CATSYNTH

cats synthesizers music art opinion

Category: Cats

  • CatSynth Video: Chat écoutant la musique – Chris Marker

    CatSynth Video: Chat écoutant la musique – Chris Marker

    A CatSynth video from the great Chris Marker

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrEHvDdEPrI

    Marker’s cat naps peacefully atop a Yamaha DX7 synthesizer. From his collection Bestiaire aka Petit Bestiaire (1990), consisting of three ‘video haikus’:

    We at CatSynth love Chris Marker’s film Sans Soleil.  It made an indelible mark on my thoughts about film and even inspired me to go find and visit the shrine dedicate to cats outside Tokyo that he featured.  You can read about that adventure here.

  • Remembering Luna, Two Years Later

    Remembering Luna, Two Years Later

    Even with so much happening in our own lives and in the world at large, we pause it all on this night to remember our beloved Luna, who passed away two years ago on October 31.

    There is a both a poetic beauty and a cruel irony in the fact that she left us on Hallowe’en.  It was the day every year that she was the star of cat-blogging world, hosting the annual Hallowe’en edition of Weekend Cat Blogging and being the most beautiful of beautiful black cats.

    As we begin the yahrzeit, we light our memorial candle, and pay special respects to her memorial.

    There was a moment of explosive grief as I told her, wherever and however she is, that I miss her so much.  After that, a calmer sadness settled in as I sip a glass of bourbon, play “Dollar Days” from David Bowie’s Blackstar, and assemble this post.

    Luna closeup portrait

    She was a work of art, and fit in perfectly with aesthetics and design of CatSynth HQ.

    But she was also extremely sweet and loving.

    Please join me in remembering our sweet little girl, who left us way too soon.  She will always be missed, never forgotten.

  • CatSynth Pic: Maine Coon and Modular

    CatSynth Pic: Maine Coon and Modular

    Cute maine coon kitten with modular synthesizer.  I see a Make Noise Rene peeking out from under her, next to Harvestman and Serge modules.

    From chichi_response on Instagram.

    chichi_response
    I will make the sounds for you

    You can see a previous post from chichi_response here.

  • CatSynth Pic: Luna and Mellotron Micro for Halloween

    CatSynth Pic: Luna and Mellotron Micro for Halloween

    Not our Luna, but another sweet black cat who shared the name 😻and all dressed up as a sushi roll for Halloween!  From Yoselin Alcala‎ via our Facebook page.

    A Cats on Synthesizers Halloween submission! Our little Luna in her sushi costume with a Mellotron ✨🎃 

    “Sushi Luna” is posing with a Mellotron Micro synthesizer.  We at CatSynth are quite interested in this smallest edition in the venerable Mellotron series.  It is also the subject of our most popular CatSynth TV episode.



  • Weekend Cat Blogging with Sam Sam, and Remembering Luna on #BlackCatDay

    Weekend Cat Blogging with Sam Sam, and Remembering Luna on #BlackCatDay

    Sam Sam continues to delight every day with her adorable antics.

    And she certainly gets lots of love and attention in response.

    It’s interesting to see how different her unique facial markings look from different angles.

    Of course, being the constant center of attention can be quite exhausting, so there is always time for naps.

    Sam Sam often sticks a paw on her tail while sleeping, a trait we have remarked on before.  I don’t know whether it serves a purpose or is just a quirky habit, but it is very sweet.

    Today is #BlackCatDay, and an opportunity to celebrate and recognize black cats as we close in on Halloween when stereotypes and threats sometimes reach a crescendo.  It breaks our hearts to think of any cat being hurt or abused, but black cats can face an especially different time.

    For years, the celebration of black cats on and around Halloween was a ritual, with Luna often hosting the special Halloween Black-Cat Edition of Weekend Cat Blogging (back when that was a shared thing).  Now it is more a time to remember and reflect on Luna, who left us on October 31 two years ago.  We will have a proper remembrance on that day, but for now, we just want to bask in the beauty of our beloved black kitty.

  • CatSynth Pic: Synth Fortress

    CatSynth Pic: Synth Fortress

    No, that’s not Sam Sam, but a similarly marked cat (at least from the back).  She is inside her own “synth fortress” with w Korg Poly-800, and Yamaha CS01, DX100, and VSS-30 synthesizers.  From thedigitalpurrgatory on Instagram.

    thedigitalpurrgatory
    Her very own (almost) color-coded fortress of synths while the wooden cat watches her sleep. [Korg Poly-800, Yamaha CS01, Yamaha DX100, Yamaha VSS-30] 

  • CatSynth Pic: Korg Prologue

    CatSynth Pic: Korg Prologue

    Cat posing with a Korg Prologue synthesizer.  From James Maier on Facebook.

    “Stop playing with that and pay attention to meeeee.” 
    :3

    The Prologue is a mixed analog and digital synth, with an intriguing open architecture for the digital oscillators.  You can read on brief NAMM review of the instrument here.

  • CatSynth Pic: Black Cat, Electronics and Garrahand Drum

    CatSynth Pic: Black Cat, Electronics and Garrahand Drum

    Adorable black kitten with sundry electronics and a garrahand drum – and a purple one to boot 💜

    From our friend Robert L Pepper of Pas Musique

    From my gig in Bandung, Indonesia last night.

  • CatSynth Video: Modular Session with Marcel

    CatSynth Video: Modular Session with Marcel

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BpEhfleggFI/?saved-by=catsynth

    Handsome Marcel returns, and enjoys participating in a modular-synth session with his human polynominal.  Both are longtime friends of CatSynth and you can see their previous posts here.

  • CatSynth Pic: Oranjello and Juno Return

    CatSynth Pic: Oranjello and Juno Return

    Oranjello returns with his vintage Juno synthesizer.

    From fre_mick on Instagram.  You can see his previous appearance here.