CATSYNTH

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Category: Synthesizers

  • Weekend Cat Blogging #96: White stripes and more

    I quite liked this closeup of Luna with the white stripes. It's actually a color photo, but the subjects and lighting make it appear grayscale.

    Zooming out, we can see that Luna is actually tracking a bird outside on the patio.

    While Luna continues to enjoy her hunting games through the window, Sundance takes his first trip outside, complete with harness. He is also hosting Weekend Cat Blogging #96 along with Upsie and Sher. Check out their photos and all the other WCB fun when they post the roundup.

    Actually, there is one more photo in this series. What is that big bubble-wrap thing behind Luna? It's actually quite appropriate for this forum:

    Synthesizer fans might recognize the faint logo of an Octave CAT. It just arrived yesterday, but will remain wrapped until I bring it into the office for a little repair work. I'm sure we'll be seeing a bit more of “Octave The CAT” on these pages in the near future…






  • Cat and Toy Piano photo

    This one was submitted by both elba (who enjoys one of my favorite activites: not shopping at WalMart) as well as brrer:

    A bengal with the “very analog” instrument: a classic Jaymar toy piano. My parents found one of these on someone's curbside several years ago – it's amazing what people throw out. When I tried it out, I immediately recognized it as the instrument used in recordings of John Cage's Suite for Toy Piano.

    Thanks to everyone who has been submitting photos in the past week or so. I'm a little backlogged at the moment, but I will get to posting them all, among all the other articles I want to write for this forum.





  • CatSynth Tatoo: br'rer

    Well, this is a first! From experimental artist brrer, we have a cat-and-synthesizer tatoo:

    At br'rer's myspace page is a processed photo of the same cat and synth (or at least it appears as such), but it's a bit on the blinky side…




  • 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?