CatSynth Pic: Waldorf Pulse and Cats

This cute photo is originally from synx508 over at flickr comes to us via matrixsynth,

Looks like we have mutual posts this week – in addition to our picking up the above photo, matrix has reposted Teodor Revolution from here.

The cats-and-synths meme is growing! It's in our name, it's a frequent topic here, at matrixsynth and elsewhere, and the number of photos and videos of cats with synthesizers seems to be on the rise. What is it that makes cats and synthesizers go together? Or in some cases, not go together – there are several boorish comments posted on matrixsynth under Teodor Revolution. That aside, it might simply be the case that “synth people” tend to be “cat people.” Cats are small and curious and likely to explore our large racks of gear, finding warm nooks within. Additionally, cats are less likely to be banned from home studio environments. Certainly, Luna is a welcome presence in my studio. I would never extend the same priveledge to a dog (then again, I doubt I would let a dog enter my house at all).

Please feel free to share you thoughts on the cat-synthesizer relationship below.







CatSynth pic: Teodor Revolution

This photo comes to us from altermark at flickr. To quote: “Definitely a cat on synth picture for once!”

Teodor is a lovely siberian cat, and the synth upon which he stands is a Future Retro Revolution. The Revolution is a very visually attractive instrument – I have seen it at NAMM several times. I don't really have a sense for it as a musical instrument, however. How does a Revolution compare to my Evolver, for example? The Evolver has four oscillators (plus a “fifth” via feedback that I often use), multiple filter options, and other timbral features, while the sequencer is somewhat awkward to use. It seems at first glance, the Revolution flips the balance between synthesizer and sequencer in favor of sequencing, which does have its place.

Perhaps you can judge for yourself by listening to the audio examples. Certainly, we recently saw that Apu enjoys the “acid sounds” from the Revolution.






Standing with Cat

Per suggestion of regular reader “Kitty” in response to a recent post, I will present some more of my own graphic and video work on this forum. The above picture is entitled “Standing with Cat.” It was originally done over a year and a half ago using the 3D modeling software Poser (on which I have commented a few times in the past). Previous digital art offerings include Green Kitties and Music of the (Blue) Spheres.

Although this is an “early” work of mine in the medium, it still remains a personal favorite. It has elements of both abstraction and realism simultaneously, even within the female and cat figures (does that make it post-modern?). The pose of the female figure was inspired by a photo print in my collection by photographer and friend Luxe Zeigler.

Another element of note is the tabby texture for the cat, which was created by graphic artist Lyne of Lyne's Creations, based on her real cat Travis. Astute observers might recognize Travis in the CatSynth banner as well. Sadly, Travis passed away late last year. I passed along my sympathies to Lyne at the time, being a “fan” of Travis as well as his late brother Clancy, whose fur and eye coloring are quite similar to Luna's. Look for Clancy in some dark, surreal or abstract works in the near future.






New tracks up at MySpace

Well, I have managed do to something productive with my time out bicycling and hanging at the cafe (can one really refer to anyplace as “the cafe” in Santa Cruz?). I have uploaded some new and extended tracks for MySpace Music:

I don't really have the time or patience to figure out how to really embed the player here, so a pretty picture and link will do for now.

I have gotten a lot of feedback during the time I have had a Myspace Music page to have longer clips – but this needs to be balanced against the need to protect my work, especially those that are commercially available. Anyhow, I figure the longer versions of The Wooden Fish and East Bloc Call to Prayer can only help. I also uploaded a clip from Dorian Grey's Box, the recent art installation, for the enjoyment of those who prefer Myspace over podcasts.

Hey, I actually got a couple more dollars in royalties from iTunes Europe today, might even pay for this fine coffee drink here…




Weekend Cat Blogging #86: Even when things get tough…

Well, it's been a rather difficult weekend here, one of the worst in a long time, actually – regular readers know I prefer not to discuss details of my personal life, but things are bad enough that not even the whacky exploits of Burbed and other refuges in snarky humor have been able to help.

But we at CatSynth are troopers, and shall go ahead with Weekend Cat Blogging regardless. Here is a picture from about a year ago of Luna enjoying her perch on the barstool. She is of course elegant as always.

In all seriousness, Luna is a great comfort when things are difficult, she is a master of “kitty love” with purrs, head-butts, nose kisses and snugglies. Here is a candid shot of us enjoying a moment together on the couch, taken with the little built-in webcam on my new MacBook:

For something a little more festive, please visit this weekend's hosts Kate and Bustopher (and let's not forget Harmon who seems eager to take a nap). There's a great cat-and-human photo leading off the party.





Why the pet market?!

Even with the daily violence we hear about from Iraq, this one hits home:

Birdcage bomb kills 15 pet lovers in Baghdad

A bomb disguised as a birdcage killed 15 animal lovers in a Baghdad pet market today, in the latest attack apparently designed to disrupt a city-wide security crackdown.

From the BBC:

The blast ripped through the Ghazil market in the city centre, a popular destination which sells dogs, cats, birds and other animals.

It's heartbreaking to hear about peaceful persuits, especially my own in music, art and animals, being specifically targeted. Why go after the pet market and animal lovers? Certainly, markets in general are common targets of violence, where large numbers of people gather. But maybe some markets or gatherings are more vulnerable than others:

The open soukh is a popular attraction for Sunnis and Shias alike, farmers and pet store owners are drawn by the reptiles, tropical fish and other exotic animals in a city where open air attractions are rare.

However, some extremist Islamist groups in Iraq have issued edicts denouncing the ownership of pets as 'haraam' – prohibited under Islamic law. This is not the first attack on the market – it was also hit eight weeks ago.

So do pets come under the same heading as music for these extreme Islamists? Or even just having a little bit of enjoyment seeing and interacting with the animals when there are so few options for brightening one's day? And what did the animals do to deserve any of this?

Death, destruction and suppression of joy – why would anyone want to follow these people?





CatSynth video: Apu the "Acid Cat"

Gustavo (aka “audioel” on YouTube) submitted this rather appropriate (and very cute) video:

Apu really likes the TB-303 acid sounds of the Future-Retro Revolution demos

Of course, he is a cat and tries to use “kitty science” uncover the source of the sound, but to no avail.

Looks like the laptop is a black macbook, similar (or the same) as the one I got last December. I'm wondering whether the tb303 track is just a recording, or a softsynth running on the macbook.






SOTU in situ

Listening to W's latest state of the union makes me wistful for the days when I could respect the residents of the White House:

No gems this year like last year's call to oppose human-animal hybrids.

He did get nu-cu-lar in there a couple of times, though. I could have had some fun with State of the Union Bingo from Drinking Liberally, but I'm not drinking tonight.

Not a single word about that little situation down on the Gulf Coast. You think the man who two years ago thought steroid-use in sports was a national crises could spend a few minutes on the recovery effort. Did he forget? Or maybe if he doesn't mention it, it doesn't exist…

People have given Bush some credit for actually mentioning climate change, and even proposing an increase in fuel efficiency standards. But take a closer look at what is being proposed:

Environmentalists noted that the proposal could lead to an average fuel economy of 34 miles per gallon in vehicles by 2017, but it would not require the industry to increase the fuel economy of their new cars.

Huh? My car, a non-hybrid from 2001, gets better mileage than that! So it's really not much of a plan at all. I guess I shouldn't have expected much. There was also no mention of the increasingly popular idea of CO2 costs within products and processes. For cars, that could be adding the cost of fuel inefficiency into the sale price (as opposed to adding the cost to the fuel itself). In fairness, having such a proposal in the speech would have meant he would have to explain it…