analog

CatSynth Pic: Sequential in Saskatchewan

Cat in a studio featuring a vintage Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 along with a more recent Sequential instrument, the Tempest. From barrettmross in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan via Instagram.

barrettmross
Helping produce my cats debut album. #sequentialcircuits #roland#synthesizer #catsynth #vintagesynth#prophet5

CatSynth Pic: Jackie and Knifonium

Jackie sits atop a Knifonium synthesizer at Åghström Production Studio in Brussels, Belgium. Submitted by Nicolus Ripitus via our Facebook page.

Exceptional synth under an exceptional pussy cat


We at CatSynth agree on both counts! Jackie is quite regal posing on the synth. And I had never heard of the Knifonium before, but upon visiting the website it sounds quite unique.

Knifonium is a 26 tube monophonic synthesizer with two oscillators, a 4th order ladder filter and a ring modulator.

https://knifaudio.com/knifonium/

Here is a demo of the Knifonium in action.

CatSynth Pic: Marcel and TB-303

Yesterday was “303” day – the date is 03-03 whether you use American or every-other-country format. And our friend Marcel is posing with a genuine Roland TB-303 for the occasion.

From Eric at polynominal.com via Facebook.

The TB-303 has become a prized instrument, so much so that multiple hardware and software clones have been created to meet the demand. Roland even came out with a TB-03 for its Boutique line.

CatSynth Pic: Bonnie in the Studio

Bonnie has definitely found a nice napping spot in this studio. Submitted by David Lemur via our Facebook page.

Bonnie says: ‘More of John Cage’s 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence please Donny’.

We see an Arturia Keystep, Roland TR-8, a TB-303 clone, a vintage Korg sequencer, and even a bit of Buchla in the upper-left corner.

NAMM 2019: New Modules from 2hp

We at CatSynth are fans of 2hp, and not just The Cat. They’ve given us so many things to put in those pesky little spaces left in our modular systems, from highly useful VCAs (you can never have too many VCAs), to more exotic offerings like physical modeling.

At this year’s NAMM show, the debuted four new modules covering both utilitarian and creative terrain. The one that most intrigued me was the Bell, a physical modeling voice that brings metallophone sounds. It can do vibraphone-like sounds, wine glasses, bowls, and of course, bells. With the main mallet and bar parameters (indicating that is likely based on modal synthesis), one can get a variety of combinations with CV modulation. This looks like a lot of fun – I already on the Pluck – and look forward to its release.

At the other end of the spectrum is the DC module. It offers three different DC offsets along a -5v, +5v, and 10v scale. These are useful utilities when crafting specific CV signals. I could see this pairing nicely with a Make Noise Maths for more precise control, or for tuning 1v/Oct controls.

Next up is the Sine, which is more than a simple sinewave generator. It does have a pure sine wave, but also a sub that allows blending of the fundamental, one octave below, and half an octave above. It also includes a wave folder function for rich harmonics. Essentially, this is another harmonic oscillator.

Finally, there is the Grain, a granular processor that buffers incoming signals and allows them to be output using granular synthesis. This is a bit different from a sample-based granular module like the original Nebulae from Qu-bit which works on stored samples (the v2 of the Nebulae does allow processing of live input). The buffers can then be mangled and stretched by setting the density and periodicity of grains, along with the overall pitch. The demo we saw had this hooked up to The Cat.

The result of the new modules plus the Cat and percussion made for a delightful demo as you can see and hear from our video.

For more information about these upcoming modules from 2hp, including estimated release dates, please visit http://www.twohp.com/soon/.

Owlsynth Pics for Superb Owl Day

We at CatSynth feel there is no better way to celebrate Superb Owl Day than with “owlsynth pics”. Here is our stuffed owl atop our main modular system.

And with our trusty Roland Boutique VP-03 vocoder.

And with our Arturia MiniBrute 2.

(Definitely need to tidy up a bit there.)

Owls are quite captivating as they are so different from other birds, even from other birds of prey. We all know their unique front-facing faces and nocturnal behavior. But they also have amazing auditory capabilities.

From Owls and Hearing – The Owl Pages

Both the cat and the Barn Owl have much more sensitive hearing than the human in the range of about 0.5 to 10 kHz. The cat and Barn Owl have a similar sensitivity up to approximately 7 kHz. Beyond this point, the cat continues to be sensitive, but the Barn Owl’s sensitivity declines sharply.

Some Owl species have asymmetrically set ear openings (i.e. one ear is higher than the other) – in particular, the strictly nocturnal species, such as the Barn Owl or the Tengmalm’s (Boreal) Owl. These species have a very pronounced facial disc, which acts like a “radar dish”, guiding sounds into the ear openings. The shape of the disc can be altered at will, using special facial muscles. Also, an Owl’s bill is pointed downward, increasing the surface area over which the sound waves are collected by the facial disc. In 4 species (Ural, Great Grey, Boreal/Tengmalm’s & Saw-whet), the ear asymmetry is actually in the temporal parts of the skull, giving it a “lop-sided” appearance.

Owls and Hearing – The Owl Pages

We at CatSynth hope you all have a fine and enriching Superb Owl Day!

CatSynth Pic: HĂ€bbmaster modules

Cat showing off this collection of unique custom synth modules from HĂ€bbmaster. Via haebmaster on Instagram.

You can hear a bit of of his percussion modules in this video.