Cats

Weekend Cat Blogging: Luna and Luna

For Weekend Cat Blogging and Photo Hunt, we present this photograph of Luna with the Luna II microphone from M-Audio. The Luna mic has a very distinctive circular shape, and combined with the stand and the beanbag chair support this week’s Photo Hunt theme of Circular

The Luna is a recording mic (i.e., for good recordings in the studio and not for amplifying voices/instruments during band practice), so it only comes out when needed. I was setting up to do a recording for a collaborative project and Luna came and planted herself on the chair. Which is quite reasonable, as it is undeniably her spot.

Weekend Cat Blogging #345 is hosted by…well, it looks like it is hosted by no one. So we at CatSynth are happy to step in and if you would like to leave your entry in the comments below, we will append an impromptu round-up to this post.

This week’s Saturday PhotoHunt theme is Circular.

The Carnival of the Cats will be up tomorrow at Meowsings of an Opinionated Pussycat.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

CatSynth video: XoXboX plus KOMA AnAlOg gate / delay pedal.

From Janoise on YouTube.

Demo.
The Koma pedal has a gate and a very short delay.
At the end of the delay range the Koma gets in a kind of a bit-crusher sounding effect.
This is not often found at a analog pedal.
This is because Koma has modded the chip!

Also on matrixsynth, where you can see more videos and find out about the KOMA Elektronik “YouTube yourself!” Competition. They are going to be at NAMM next week.

via KOMA: “By the way, we love cats in videos! ;-)”

CatSynth pic: Appliancide (mostly) DIY modular

From Appliancide, where you can read more about the project.

I ordered some knobs and switch covers for the Doepfer modules, so they will blend in with my DIY stuff better. I am working on a second case and the modules to fill it. I will try to do a start-to-finish pictorial on one the modules this coming year. We’ll see. I like to build slow and rock out to music. Taking pictures cramps my style.

Also on matrixsynth:

“Clockwise starting from the upper left:

Doepfer a-111 VCO, Dual CGS/Serge DUSG, Doepfer a-188-1 256 stage BBD, Doepfer a-188-1 4096 stage BBD, DIY manual gate/lag generator, Doepfer a-135 mixer, Doepfer a-101-2 LPG, DIY version of Fonitronik Attenuverting Mixer and Buchla 292C LPG clone using boards from Thomas White.”

Weekend Cat Blogging: Return to the Beginning

For our first Weekend Cat Blogging of 2012, we reprise the original photo that launched this site. Here is Luna with the Novation keyboard on the beanbag chair near the turn of the new year.

Luna is all grown up compared to the youngster in the original photo in 2006, but she still has the same fur and eyes.  And she still favors this particular beanbag chair as her own.  Indeed, it’s a favorite napping spot here in the studio area:

I didn’t realize until looking at the original against these photos how similar the windows look, even though the original was in a completely different place.

The studio is a currently a focus of attention here at CatSynth HQ in that I am trying to further make it into a better organized laboratory for musical and visual creativity.  And it also has to continue to double as the office, the place where the computers sit and where I pay the bills.  I expect that Luna will continue to spend lots of time here as well.

Weekend Cat Blogging #344 is hosted by Mog with assists from Meowza and Ritzi at Mind of Mog.

The Carnival of the Cats well be hosted by Kashim, Othello and Salome in Vienna.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

CatSynth pic: ZiLaiHong – DDRM “LiangZhiMao” / ZLH-02

From Meng Qi, via matrixsynth:

Passive dual diode ring modulator with internal connections that can be break by inserting audio plugs.
When only input 1 and 2 are used, output 1 is the ring modulation output, output 2 is the singal of output 1 being modulated again by input 2 (de-modulation output).
When input 1, 2, 4 are used, output 1 is the ring modulation output, output 2 is the singal of output 1 being modulated by input 4.
When all 4 inputs are used, it can be 2 totally indepented ring modulators.
Very versatile!”

Apparently, the cats love it.

Farewell to 2011

As has become a tradition here at CatSynth, we present our end-of-year image.


[Click to enlarge.]

It was a bit of a challenge to decide what to put in, as there were so many this time. But I think these are particularly representative. And it’s also significant that it is more colorful than previous end-of-year images.

The first few days of this year were quiet and a bit dark. That changed quickly, with tumultuous events around the world, and new experiences close to home. It’s the year I finally had a photography show, and by the end of the year I had several. There were new surprising types of performances and the costumes to go with them. I deepened my connections back in New York with friends, music, art and the landscape. And I no idea what I would have the chance to participate in something like the Occupy movement . There were many sad moments as well, with the loss of friends.

In all, 2011 has been particularly rich and productive, if sometimes a bit chaotic. If one had told me at the end of 2007 or 2008 (or 2001 for that matter) that this is what life would be like now, I would have been pleasantly surprised. There is a sense, however, that the patterns of this past year are not sustainable. This will have to be part of the plan for 2012, in particular getting organized, staying healthy and trying to make good choices. We will see how that unfolds as the new year progresses…

Happy New Year and thank you for all the support and warmth from those who read these pages!

CatSynth pic: Truffle and Brulee with Digital Piano

Today we feature Truffle and Brulee of Sweet Purrfections, who happened to be posing last week with a digital piano.  I am pretty sure the piano is a Yamaha YPP 200. First, we have Truffle:

And now Brulee:

In their own words:

We love the keyboard in Mom Paula’s office.  The keys are softer than the piano keys in the living room and the bench is cushioned (not like the wooden one at the piano).  Brulee is trying to show Mom Paula a few things about playing the piano.

cats on tuesday