buchla

Milo and Buchla modules

Milo inspects the case for an emerging Buchla modular system. From Keith Winstanley.

Milo has appeared several times on CatSynth – you can see all his appearances via this tag. Although he is a tuxedo cat, from this angle he looks entirely black. Either way, we know he and his human are going to have a lot of fun with this new modular system.

Hürmüz with Buchla Red Panel, Schlappi Engineering, Orthogonal Devices

Hürmüz poses with a modular system that includes a Ruchla Red Panel oscillator (a favorite of ours), a Schlappi Engineering Angle Grinder, Orthogonal Devices ER-301, and a lot more. From Cengiz Arslanpay (@carslanpie) via Instagram.

“I am the best Oscillator”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CVGRFhPoATC/

We at CatSynth agree that cats make excellent oscillators.

Big Merp with Yamaha RX5 Drum Machine

Big Merp the cat sitting on a Yamaha RX5 drum machine

Big Merp has taken to our recently acquired Yamaha RX5 drum machine. I think he will be ready to lay down some rhythm tracks soon. He also has his rear paw on another recent acquisition: the Buchla Red Panel 158 oscillator. Look for these two instruments featured in upcoming episodes of CatSynth TV!

Back in the late 1980s when I was getting into synthesizers, Yamaha’s DX series dominated the landscape (along with Roland’s D series). I got Yamaha’s “After Touch” magazine which featured new releases including the RX5, which became the flagship of their drum-machine line. It was beyond my reach then, but I now I have one and looking forward to seeing what I can do with it in our eclectic studio at CatSynth HQ.

CatSynth Pic: Buchla Skylab

Cat with Buchla Skylab modular synthesizer.

Today we have a rather handsome cat next to a rather handsome Buchla Skylab system. It includes the “Thunder”-style controller and a 227e module as a customization. Overall a very impressive modular synth.

From user @ddp on Twitter. And it was quite an interesting turn of events to discover one another. It was through our cat-blogging friend Sue Strong who longtime readers might remember from the old Carnival of the Cats and Weekend Cat Blogging days. Good times!

CatSynth Pic: The Electric Music Box (Buchla)

We have a special treat this week as Keith Winstanley and his cats Milo and Jet take over with a new CatSynth pic each day! First up, we have Jet with The Electric Music Box, the keyboard part of a Music Easel. this one has an unusual monochromatic face, but I like it. And it matches the cat 😸🎹

CatSynth Pic: Buchla 208

A beautiful calico cat sits behind an (also beautiful) Buchla 208 system. From macron_electron via Instagram.

The 208 is really just the top half a Music Easel, i.e., the synthesizer without the touch plate controller. Recently, my interest in Buchla gear at HQ has been rekindled, first by the announcement of the still elusive Red Panel series at NAMM, and then by the demo that we got from Thomas DiMuzio at his rehearsal for the Outsound summit.

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.