A cute cat contemplates a Casio SK-1 sampling keyboard. Seen on matrixsynth.
“My cat came to look at it (pictured, looking at speaker), when I sampled his name and ran it in demo mode.”
We at CatSynth have a soft spot for our own SK-1. I have used it in several live performances over the years.
A black cat posing with several vintage small keyboards, including some familiar ones from Casio and Yamaha. From Milomi Studio on Instagram.
Some of these keyboards may be considered “toys”, but they are still musical instruments. I coveted some of these small keyboards before I discovered synthesizers. I do now have a Casio SK-1 that gets used in live performance.
Recently, John Lee, the creator of bayimproviser.com donated a portion of his extensive record collection to Outsound. And our friends at VAMP are helping us sell them to fund our continuing mission of promoting new music in the Bay Area and beyond. To launch this effort, Outsound held a benefit concert at VAMP on December 1.
I performed a solo set with my trusty Nord Stage EX, modular synth, and Casio SK-1.
As with most of my current solo performances, I try to combine both idiomatic jazz and funk elements with more experimental electronics. I opened with White Wine (instrumental) with the extended solo section morphing into a more free-form electro-acoustic improvisation that also included the garrahand drum. It moved from sections of disco and bossa nova rhythms to noise to complex harmonies from the drum and Make Noise Echopon module. It was a fun set with an appreciative audience of both attendees and record-store patrons.
After my set, Tri-Cornered Tent Show took stage. Anchored by bandleader Philip Everett on clarinet and electronics and Ray Schaeffer on bass, the band explored a variety of sounds and styles from noisy electronics and percussion to R&B grooves to psychedelic serenades featuring Valentina O on vocals. Anthony Flores rounded out the band on drums.
It was interesting to see how both sets explored the intersection of avant-garde electronic and acoustic sounds with more familiar idioms. Soul, funk, and R&B were present in both sets, but then we each veered off in different directions. Between us, we might have covered many of the genres in VAMP’s record bins!
It was a fine night of music and fellowship, and it’s great to see an independent (and idiosyncratic) store like VAMP flourishing in downtown Oakland. You can find out more about them here. And please visit Outsound’s website to find out about upcoming programs and how you can help support our work bring new music to our community.
Please welcome Bok Choy, making her long awaited debut on CatSynth.
Here we see her checking out, and showing a bit of disdain for, a Casio SK-1.
The Casio SK-1 is actually an awesome little instrument we have used many times.
Bok Choy is the cat that lives with Maw Shein Win, our longtime collaborator in Pitta of the Mind. And on that note, Pitta of the Mind will be performing next Friday at Nomadic Press in Oakland (23rd and Telegraph).
Join us for an excellent Uptown Fridays featuring readings by Norma Smith and Sofia Lopez, with musical guest Pitta of the Mind featuring Maw Shein Win and Amanda Chaudhary. Emceed and curated by Reńe Vaz .
Suggested donations of $5-25 collected at the door, but no one turned away for lack of funds.
Red wine and Red Bay coffee will be available.
I have been busily preparing for tonight’s solo set at The Lab here in San Francisco. As usually happens, I initially plan to simplify the setup, but then as I work on the set musically, more instruments and equipment end up part of the rig. And this one may be one of the largest to date.
In addition to the Nord Stage (aka “The Big Red Keyboard”), there is the newly reconfigured modular synth, the Prophet 12, the Moog Mother 32, Casio SK-1, and iPad. The modular path features multiple voices, including some processing external audio from the Nord and the SK-1, respectively.
Why so big? Well, it comes out the current musical direction, which mixes jazz and funk with experimental electronics. That means a full-size keyboard is always present. And the electronics has to provide rhythmic and harmonic support in addition to timbral support. This always adds significant complexity, but provides for a richer musical experience.
Here are the details on the show, including the other acts. I am excited to have a group improv with my friends Joshua Marshall, Jaroba, and Christina Stanley. And the evening will begin with an orchestra of invented instruments from Pet The Tiger (David Samas, Tom Nunn et al.) with dance by Christina Braun. If you are in the Bay Area tonight, please consider joining us.
