Vanilla the cat joins us from Guangzhou, China, with an impressive modular system. We see an Erica Synths Plasma Drive, numerous offerings from Endorphines and Make Noise, including a 0-coast; 4MS, Noise Engineering, the popular SQ-1 sequencer from Korg, and even a box from Elektron.
From complexwaveform on Instagram.
A beautiful white friend returns, longing behind a Nerdseq tracker-sequencer and in front of the same massive modular system from this post. We also see modules on the vertical section from Rossum Electro-music, Make Noise, Mutable Instruments, Intellijel, TipTop Audio, SSF, Random Source “EuroSerge”, as well as Catalyst Audio, Ciat Lombarde, and Mystic Circuits.
From blush_response via Instagram.
The Nerdseq is an intriguing instrument, essentially an old 90s-style “tracker” sequencer in Eurorack form. The boxes on the screen would be familiar to anyone who worked with trackers and MOD files, but the flexibility and possibilities of CV input and output.
This cat is singing to accompaniment from a Behringer RD-8 Rhythm Composer and a modular system housed in Arturia RackBrute 6U case. We see offerings from Mutable Instruments, Dopfer, TipTop Audio, Behringer (again), Endorphines, and more.
Submitted by Michael Caves via our Facebook page.
Cat with an epic wall of modular. Submitted by Steve Taormina of ROBOTSPEAk, our local synthesizer store in San Francisco. You can see many posts previous posts here, as well as several videos on CatSynth TV.
Please check out ROBOTSPEAK’s online shop and consider buying something. We at CatSynth will be doing so.
The white cat from Kamal Sabran’s studio returns. We see a Behringer Poly D and DeepMind, sundry modular, and a lot of beautiful retro gear including reel-to-reel tape recorders. A microKORG appears to be stacked in the lower-left corner.
From our friend Kamal Sabran in Malaysia via Facebook.
new film score / kambing soon
Shuggie (Sugarplum) is beautiful, and she poses purrfectly with these instruments from Make Noise, including the 0-Control, 0-Noise, and sundry modules.
Submitted by Galen Diston via our Facebook page.
Shuggie (Sugarplum) visited me in the cave today
We at CatSynth love when the cats come visit us in the studio, too.
A beautiful white cat poses in front of a massive modular system. We familiar offerings from Rossum Electro-music, Make Noise, Mutable Instruments, Intellijel, TipTop Audio, and SSF. We also see Random Source “EuroSerge” modules; and some less common models from Catalyst Audio, Ciat Lombarde, and Mystic Circuits. And there is more that we weren’t able to identify right away. This cat has a truly impressive setup.
From blush_response via Instagram.
How does one summarize a year like this? Words like “unprecedented” seem trite, and we learned from our experience with 2016 that even a difficult year has its beautiful moments. 2020 started out normal enough, with our annual pilgrimage to NAMM but quickly veered into surreal territory, and that was before the first COVID-19 lockdown was announced…on my birthday. Everything that has happened since has happened in the shadow of the pandemic. Perhaps the lowest moment was losing our dear friend Serena Toxicat. But the year has also brought unique experiences and opportunities, such as making music with musicians I admire together on opposite sides of the country. Indeed, as I was grieving the sudden loss of Serena, I received a call from my then-new collaborator G Calvin Weston offering comfort and support, and we have developed a closer friendship along with our musical collaboration. That moment perhaps summarizes the complexity of 2020 as much as any.
It has also been a banner year for CatSynth TV with rapid growth in viewership and subscriptions, but also the craft of making the videos in a variety of structures: synth reviews, interviews, documentaries, and art pieces. Of course, a few things remain active on the blog, our cat-and-music pics, Wordless Wednesday, and the occasional article. But for the most part, the transition from blog to video is complete.
The year ends on a note of optimism for 2021. The vaccines are arriving (we just need to make sure people take them); things are a bit more hopeful politically in the country, and we can start to repair the damage of the past five years. The album I have been working on – a musical statement – is coming together and will be released in the first part of the new year. Our little household at CatSynth HQ is safe and healthy and closer than ever – even Sam Sam and Big Merp seem to be getting along better now. And of course, we’re going to continue to share more videos, images, and ideas.
2020 has reminded us that we cannot know what is in store, and that improbable things can have a tremendous impact on our lives. We will face what comes as best we can, and focus on what is most important. And thank you for continuing to be a part of this journey with us.
A very pretty cat framed by a wide variety of modular synthesizers, including offerings from Make Noise, SOMA Laboratory (the Lyra-8 in the lower left corner), Instruo, Erica Synths, Mutable Instruments, and many more.
From Simon RD via Facebook. You can see this cat’s previous appearance here.
