novation

CatSynth Pic: Mr. Maximillion, JoMoX Alpha Base, Novation Peak

Mr. Maximillion returns, this time with his JoMoX Alpha Base and a Novation Peak synthesizers. Submitted by our friend Charles Whiley via Facebook.

Mr. Maximillion has quite the synth collection, and we always look forward to seeing more of it.

CatSynth Pic: Mr. Maximillion and Novation Peak

Mr. Maximillion returns, this time in a handsome portrait with a Novation Peak synthesizer. By Charles Whiley via Facebook. You can see Mr. Maximillion’s previous appearance here.

We were wondering what exactly an “Oxford Oscillator” is, as Novation chose to display the term prominently on the panel. From their website:

The implementation of the FPGA opens the doors to a new type of oscillator design for Peak — The New Oxford Oscillator — the design of which stems from the analogue imperative. Peak’s raw waveforms are generated using an architecture designed and realised by Chris Huggett. It employs two waveform-generating techniques: Numerically Controlled Oscillators (NCOs) and wavetables.

The NCOs are used for the traditional subtractive-synthesis waveforms (e.g., saws, squares, pulses, and triangles). The wavetable oscillators can morph between different source tables. The architecture of the oscillators with traditional waveforms reminds me a bit of the Evolver from Dave Smith Instruments. It is quite intriguing, including the fact that it is implemented on an FPGA.

CatSynth Pic: Black Cat and Novation Peak

We always love seeing black cats, especially color-coordinated with their musical instruments. Here we see a beautiful black cat posing with a Novation Peak synthesizer.

By Enzo Di Michele from a thread in the Facebook group Synthesizer Freaks. Yes, the same thread that featured yesterday’s picture 😺

CatSynth Video: 3 Time & Timbre TimeStings controlling 3 TAL-Basslines

From DaanSynthesizers on YouTube, via matrixsynth.

There are no midi tracks playing in this video. Everything is done live with the Time&Timbre pack. Every Timesting and Bassline-101 is controlled by three knobs and two sliders:

First knob: Density of the Timesting sequencer
Second knob: Offset of a LFO that controls the Filter Frequency
Third knob: Amount of reverb from a Convolution Reverb
First slider: Release
Second slider: Wetness of the Time Delay

A fun video to close out the week. And we love the little cat figurines 😺.

CatSynth 10th Anniversary!

On July 19, we hit a major milestone: 10 years since our first post. And we celebrate as always with some stats:

2,982 Posts
14,031 Comments
4.7 comments per post
1088 Cat-and-synth pics, videos, etc.
430 Reviews, gig-reports, and related posts

In some ways, the blog activity has declined a bit since it’s height in the early 2010s. Much of the activity has moved over to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. And more recently, we are looking to the future via our mobile apps – there is much more coming there in the not-too-distant future. Additionally, I find myself balancing time spent writing blog articles with an increasingly busy schedule of musical performances and such. All good things in their own way.

We are a bit late to celebrate this year due to some major personal and medical priorities on my part (all of which are going well, but also beyond the scope of this forum). It isn’t the first time our blog anniversary has gotten caught up in other things. Last year we missed the 9th anniversary entirely as we coped with Luna’s cancer diagnosis. And our first anniversary came amidst a major downtime for the site that took a week or so to fix.

As always, here is the photo of Luna that started it all on July 19, 2006.

Luna_Keyboard_resized_c

Luna hasn’t aged all that much, retaining her youthful appearance. And that beanbag chair is still a favorite of hers. It’s where she hangs out in the studio, and over the years we have taken major photos of her with it.