Not our Luna, but another black cat named Luna playing a toy piano. We thought it was the purrfect choice for Black Cat Appreciation Day.
Tag: Luna
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CatSynth 20th Anniversary!
Today, July 19, 2026, is our 20th Blogoversary! It’s hard to believe that we’ve done this for 20 years now, but time doesn’t lie, and so we shall celebrate this milestone.
The CatSynth blog started on July 19, 2006, with this photo of Luna and a Novation keyboard.
And this was the banner on the original incarnation of the blog.
Things certainly have changed a lot since then! Consider this banner compared to the current blog design, for example. Luna, sadly, left us almost ten years ago, though she lives on as the logo of all things CatSynth, including the blog and CatSynth TV. Sam Sam and Big Merp have joined us. Life has taken a variety of twists and turns, adventures and directions that 20 years ago I wouldn’t have imagined, and this site has come along for the ride.
Over 20 years, we’ve logged:
- 5240 published posts (including this one)
- 18,289 published comments (not including any on this post)
From the beginning, I envisioned it not as exclusively about cats and synthesizers, but rather more of a series of articles anchored by them. It wasn’t long before I started featuring “Fun with Highways” – initially interesting interchanges on maps and highway photos, later on full-fledged essays and articles. We joined a couple of cross-blog weekly events such as Weekend Cat Blogging and Wordless Wednesday, the latter continues to this day. I started writing about my own live shows, then other live shows I went to, then art shows, and the blog sort of became a place for reviews. And of course, all sorts of other things, like mathematics posts and random thoughts.
What sustained it then and now was an endless supply of ideas (not to mention cat and synth pictures online) and seeing how others enjoyed and were touched by the things I share. The process of creating continues to be its is its own reward. And keeping things loose and open, not sticking to a rigid formula but allowing curiosity and ideas to go in any and all directions, is also an important part of what makes it rewarding.
By around 2016 or so, I started to notice a decline in readership, especially for the long-form reviews. This led to the launching of CatSynth TV in 2017. It was originally a “companion vlog” that chronicled live shows and other items of interest in video form rather than written form. Synth demos were just a small part of it, but it didn’t take long before those became the most popular posts and the primary focus of the channel. Our “fun with highways” also migrated to the blog, with written articles morphing into wordless music videos. Math, science, and the strange and weird random thoughts and curiosities have largely migrated to the video domain as well.
In many ways, the video channel has largely eclipsed the blog, but the blog continues, sharing cat-and-synthesizers every week, and a “Wordless Wednesday” photo most weeks. As long as people enjoy these posts, I will keep doing them.
It’s amusing to think if we will be back here in 10 years celebrating the 30th anniversary…
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Black cat Luna plays jazz
This is not our Luna, but rather another black cat named Luna who loves music, and specifically, jazz! Truly, a cat after my own heart.
From @_luna.wants.tuna on Instagram.
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Luna and Korg M3
Beautiful kitten Luna sits proudly atop a Korg M3 workstation.
From andrew.w___ via Instagram
Here is a second photo, in color.
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CatSynth 17th Anniversary!
It’s our 17th anniversary. Hard to believe it was 17 years ago when we first posted that picture of Luna with the Novation keyboard.
We still miss her very much. The continuation of this blog and the video channel are her legacy.
Here’s to many more years of cats, synths, and all the other stuff that we do 😻🥂
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Election Day in the US (Vote!)
Election Day in the US is upon us yet again. On one hand, I like the idea of a vibrant, active democracy. On the other, it feels like these seemly-existential elections happen too often. Nonetheless, we at CatSynth urge all our friends here in the US to vote!
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Luna and Modular (4MS and More)
This is the gray Luna we met last year when she was hiding behind a Eurorack system. Here we see here sitting next to a similar system. From @panic_hardware via Twitter.
My cat has resting bitch face
Despite the sad visage, we are confident that Luna gets lots of Love. As for the modules themselves, we immediately recognize the 4MS Spectral Multiband Resonator with its distinctive ring of light, as well as the 4MS Tapographic delay right out front. The others will have to remain an exercise for the reader.
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Happy 4th of July
We at CatSynth wish all our fellow Americans a happy and safe Independence Day (4th of July). Please keep your pets safe indoors today.
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Remembering Luna, Two Years Later
Even with so much happening in our own lives and in the world at large, we pause it all on this night to remember our beloved Luna, who passed away two years ago on October 31.
There is a both a poetic beauty and a cruel irony in the fact that she left us on Hallowe’en. It was the day every year that she was the star of cat-blogging world, hosting the annual Hallowe’en edition of Weekend Cat Blogging and being the most beautiful of beautiful black cats.
As we begin the yahrzeit, we light our memorial candle, and pay special respects to her memorial.
There was a moment of explosive grief as I told her, wherever and however she is, that I miss her so much. After that, a calmer sadness settled in as I sip a glass of bourbon, play “Dollar Days” from David Bowie’s Blackstar, and assemble this post.
She was a work of art, and fit in perfectly with aesthetics and design of CatSynth HQ.
But she was also extremely sweet and loving.
Please join me in remembering our sweet little girl, who left us way too soon. She will always be missed, never forgotten.
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Weekend Cat Blogging with Sam Sam, and Remembering Luna on #BlackCatDay
Sam Sam continues to delight every day with her adorable antics.
And she certainly gets lots of love and attention in response.
It’s interesting to see how different her unique facial markings look from different angles.
Of course, being the constant center of attention can be quite exhausting, so there is always time for naps.
Sam Sam often sticks a paw on her tail while sleeping, a trait we have remarked on before. I don’t know whether it serves a purpose or is just a quirky habit, but it is very sweet.
Today is #BlackCatDay, and an opportunity to celebrate and recognize black cats as we close in on Halloween when stereotypes and threats sometimes reach a crescendo. It breaks our hearts to think of any cat being hurt or abused, but black cats can face an especially different time.
For years, the celebration of black cats on and around Halloween was a ritual, with Luna often hosting the special Halloween Black-Cat Edition of Weekend Cat Blogging (back when that was a shared thing). Now it is more a time to remember and reflect on Luna, who left us on October 31 two years ago. We will have a proper remembrance on that day, but for now, we just want to bask in the beauty of our beloved black kitty.
