Mr. Maximillion chills in Charles Whiley’s updated studio.
Submitted by Charles Whiley via Facebook.
Cats
CatSynth Pic: Gracie
CatSynth Pic: Industrial Music Electronics fka The Harvestman Presentation at Modular8
Cat with the latest version of the Hertz Donut module from Industrial Music Electronics (formerly known as The Harvestman). Seen on matrixsynth.
“Modular 8 presents Scott Jaeger, Saturday August 25, 1-5 PM! He will be showing off the brand new Hertz Donut Mk. III AND lecturing on Chiptune Synthesis.
Regarding the Hertz Donut MK3 demo 8/25 – @harvestman will also give a talk on chiptune history!
“I will lead off with a presentation about chip music ~30 minutes, then it gets into philosophy of square wave stuff, then probably seamlessly transitions into the HD3 demo.”
Sadly, this event is in the past, so we at CatSynth were not on hand. Hopefully, we will make it back up to Portland again soon…
CatSynth Pic: White Cat and Wires
A fluffy white cat has gotten tangled up in modular cables 😸
From chichi_response on Instagram.
I am the only real Source of Uncertainty
Weekend Cat Blogging with Marlon…and Sophia
Today we visit with our feline friends in the Temescal neighborhood of Oakland. First up is Marlon, formerly known as “Fluffy.”
Despite living outdoors, he is healthy and well-fed, and clearly has a past that includes life as a pet cat. He loves people and didn’t need much convincing to spend time indoors. Indeed, he is living it up with his indoor time, getting food and scritches and soft blankets to relax on.
He is a big fellow but has a tiny voice that sounds more like “merp” than “meow”. I don’t yet have any video of his vocals, but you can see him thoroughly enjoying himself in this Instagram video with the music of John Schott playing in the background.
You can hear more of John Schott and his Actual Trio in this CatSynth TV video. In the meantime, let’s check in with Sophia, formerly known as “Hissy.”
As one can see in this photo, she is a beautiful cat, with Siamese-like markings and a graceful bearing. We think she might have once been a pet as well, but she is still extremely skittish around people. I mostly just get a glimpse of her from a distance and she runs off at any attempts to get closer. But she usually remains hidden nearby when Marlon is around. The two of them seem to have a special bond, despite their divergent attitudes towards humans.
We hope all our human and feline friends have a lovely weekend.
CatSynth Pic: Miko in the Studio
CatSynth Pic: Dahlia and Nord Drum 2
CatSynth Pic: Pearl
Remember Pearl? She was a foster synth cat living with frequent contributor Anne Corwin. But she is a foster no more, as stated in this Instagram post.
Well, this one is officially our first foster fail. Welcome to the family, Pearl! #blackcatsofinstagram #catsynth#kittensofinstagram
Congratulations to Pearl on her new home. We look forward to more CatSynth Pics 😺
Weekend Cat Blogging with Sam Sam
It’s been almost a month since our last check-in with Sam Sam on these pages, and that is too long. And she is expressing her desire that we give her the attention she deserves.
If you have seen any of Sam Sam’s videos on Instagram or YouTube, you know she is quite the talker. Usually, it’s her tiny raspy mew, though her voice occasionally blooms into full-blown arias.
This is a good time to remind folks that you can follow her antics regularly on our Instagram @catsynth. Please do follow us if you feel so inclined.
The main rug is definitely one of her favorite spots and shows evidence of her frequent scratch’n’rolls. Honestly, we don’t mind as we delight in her antics. But it does require vacuuming, which is on deck for today. I know she is not going to enjoy that, but it is necessary.
Fortunately, she has other spots to enjoy around HQ, including this comfy chair in the loft.
Honestly, I wanted to sit there to read 😸
We hope you all have a relaxing and enjoyable weekend.
CatSynth TV: Benjolin!
Our latest video features the Benjolin, a module designed by Rob Hordijk and distributed by Epoch Modular. From the official website:
The benjolin is a multifunction synthesizer designed by Rob Hordijk. The module consists of four separate function blocks: two VCOs, a state variable filter and an additional circuit, invented by Hordijk himself, called a rungler. This particular arrangement emerged from his efforts to design a synthesizer that was, as he puts it, “bent by design”. As such, the module functions according to principles of chaos theory, where short to long sputtering patterns spontaneously transform themselves, at times, gradually, at others, quite suddenly, morphing into new pattern doublings and bifurcations. ​
The rungler is what gives the module (and its predecessor the Blippo Box) its chaotic character. It’s basically a shift register timed off the two oscillators which then fed as a control signal back to the oscillators, creating a nonlinear dynamic feedback system. It’s a lot of fun to just play and explore, but I have also used it in both recordings and live performance. It works particularly well with subtle control inputs, like the Theremini.