cat

CatSynth Pic: Queen of Moog

This cat proudly shows off a Moog modular. Queen of Moog, indeed!

From Reed Hays on Twitter, submitted by our friend and follower George Kelley. You can always submit your CatSynth pics via @catsynth on Twitter.

CatSynth Pic: Willow in the Studio

Meet Willow, who shares a studio with @puxflux in Portland, Oregon. They have been together for over 15 years, since Willow was a kitten, and clearly enjoy making music together.

Identification of the synths left as an exercise to the reader.

CatSynth Pic: Compression (Universal Audio)

Someone apparently cranked up the compression on both the mix and this cat using a Universal Audio system with Apollo interface. From Universal Audio’s Twitter, found by our friend and Twitter follower @GazouilleurFou.

Mix so dialed…even the cat compressed 😺

CatSynth Video: Meditation with Korg, Arturia, and White Cat

A very meditative piece from our friend Kemal Sabran. The little white cat is definitely relaxed by these calming sounds.

CatSynth Pic: Roland D-50

Beautiful calico cat atop a Roland D-50 synthesizer. From Yuri de Haer via Facebook.

The D-50 was Roland’s flagship and most popular synthesizer in 1980s. It employed so-called “linear arithmetic synthesis”, which combined sampled (PCM) transients with a variation on subtractive synthesis, including resonant low-pass filters. It also had a joystick. It remains a popular instrument for its pads and other characteristic sounds. Roland released a re-creation of it for their “Boutique” line, the D-05.

CatSynth Pic: Jojodakat and Samson MIDI controller

Jojodakat lounges with a Samson MIDI controller, getting ready for a solo synth jam. Submitted by Stephen Hammond via our Facebook page.

Winslow the Pianist

Meet Winslow, who has his own toy piano and knows how to play it.

Winslow’s playing reminds me a bit of Nora, but with a toy piano it brings to mind John Cage’s Suite for Toy Piano, and some of my own composition.

CatSynth Pic: Hydrasynth

Cute cat atop an ASM Hydrasynth. From Luke Chable via Facebook.

The Hydrasynth was one of the more exciting instruments to come out of at the start of this year, with three oscillators with a rich set of wavetable operations and a polyphonic-aftertouch keyboard. We featured it in our NAMM coverage on CatSynth TV.

Pixel in the Studio, with Moog and Korg

Pixel returns, this time holding court in her studio. We see two Moog synthesizers, a collection of Korg Volcas, another keyboard, and more. Submitted by @DJLahbug via Twitter.

Pixel says hello from her studio!!!

Note that this is her studio.

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.