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CatSynth Pic: Blixa and Sasha

Blixa and Sasha hanging out in the studio. Submitted by Neil Parker via our Facebook page.

Identification of the synths and other gear in this picture left as an exercise to the reader.

CatSynth Pic: Thala and Vintage Roland

Cute Thala plays with her human and a vintage Roland synthesizer. I’m pretty sure it’s an RS-09 Organ/String synthesizer.

Submitted by Frederic Fantastic Preuss via our Facebook page.

CatSynth Pic: Zelda the Gray, Murphy Brown, and Modular

Zelda the Gray returns with her friend Murphy Brown and a modular system. I see a Moog Mother-32 along with offerings from Roland, Mutable Instruments, Sputnik, Make Noise, and more, housed in a 6U Arturia Rack Brute case. From zeldagraymurphybrown on Instagram.

CatSynth Pics: #808Day and #InternationalCatDay

We have this triple image from Roland for the combination of “808 Day” and International Cat Day.

We hope you all have a good day today with your cats and music, whether in space or not.

CatSynth Pic: Big Merp, Modular Synths, and the Cone of Shame

Big Merp with synths and the cone of shame

Big Merp jumps up on the ledge behind the modular synths (the main system as well as the RackBrute). Also present are the Deptronics Thunderbell, Moog Mother 32, Roland Boutique VP-03 (with owl), and the Korg Volca Beats.

Poor Merp has had to wear the cone of shame since his surgery on Friday, but as this picture shows, by Wednesday he was feeling much better and back to his regular mischievous self. So we decided to liberate him from the cone.

He seems much happier without it 😸

CatSynth Pic: Roland SH-101

Who knew the Roland SH-101 was also a nice pillow for a nap. By victor_bomi on Instagram.

CatSynth Pic: Crumar Bit 99, Roland Juno 106, Korg MS-20, Metasonix, and More

White cat with a Crumar Bit 99, Roland Juno 106, Korg MS-20, and modules from Doepfer, Metasonix, and more.

A beautiful white cat sits atop a Crumar Bit 99 synthesizer, and beneath a Roland Juno 106 and Korg MS-20. We also see some Eurorack modules, including some Doepfer and a Metasonix yellow module – most likely an R-53 like the one sitting near me as I write this.

From Suren Seneviratne via Facebook.

CatSynth Pic: Roland JD-800

This cat has decided to lounge and take a bath near a classic Roland JD-800. From Brandon M. Rogers via Facebook.

The JD-800 is a beast. It uses a similar synthesizer architecture to the D-50, but sports two rows of sliders making it easier to program and change timbre in real time.

CatSynth Pic: Eloy with Multivox and Roland

Eloy has found a nice napping spot on what appears to be a Roland RD series digital piano. Above is a vintage Multivox synth. Submitted by Brian T Geigner via our Facebook page.

Eloy deciding it’s comfy to sleep on the synth.

The Multivox synth appears to be the rare MX-202 string and bass synth from the 1970s.

The Multivox MX-202 is a string and brass ensemble keyboard. The instrument uses divide-down oscillation for its full polyphony. Multivox seemingly copied spec for spec of the Roland RS-202 string and brass instrument. However, users who have experience with both point out that the two instruments sound quite different.
https://encyclotronic.com/synthesizers/multivox/mx-202-r1344/

I don’t know much about either RS-202 or the MX-202, though I have had some experience with Roland’s string synthesizers via the VP-03. If you have played either of these, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

CatSynth Pic: Big Merp and Roland JD-Xi

We all know and love Big Merp, but he never had a “CatSynth pic”. Until now. Here we see him sitting in front of a Roland JD-Xi synthesizer.

The JD-XI is a cool little instrument, a hybrid analog-digital synth with a built-in vocoder. I haven’t had a chance to try the vocoder yet, but I’m curious how it compares to our VP-03 (also from Roland).