Thursday, June 22, 8PM
The Lab
2948 16th St SFA special evening of funky and noisy sounds, invented instruments, whimsy, and more 😺 🎶
8:00PM Pet The Tiger Inventors Collective performs Arc Weld
8:40PM Amanda Chaudhary solo. Funky and experimental electronics
9:20PM Amanda Chaudhary with collaborators Joshua Marshall, Jaroba, and Christina Stanleydoor: $5-10
Additional info on BayImproviser.
Today we look back at my performance with Tania Chen at Spectrum in New York, a little over a week ago.
[Photo by BC]
Our duo is built around a mixture of experimental improvisation with electronic instruments and other elements, and songs with lyrics, melodies and chords, often segueing seamlessly from one to the other. Spectrum has a wonderful Steinway grand piano, which allowed to Tania to exercise her piano skills while I focused on chords and rhythm with a Nord Electro keyboard and DSI Prophet 12 and Moog Mother-32 synthesizers. At times the sound was dark and droning, others very sparse, and many times quite humorous – after all, we did sing a “Cheezy Love Song.” The songs themselves were quite structured, but there as well as the improvisations in between we were able to play off one another to create patterns and textures.
[Photos by BC]
I particularly like the sections combining the acoustic piano with the Prophet 12, and our dueling Casio keyboards. And yes, we had a lot of fun. You can see our full performance in this video below.
Overall we had a great time performing and it was quite well received by the audience. It wasn’t actually our first show together in New York. That was at the Brick Theater in Brooklyn and will be discussed in a separate article.
Our performance was in the middle of the bill. The evening began with a set by Hey Exit, a solo project by Brooklyn-based Brandan Landis.
Using guitar, electronics and video, Landis created a dark soundscape, sometimes noisy and drawing from his backgrounds in punk and noise, but at other times quite haunting and ethereal. The room was particularly dark, with light only from the video screen and a nearby candle.
Hey Exit was followed by a solo set by Jeff Surak featuring sundry electronic and acoustic sound sources.
Much of the set featured long drones with rich timbres, but also details such as beating patterns and occasional breaks in the sound. The timbres could be tense at moments, but overall tt was a very meditative performance; and a perfect sonic segue into our very different set.
We were immediately followed by Jarvis Jun Earnshaw performing with guitar, voice and electronics.
His sound at times was reminiscent of cafe folk singers, but his voice was anxious and abstract. The entire performance mostly followed the pattern of combining these elements with high-feedback delay and other effects.
The final set Jenn Grossman, another Brooklyn-based musician and sound artist.
[Photo by BC]
Her electronic set featured vocal experimentation with electronics, including rhythmic and ambient elements. Although also making use of drones, it was very different from Jeff Surak’s sound, more harmonic and thicker, more like a dreamy movie scene versus a tense dark space. There were percussive hits and noisy bits as well, which gave the music a defined texture.
It was overall a great experience being back at Spectrum and performing along with all the other acts. And we had a sizable and appreciative audience, despite the space being a little hot that evening. Thanks as always to Robert Pepper (Alrealon Musique) and Glenn Cornet for hosting us, and hopefully I will play there again soon.
From The Keyboard Cat (yes, the Keyboard Cat) on Facebook. It looks like he has some great gear in addition to his main keyboard, such as the Casio VL-1 and pedals in this photo.
Luna poses near her beanbag chair in the studio and stacked Casio SK-1 and Korg Volca BEATS. More importantly, she is now collar-free! She got the all clear at her post-surgery follow-up on Friday, as the incision is healing well. We will soon be in contact with the oncologist about a next round of chemo and hopefully we will knock out the cancer for real.
Luna has been much happier without the collar, and he mood has brightened a lot. She is playful and affectionate, but she does sleep a lot – she is a cat after all. But her sleeping once again looks very peaceful.
I am always impressed with her ability to curl up into a nearly perfect circle.
Occasionally, we feature synths with other animals besides cats. This is one of those occasions. This video of otters playing a Casio keyboard is too cute not to share. And not too different from some of the human-made free jazz I have heard.
From Smithsonian’s National Zoo:
Move over, Mozart! Asian small-clawed otter paws fly across the keyboard as part of their #ZooEnrichment. The otters are given the choice to play the keyboard or just sit back and enjoy the show—engaging their sight, touch, and hearing senses.
