • Kielbasa and Teenage Engineering OP-1

    Kielbasa and Teenage Engineering OP-1

    Kielbasa – also known as “Not Tuna” in a previous video – is jamming on the Teenage Engineer OP-1. I like the combination of chords, pads, and more percussive bell-like tones.

    Submitted by our friend Antoine Macrroncles at thedigitalpurrgatory on Instagram.

  • Tenaya in the studio

    Tenaya in the studio

    Tenaya is a cat that lives with @squarepulsemusic – we see her exploring the studio now, which features multiple Korg synths, Sequential, Arturia, and more.