nord

NAMM: The large and small of it (Nektar and Nord)

I tend to oscillate between the very large and the very small when it comes to instruments. On the small scale, I stumbled upon these tiny controllers from Nektar Technology.

These tiny controllers seemed like perfect companions for the iPhone and iPad – and they are quite cute. (Use the stuffed cat for a sense of scale.) The keyboard and continuous controllers both have a small modular footprint, slightly wider than an iPad. I might have gotten either or both, if they were available. Nektar hopes to have these out later this year.

While it is great to be able to show up at a gig with just an iPad, a controller like those from Nektar, and a couple of cables, sometimes one needs a real keyboard. And those aren’t getting any smaller. The Nord Stage 2 is the latest incarnation of my heavy but reliable workhorse keyboard:

The electric pianos (and the primary reason I got the Stage) were the same as ever and felt great. But what is different from the previous version is the synth section, which is now more akin to the Nord Wave. I could definitely use that feature. There are also improvements to the acoustic piano modeling, but that is more incremental. I don’t think I would replace my Stage EX at great expense for these features, though. There are some new acoustic pianos available for the older model, which I will try out at home.

DogSynth pic: Hammond and Nord (Reconnaissance Fly)

A first for us at CatSynth! (And possibly a last as well.)

This is Hammond.  He was helping us out in the studio last weekend as we began work on our Reconnaissance Fly album.

The album, which includes our entire Flower Futures “spong cycle”, is quite an undertaking.  Recording a five-piece band performing live requires a complex setup in terms of microphones, cables and general logistics.  My Nord Stage (in the photo above) is actually one of the simpler elements.  But we got everything working over the weekend, fired up Pro Tools and were able to complete tracking on our first song.  Wisely, we started with the simplest one first.

CatSynth pic: Gravitarium 2.

Via matrixsynth:

This one in via Silent Strike who composed the tracks for the app with a Clavia Nord Modular 1, Micron Alesis, Jomox Mbase, Reason 4 Propellerheads, M-audio Axiom 25, Elektron Drumachine (pic at the bottom of this post). The app does not allow you to manipulate sound, but I thought it was interesting to acknowledge some of the gear used to create the audio for this app. The Waldorf Blofeld and Yamaha AN200 pictured however were not used.

Looks like Silent Strike had a studio supervisor involved.

There is also info on the app itself.

Gravitarium 2 combines music, art and science in one relaxing experience. Use all your fingers to guide the star flow. You can create 10 different animations depending on the number of fingers touching the screen:

1 – Rocket, 2 – Sparkle, 3 – Energy flow, 4 – Atomic, 5 – 3D freeze, 6 – Circularium, 7 – Fish, 8 – Vortex, 9 – Lasers, 10 – Lightning.

Use different options to create spectacular drawings made of stars. You can load the “Drawing” preset from the “Options” screen.

I will be taking a look at this app. The idea of creativity and relaxation does appeals to me, but the game-play part is a bit less exciting – though it is the trend in the mobile-app space.

CatSynth video: Gabber cat (Bella)

My cat making gabber for us.

Submitted on facebook by Ian Lambert of Daed.

Nord lead’s arpeggiator was producing the kicks and the DSI mopho was making the hoover sounds (Drum machine acted as a sync clock, and the x0xbox was being used as a sequencer for the mopho)

Bella picked up on it pretty quickly.

A black cat, Nord and Dave Smith Instruments, what is not to like?

CatSynth pic: synth gato

From TheBeastBrothers on flickr, via matrixsynth:

“”His name was Martin (pronounced in spanish) and he liked the Cure’s disintegration album the most (for real)”

The Beast Brothers are also visual artists. You can check out their website www.thebeastbrothers.com or visit their shop. I liked Suavecita (watercolor) and the Shinin (sculpture).

Weekend Cat Blogging #306

Luna inspects the equipment for the next show during a recent practice session:

UPDATE: Luna just posed more regally next to the Nord keyboard. I think it’s a better picture (what do you think?).

The Nord Stage continues to be the main workhorse for idiomatic music, such as the jazz, caberet, etc. that may work its way into the performance.  The iPad (barely visible here) will provide the experimental counterpoint.

And here is Luna with some of the “analog” instruments:

The prayer bowl will be part of the show tomorrow, but the toy piano and tablas probably will not.

Weekend Cat Blogging #306 is at Pam’s Sidewalk Shoes. Check out the great close-ups of all three cats.

The Carnival of the Cats will be hosted this Sunday by Pet and the Bengal Brats at Pet’s Garden Blog.

And the Friday Ark is at the modulator.