Jet, a beautiful black cat, poses in front of a vintage Minimoog. From Keith Winstanley via Facebook.
Cats
Weekend Cat Blogging with Sam Sam and Big Merp
Getting the two cats to coexist at CatSynth HQ has a long and sometimes bumpy road. Sam Sam in particular has a tough time of it. But things are starting progress to the point were we at least of tolerance and respect. Sam Sam mostly stays on the mezzanine level of HQ, splitting her time between the bedroom and the studio, but she is starting to come out more and reassert herself as the sassy queen of the house.
Big Merp has the run of the downstairs level and enjoying both the relaxing and fun of living here.
He does sometimes come upstairs. In this photo, he jumped up on the main studio console that houses the Nord Stage, Prophet 12 and Pro Tools workstation, and has found a nice hiding place behind the monitor.
From his perch, he supervised part of the postproduction for our latest CatSynth TV, which you can now see here.
Sam Sam also hangs out in the studio a lot. In this video she gives as a little mew as a greeting.
They can actually be in their own spots in the studio at the simultaneously now; and that is indeed progress.
CatSynth Pic: Xochitl with Arp Odyssey
CatSynth Pic: Numbers with Arturia, Novation, and Korg
Meet Numbers the black cat. He sits on a custom synthesizer rack made from recycled wood that houses an Arturia MiniBrute 2S, Novation keyboard, and a MicroKorg. From Sam Brubaker via our Facebook page.
A photo of my cat, Numbers. Here he is inspecting the room lighting while sitting on a synth rack I built out of recycled wood from a shipping palette.
CatSynth Pic: Mr. Maximillion in the Studio
CatSynth Pic: Kitten and Button Box
CatSynth Pic: Sawa Masaki (DSI Pro 2)
We start off the week with this lovely picture featuring one of the cats on Sawa Masaki’s Twitter and a DSI/Sequential Pro 2.
It is probably not a coincidence that earlier the same say, Sequential announced that they would be discontinuing the Pro 2.
The #DSIPro2 mono/4-voice paraphonic hybrid synth has officially been retired 👋 To get one while stock lasts, check with your local dealer: https://t.co/0XDpWLkwcM pic.twitter.com/bz68hZsBKl
— Sequential (@sequentialLLC) May 17, 2019
RIP Tardar Sauce, aka Grumpy Cat
In the past 24 hours, we have heard about the passing of two of our heroes, who hailed from different walks of life and even different species. In the first of our two remembrances, we bid farewell to the beloved Tardar Sauce, aka “Grumpy Cat”, has passed away. This was posted on Grumpy Cat’s official Facebook page this morning.
Despite care from top professionals, as well as from her very loving family, Grumpy encountered complications from a recent urinary tract infection and unfortunately become too tough for her to overcome. She passed away peacefully on the morning of Tuesday, May 14, at home in the arms of her mommy, Tabatha.
Besides being our baby and a cherished member of the family, Grumpy Cat has helped millions of people smile all around the world, even when times were tough.
https://twitter.com/RealGrumpyCat/status/1129310647458467840
Tardar Sauce’s feline dwarfism gave her face a sunken appearance, that together with her markings always made her look “grumpy” and launched a great many instantly usable internet memes. Even former President Barack Obama channeled Grumpy Cat on at least one occasion.
In reality, she seemed like a very sweet and docile cat, at least in the television appearances that we saw. She became quite the celebrity and her face graced many publications and toys, including this stuffed version of Grumpy Cat that has now sat on my desk at home and three different workplaces.
It’s always sad when a family says goodbye to a beloved feline companion – it’s a pain I know well. We wish Grumpy’s human and feline family our thoughts and sincerest condolences for their loss, and will do our part to keep her memory alive.
CatSynth Pic: Novation Circuit
A cat contemplates the brightness of the Novation Circuit. From Jackies Fridge on Facebook.
Thanks to an amazing seller on Facebook Marketplace, I finally have my very own Circuit! So far I really like it. The sounds are much better than I was led to expect, though I plan on digging into the synth editor soon, and I’ll probably swap out some samples.
The cat thinks the LEDs are too bright for a dim room, and she might have a point.
I have a Novation control surface, and I can vouch for the brightness of the LEDs, but it does come in handy in a darkened performance space.
CatSynth Pic: Eloy with Multivox and Roland
Eloy has found a nice napping spot on what appears to be a Roland RD series digital piano. Above is a vintage Multivox synth. Submitted by Brian T Geigner via our Facebook page.
Eloy deciding it’s comfy to sleep on the synth.
The Multivox synth appears to be the rare MX-202 string and bass synth from the 1970s.
The Multivox MX-202 is a string and brass ensemble keyboard. The instrument uses divide-down oscillation for its full polyphony. Multivox seemingly copied spec for spec of the Roland RS-202 string and brass instrument. However, users who have experience with both point out that the two instruments sound quite different.
https://encyclotronic.com/synthesizers/multivox/mx-202-r1344/
I don’t know much about either RS-202 or the MX-202, though I have had some experience with Roland’s string synthesizers via the VP-03. If you have played either of these, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.