From sduck409 at flickr, via matrixsynth:
Quote from sduck409:
This little cat was a real spark plug when we got him back in January of 2006. He would jump up and into anything.
Like matrix, we are reminded of Moogy the Moggy
Funny how this photo is tinted blue, and only a day or so ago we had a catsynth photo tinted red…
Remember Mimì, our intrepid little synth programmer?
Now she's taking her paws to the Russian (Soviet era) Polyvoks synthesizer.
Thanks as always to Eric of polynominal for submitting these photos of Mimì.
You can hear some samples of a Polyvoks at sequencer.de.
Seems approrpiate to feature a Russian synthesizer today, with the news of the passing of Boris Yeltsin today…
Another Sunday, another podcast release. Tonight I present a short improvisation on the recently acquired Octave CAT synthesizer. I have been playing with this instrument now for several days and getting a better feel for both it's timbres, it can do some really smooth analog sounds and really glitchy complex elements as well. I try to cover both qualities in this performance. Enjoy!
I am also rolling out the new logo, part of reintroducing the podcast as “The CatSynth Channel.”
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Well, after months of trying to track one of these down, I finally have in my posession an Octave CAT!
Of course, I find myself wanting to write “Octave the Cat” because of the main “Octave / The Cat” fan site, and repetition of the phrase at matrixsynth and elsewhere.
It turns out to be in fantastic shape, both cosmetically and functionally. I brought it in to work on the grounds that it might need a little work, and instead we've been having a great time playing with it. No repair work necessary. A wonderful addition to the collection (and quite appropriate for this site, don't you think?)
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.
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?
Bidding ended today for this E-MU modular system at eBay. The final bid was $5600.
Among the listed modules are “11 filters, three oscillators, 6 VCAs, four transient generators, two preamps and a filter controller.”
I of course follow things from E-MU, past and present, quite closely. I might have considered specific modules, were they available, but not the unit as a whole. Anyhow, it looks like people still covet this historic instrument.
Another from our friend Knox Bronson at SunPopBlue:
This is a rather abstract representation of his “almost all-analogue synth studio.” Mars kitty can be seen in the bubble at the lower right (and in the enlarged clip to the right). The overall composition suggests a blend of the CatSynth banner with my Music of the (Blue) Spheres graphic artwork.
The original photo is from 2002, and Mars has since passed away. You can also see a close-up video at the original SunPopBlue posting.
Submitted by Knox Bronson at SunPopBlue:
Bronson has collaborated with Gustvo Lanzas (who provided the recent video of Apu the “Acid Cat”) on an interesting improvisation featuring the Serge (and an E-MU SP-1200!) called Where The Bees Are. Check out the free mp3.
And there is still more fun with Freddie at SunPopBlue. Check out his video Sleep (An Homage to Andy Warhol):
Ah, wasn't it only a day or so ago that we were again reminiscing about New York in the 1970s?
Silicon Breakdown features the cat April programming a micromoog:
Small world; Silicon Breakdown performed at Woodstockhausen 2002, same year as my first appearance at the “tiny festival of esoteric music.” Check out the track Mutate from WSH 2002, which is part of their 2003 CD Green, available as freely downloadable mp3s.
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