Cats

Analogue Haven

Our last post from NAMM 2010 features more images from the Analogue Haven booth, where I spent a fair amount of time.

First up, a modular from Make Noise:

I was particularly intrigued by the two-dimensional sequencer module (in the lower left). A wide variety patterns can be generated along the X and Y axis and modified by selectively removing elements or subsections.

This video probably doesn’t do it justice, but it at least provides some atmosphere:

A portable modular rock (from Analog Rocket) featuring modules from The Harvestman, including the Hertz Donut and Piston Honda:

If I put together a modular system anytime soon, I would want that monorocket case.

Livewire modules, also some remakes of Wiard modules by Malekko Heavy Industry:

Of course, there are a splattering of Doepfer modules in many of these setups.

A compact modular setup from Tiptop Audio:

Muzundrum

Muzundrum is a “game of musicians”. In the standard game, players take turns rolling 12-sided (dodecahedral) dice that contain one of the twelve tones in standard Western music and attempting to place the die on the board to form chords and scales from standard tonal music theory. For example, if a player rolls a G, he or she can place it next to a C and E on the board to form a C-major triad.

There are of course many variations on the game. And the twelve sided dice can also be interesting tools for chance compositions or guided improvisation.

We now have a pair of sample dice here at CatSynth HQ:

The black die has the standard tones as described above, while the white has the solfege syllables do, re, mi, fa, so, etc.

Weekend Cat Blogging: Rain

It’s been very stormy week here, with sometimes violent winds and heavy rain, and flash floods. Indeed, it has been raining at least once every few hours continuously since I departed from Los Angeles last Sunday. It’s the kind of weather where one really just wants to curl up and stay warm:

In additional to seeing Luna napping on one of her favorite chairs, I liked the way the clothing draped on top formed this perfect triangle above her. This image has a very symbolic quality – the triangle is a very powerful element in my own visual ideas, and I have often talked about juxtaposing geometric elements against more natural organic shapes.

This morning, the sun has appeared at CatSynth HQ for the first time in over a week, and Luna peers out into the world:

Weekend Cat Blogging #242 is hosted by Nikita Cat.

The Carnival of the Cats will be up this Sunday at When Cats Attack.

And of course the Friday Ark is at the modulator.

CatSynth pic: CatBook

We take a break from our NAMM backlog for a cat-and-synth pic this Tuesday. From Kids at Midnight, via matrixsynth:

Arthur interrupts work on the latest tune, finding the laptop a nice warm place to settle down. He once changed the preferences on my Pro Tools with his arse and it took me about a month of fiddling and a call to a help desk to get it back to normal. Cat hair can also be a problem at the Kids At Midnight HQ. Shall be pooling our money and investing in a Dustbuster …

Infinite-Response VAX77

I have been pondering a replacement for my aging Roland A80 keyboard. The VAX77 MIDI Keyboard Controller from Infinite Response seems like a possible candidate:

This was the model with the heavier weighted keys (closer to a piano keyboard). It is one of the first I have seen since the A80 and the Ensoniq keyboards that has polyphonic aftertouch, as well as release velocity. I also liked how it folded down to have size and fit into a bag. It’s still a heavy keyboard, but it’s at least “schlepable”.

One caveat is the controller section, which is handled via the touch screen. I am interested in seeing touch-screen technologies grow in use, but there is a part of me that still wants physical knobs and sliders for my real-time controllers.

Nord Wave and Stage EX

As soon as I arrived in the hall at NAMM I immediately faced the bright red instruments from Nord. The Wave synthesizer (featured below with Zip) was interesting in terms of programming features though the use of external waves was a but limited. I did like the new filter models including the multi.

My friends had recommended the Nord Stage. I tried out the electric piano models and now I want one for my live shows! its too bad the stage and programming products arent in a single package.