CatSynth Pic: Eli and Roland TR 707

Eli returns, with a Roland TR-707 rhythm composer.  Submitted by Elias Laughton via our Facebook page.

A bit about the TR-707 from Vintage Synth Explorer:

A very underrated drum machine! It resembles the popular TR-909, and better yet, its hi-hat, cymbals, and clap sound almost identical to the TR-909! The TR-707 is a great source for cheap 909 samples. It has some other cool features too such as its Matrix display which clearly maps out your pattern for you in an easy to read display panel. It also features both MIDI in/out and DIN sync control – the best of both worlds. Why this unit even has individual outputs for each of its drum tones!

Those individual outputs might come in handy when using together with a modern modular synthesizer setup.

You can see Eli’s previous appearance here.

CatSynth Pic: Eli and Yamaha Reface DX

Handsome tabby Eli poses with a Yamaha Reface DX synthesizer. Submitted by Elias Laughton via our Facebook page.

Like Sam Sam and Luna, Eli was a shelter cat.  We always love hearing about shelter cats finding their forever homes.  If you are looking for a new feline addition to the family, please do consider adopting a rescue!

The Yamaha Reface DX is a reissue of the DX line from the 1980s, specifically, the 4-operator models like the DX27 or TX81Z.  It lacks some of the TX81Z’s features like alternate operator waveforms but adds some new elements like continuing feedback and each operator.  You can read more about it at Yamaha’s official page.

 

Weekend Cat Blogging with Sam Sam: At Rest

It’s been a stressful few weeks for us at CatSynth.  Not bad per se, just stressful.  During times like this, I often lie down to reduce psychic entropy and practice disintegration of thought.  And Sam Sam is often lying down next to me.

Sam Sam Curled up to sleep

Like most cats, Sam Sam is quite good at napping.  One might even say she is an “expert sleeper”, but that might cause confusion with one of the modular-synth manufacturers we sometimes feature.  She does have her own unique way of curling up, though, pull her tail close to her head and sometimes even grabbing it with her paw.  It’s adorable, and it never fails to make me smile.

Sam Sam holding her tail

She enjoys the soft blankets, either the burgundy or gray.  But she almost always chooses the same corner of the bed.  This is not surprising, as all of us at CatSynth are creatures of habit.

We hope you all have a relaxing and enjoyable weekend.  For us, it will be a bit stressful once again, but with very focused study and practice on both the technological and musical fronts.  But I will do my best to keep Sam Sam’s example in mind as I work through it.  We can learn much from our cats!

 

CatSynth Video: Cat rings service bell to make dark ambient music with a modular synthesizer

Cat rings a service bell to that is fed into an audio signal chain as part of this ambient electronic composition.

By Andor Polgar on YouTube, via matrixsynth.

The signal path: Poes rings the service Bell for food, the microphone picks up the sound, which then goes through a stereo volume pedal (it’s for attenuating the chewing sounds). Make Noise Maths is used as an envelope follower, which controls the sound of the Erica Synth Black Wavetable Oscillator.

https://instagram.com/_andormade
http://andor.cool

We at CatSynth absolutely adore this video and feline performance.  And we are thinking about ways to get Sam Sam into a live synthesizer performance 😸