CATSYNTH

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Category: Synthesizers

  • Catsynth pics: Le Chat et Nord, and Bob (Moog)

    A prolific week for catsynth pics.

    Two more photos via matrix:

    “Cat and Nord” (the original title) sounds to me like it should be expressed in French: Le Chat et Nord.

    Next, we have another photo of Bob from Maggie Osterberg:

  • CatSynth pic: Mimì takes on synth programming

    Remember Mimì? Well, it looks like she's graduated from sleeping on synthesizers to programming them.

    Thanks again to polynominal for submitting the photo and his continued support of this site.






  • Catsynth pics: Triple Threat

    Via our friend matrix, we have a trio of recent photos of cats and synths.

    First we have Scooter and Bob (Moog, that is.), originally from Maggie Osterberg at flickr:

    Next, we have a big fluffy cat with an Anywhere modular, originally from sequencer.de:

    And finally, and quite appropriately, the “Matrix Cat” laying claim to an Oberheim Matrix-6r. Originally from synx508, whose cats have appeared here before:

    Thanks to matrix for collecting and posting these photos, and for putting up with a lot of cranky comments in response to them. In particular, “Matrix Cat” seems to have generated a lot of harsh comments about how cats and synthesizers should not mix. Lighten up, folks!

  • (co)sine – LIVE – Luna's Cafe … and Mimì makes the rounds

    From sendling we have this video of artist (co)sine. Great stuff, and it's at Luna's Cafe! How could I not repost.

    Scrolling down one post earlier at sendling, we see a familiar face. Remember Mimì? Well, it seems that she's been making the rounds since her debut here at CatSynth, popping up at sendling and matrix. Go Mimì!









  • New Podcast Release: "Four Days"

    A special treat for listeners of my podcast this Sunday! I am releasing a full-length (but lower fidelity) track from my RPM Challenge album, 2 1/2.

    “Four Days” is a piece in the style of musique concrete, and fits into the overal narrative theme of the album 2 1/2. It has a really captivating and eerie quality, perhaps even a little spooky.

    Enjoy!

    (and please check out the current recordings available if you like it)






  • RPM finished!

    Well, it's been a pretty intense few days finishing up the RPM challenge, but we made it! Finished recording on Feburary 27, did some very cursory mastering and CD artwork on Feburary 28, and today, March 1, assembled the finished goods:


    The final title was indeed “2 1/2”, and the final track list was as follows:

    01 Prologue – Jerry Gray (1951)
    02 Fragments in Gray
    03 Twista Dilemma
    04 Trieste 116
    05 Four Days
    06 ghanaplasticity
    07 microkitty
    08 RPM Filler Track
    09 pique
    10 Happy Machine
    11 Epilogue – Count Basie (1953)

    Musically, it's a fairly mixed result, some tracks were exceptional, others need a fair amount of work, which I can do at my leisure outside of the RPM challenge. But it is still a fairly good result for what was really just 2 1/2 weeks of solid work amidst the various other dramas of this past February…

    At 11:30 this morning, I mailed it out from the post office in Scotts Valley, California. And with this simple act, it is done.

    You can read some more detail of the last week on my rpm blog. As for me, it is time to rest.




  • CatSynth pic: Mimì and TB-303

    Submitted by polynominal from Italy:

    Mimì is a 8 years old female cat, born in the island
    of Sardenia in Italy.
    Her name is from a character of the opera “la Bohème”
    composed by Puccini, although I could never bring her to the lyrical
    theatre “La Scala” of Milan,
    the city where I live and have my recording studio.
    Mimì likes to stay in the studio for the warmy
    heat produced by analog machines, perfect for little
    cozy naps!
    In the snapshot she's thinking of a way to sync a tb303
    to an Elka Synthex's sequencer!
    I hope she'll find out soon! 🙂

    Besides being a classic analog instrument for techno and dance music, the TB-303 is quite a comfy location for a nap. Who knew?





  • WCB and RPM collide this weekend

    While the RPM challenge continues to dominate life here at CatSynth, there's always time for Weekend Cat Blogging. Indeed, Luna has been helping out quite a bit in the studio the past few days:



    Take a break with us from the struggles of art to visit Kate, Bustopher and Harmon who are hosting Weekend Cat Blogging 90.









  • CatSynth pic: new toy

    No, it's not Luna, but another cute black cat posing with musical gear:

    From cydonia at flickr:

    no, not the cat nor the synth…follow the blue light to my new thin amp.





  • RPM update: Trieste 116

    Yes, this is the second RPM post in a row, but the project has been dominating my outside-of-work life the last few days, at least the parts not taken up with eating, drinking, sleeping and playing with Luna.

    Even though I didn't spend a huge amount of time this evening, I think I produced my best track to date, as I described earlier on my RPM blog:

    Well, this is the first recording I have made for this project that felt truly inspired – even as I was working on it, I had the feeling “this is going to be really good.” So even if I never release the RPM album to the public as a whole, this piece will be released in some form no matter what.

    It is called Trieste 116, and splices together an improvisation done with my favorite custom patch “116” on the DSI Evolver, with excerpts from a live recording of a jazz combo with pennywhistle at Cafe Trieste in San Francisco (yes, that's the famous Beatnik hangout). The Evolver patch features non-linear feedback and filtering only (i.e., no traditional oscillators), and has an unstable flute-like quality that I attempt to blend with the pennywhistle in the Cafe Trieste clips. It all works together, at least for me. Additionally, the track opens with a quiet recording of a Dixieland band, an element I wanted to use somewhere in the album as a New Orleans tribute.

    The Cafe Trieste recording as well as the Dixieland band were obtained from the freesound project and released on the Creative Commons Sampling Plus 1.0 License.

    Once again, a demo track is available to RPM participants (do any RPM participants read this forum?) via the Sample Engine, just look for “Amar” in the Author column. One can also get a pretty good idea by listening to the October 14, 2006 podcast, which also featured an improvisation using my Evolver patch “116.”

    UPDATE: Trieste 116 is up on the front page of RPM today!

    I also recommend checking out “Angie Fights Crime”, I had coincidentally looked at them yesterday, too.