Our cat Big Merp loves rock music with keyboards and he loves scritches. In this styled short, he is enjoying both.
Jack White’s concert film “Jack White: Kneeling at The Anthem D.C.” is playing in the background.
Tag: marlon
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Big Merp on the Modular Desk
Big Merp loves attention and always wants to be where the action is. So it’s fairly common to find him on this spot between the MacBook Pro and the Modular system. And in this instance, he struck a particularly handsome pose 😻. You can see quite a few of our Eurorack modules, including our prized Metasonix yellow and silver tube modules in the upper left corner of the case, as well as many others that have appeared in our recordings and videos over the years. A full list of brands is in the tags.
This is also where we shoot a lot of our hardware demo videos, so it often ends up cluttered. But we always make sure there is space because you never know when Merp is going to jump up and say hi.
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Sam Sam and Big Merp on International Cat Day
We were reminded that today is International Cat Day! So here are Sam Sam and Big Merp together enjoying time on the patio.
Scenes of them together have become more and more common – I wouldn’t say they were best friends, but they have learned to live together and it makes all of us at CatSynth quite happy.
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A Special July 4th PSA from Big Merp
Big Merp reminds everyone to keep kitties and other pets safely indoors on this July 4th holiday, as fireworks can be very frightening and confusing.
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Big Merp, Yamaha RX5, and Modular
Today we feature our very own Big Merp in the studio. He was assisting with our recent video on the Yamaha RX5 – specifically the “RX5USB” cartridge. We also one portion of our modular collection, including Metasonix modules, Rossum Morpheus, E350 Morphing Terrarium, Benjolin, Expert Sleepers, Sputnik Modular, Mordax, 4MS, Make Noise, Pittsburgh Modular, Koma Elektronik, 2hp, Folktek, and more.
This is the video we were working on at the time.
We also have a detailed tutorial for the RX5 itself
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Big Merp, Yamaha RX5, Modular
Today we have CatSynth pics with our very own Big Merp, who loves to jump up on the desk. Here we see him with our Yamaha RX5 drum machine and our massive modular system. The Metasonix modules are easy to spot, as are the Make Noise modules. We also have MOTM, Rossum Electro-music, Sputnik modular, 4MS, Malekko, Folktek, Mordax, and more as we get into the second grouping in the distance. We also see a bit of the Arturia MiniBrute 2 and Moog Mother-32. A fuller accounting can be found in the tags.
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Happy Gotcha Day Big Merp!
It was two years ago that Marlon, aka “Big Merp” came to live with us at CatSynth HQ! We had already known him for a while, but circumstances arose where he needed to find a new permanent home, and we were more than happy to oblige.
We first met him in 2018. He was living on the street in the Temescal section of Oakland, California.
Life on the streets can be rough, and it showed on his face. But he was incredibly friendly and loved people, and enjoyed coming indoors to hang out. He was clearly a former house cat, likely abandoned. We’re glad we found him and gave him a home. The posh indoor life has been good to him.
Big Merp is a “synth cat” – he loves to get up on the main instrument desk to be close to the action. There is the iconic photo lounging with the Novation LaunchPad Pro and Arturia MicroFreak above, as well as many others.
Although he bonded with the humans right away (including visitors), things were a bit more difficult with Sam Sam. She was not happy with this newcomer to her home and tried her best to avoid him for quite a while. Over time, however, her confidence returned and the two grew more comfortable with each other’s presence. They may not be the best of friends, but they do at least accept one another and share space.
Please join us in wishing Big Merp a very happy second Gotcha Day!
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Big Merp with 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.
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CatSynth Pic: Big Merp, Sensel Morph, Arturia MicroFreak, and Modular
Our very own Big Merp is our featured cat as he sits in the middle of our demo rig featuring a Sensel Morph (with Buchla Thunder overlay), Arturia MicroFreak, and our modular synth setup.
If you haven’t already done so, please check out our recent video with Big Merp’s performance and our demo connecting the Sensel Morph to the modular via Max/MSP.
