Cat with a vintage Roland Juno 60. Submitted by Steve Peglar via our Facebook page.
The Juno series of synths are still very sought after, especially the Juno 60 and Juno 6. Unfortunately, these two models lack MIDI, which wasn’t available until the successor 106 model. The 60 does allow external input, though pitch and gate are via a proprietary interface. There is external CV input for filter control. And there are kits to retrofit a Juno with external input options.
A beautiful pic from Davor Gazde and his white feline companion. It looks like the cat is inspecting the patch quite intently.
We are pretty sure this is the same Modcan modular synthesizer from their previous photos. You can see all of their contributions via this link.
Charlotte returns and shows off her Arturia MiniBrute, Roland SH-101 and Korg MS-2000 synthesizers. Submitted by Lee Tizzard via our Facebook page.
Our black-and-white feline friend returns in this black-and-white photo featuring the Arturia MiniBrute, first edition. Submitted by Steve Peglar via our Facebook page.
We at CatSynth have been having a lot of fun with the Arturia MiniBrute 2, which builds on the original’s unique sound (and “brute factor”). You can see our video demo here.
It’s been a little while since we last attended Church of Thee Super Serge at Robotspeak in San Francisco, but we made a point of going this past weekend. For those who have not been there or read our past reviews, it’s an almost-ever-month show on a Saturday afternoon with live hardware-synthesizer performances. As the name suggests, some acts do include Serge synthesizers, but it is not required, and a wide variety of instruments are used. All three sets are featured in our most recent CatSynth TV episode.
The first set featured Lx Rudis performing on an Oberheim Xpander, a somewhat underappreciated instrument from the 1980s.
At its heart, the Xpander is a 6 voice analog synthesizer, but with a complex array of digital controls that can be programmed and applied independently to each voice. Lx Rudis took full advantage of these, especially the LFOs and lag generators, to create subtle and minimal metric patterns. He constantly moved voices in and out, configuring them on the fly, in a way that was very expressive and musical. I particularly liked the sections which had staccato rhythmic textures against slowly moving timbres deliberately out of sync with one another.
Next up was Franck Martin, who performed a solo set on a modular synthesizer with several standalone instruments.
Martin’s setup included a Moog Subharmonicon, which he built while attending Moogfest this year (we at CatSynth are a bit envious), as well as a DFAM (Drummer From Another Mother). There were also additional voices provided by Braids and Plaits modules from Mutable Instruments that he could bring in and out using a touch-plate interface. The result was a slowly changing beat pattern with an eerie inharmonic voicing and gentle undulation.
The final set featured our friends Gino Robair and Tom Djll teaming up as the brilliantly named Unpopular Electronics.
They had a wide variety of gear, including Serge panels in addition to Eurorack modules and standalone instruments from Bugbrand and others. In addition, Gino had an interesting small case that included touchpads.
The music was frenetic and intense, an avalanche of pops and hits and loud cloudlike tone clusters. And there were trumpet sounds entering into the mix at various points. But there was an exquisite detail to the madness with changes among the different instruments and sounds, and musical pauses and rests before the pair dived back into the frenzy. There were also many moments of humor and not just Djll’s book about why there aren’t any Zeppelin-style airships in the United States.
In between sets, it’s fun to browse around Robotspeak and see what’s for sale, or on display in the big glass case.
It’s also quite dangerous, as I am often tempted to leave with another module or instrument. On this occasion, I exercised restraint, but probably not next time…
It seems to be the week of the Elektron Octatrack, as we have two or three of them in today’s pic. Also featured are the adorable cat Lucy, and a large modular synthesizer system. I recognize a Make Noise Tempi and Rene on the bottom row – we have that pair here at CatSynth, too.
Today’s photo comes to us from Lucy’s Instagram @dropzone_lucy
- dropzone_lucyHelping dad get unpatched for his gig tomorrow. 🎛😻 #catsynth#synthcat #modularsynth
If you are on Instagram, please follow us at @catsynth, and you can tag your own pics #catsynth to be featured in a future post.
Beautiful white cat Yoli is making a monophonic drone on a Moog Sub Phatty synthesizer. From yolanda.yolanda.yolanda on Instagram.
The Sub Phatty is perhaps the most under-appreciated member of Moog’s Phatty line of synthesizers, which includes the popular Sub37. We have one at CatSynth, and it has served us well both in the studio and in live performance. You can view my recent video on the hidden features of the instrument below.
It has been a frequent setting for CatSynth pics over the years featuring many different cats, including CatSynth Video: Moog Sub Phatty Purrs.
Black cat with Elektron Analog Keys. Instagram by anika_or from St. Petersburg, Russia.
The Elektron Analog Keys is a four-voice analog synthesizer that can also be used as both a MIDI and CV keyboard controller. You can read more about it on Elektron’s website.
You can find more Elektron photos and our NAMM reviews via this link.
