stylophone

Farewell to 2025: Brightness from Darkness

2025 is drawing to a close, so it is time for our traditional end-of-year collage and post, a year that was “the best of times, the worst of times.” It was simultaneously one of the darkest and one of the brightest. If I focus on the personal and professional, it was a great year. If we look at the country and the world as a whole, the story is completely different. Our collage focuses entirely on the bright, even as our minds and souls are pulled by both poles simultaneously.

For CatSynth TV, it was another year of strong growth, 50% again in views, and strong growth in subscribers. But it’s not just the raw numbers. I am especially proud that this growth came on my own terms, rather than by “following the crowd” so to speak, maintaining the quality, diversity, and uniqueness of what we do on the channel. We’ve done more interviews with more people, explored more highways, enjoyed the cats’ antics on Caturdays, and of course, reviewed a lot of great synthesizers and music. Indeed, I think of the channel as being more of a TV channel with lots of shows than the single “show” that is typical of YouTube. The blog has found some new energy as well, where we have drawn in more regular viewers to our tried-and-true photos of cats and synthesizers, as well as our long-running Wordless Wednesday series.

We found community at NAMM, at Buchla and Friends, and Knobcon. We traveled not only to New York and Los Angeles, but also to Chicago, San Diego, all through the southern California desert, and to India. And many new friends and new connections along the way. And close to home, the cats are doing great, as are the humans at HQ. I am grateful for the companionship, both human and feline, for family, friends, and community that have sustained me throughout the year.

But one cannot ignore what is happening beyond our bubble. On day one of the new regime (it feels more appropriate to call it that than an “administration”), they chose to cruelly target people like me in one of the first executive orders, and it has cast a dark and stressful pall over all the bright and exciting things that happened. And it was far, far worse for many other people. It was also disheartening to see so many institutions, in media, in business, and even academia, seem to cave so quickly. If there has been a bright spot, it has been the way ordinary people are standing up and resisting, on the streets, in the courts, and in their work, with more strength than I would have expected given those dark days in the early part of the year. And as strange as it seems to say it, the regime’s own incompetence gives me a modicum of hope.

What comes in 2026 remains to be seen. We will hopefully be adding more travel, including to Superbooth this coming year! There are so many videos in the queue as we speak that we are excited to share with all of you. At the same time, I want to find more time to focus on music, both recording and performing. Oh, and the perennial goal of de-cluttering both our physical and metaphorical space. On the larger front, I do hope the world can find a bit more peace, and the regime here in the United States continues to fray at the edges and perhaps even crumble.

We at CatSynth wish you all a Happy New Year and all the best for 2026!

Cat Modulator (Clarita & Stylophone Theremin)

Cats seem to just go together with the Stylophone Theremin. Here we see Clarita with one, from @datachild on Instagram via Stylophone’s official account.

We definitely need to get one of these here at CatSynth HQ!

You can see our recent review of the rare Stylophone Gen R-8 here.

And the viewer-inspired follow up

Outsound New Music Summit: SO AR and X A M B U C A

The Outsound New Music Summit continued on Wednesday with a night featuring explorations of electroacoustics and noise.  Once again, the two acts were quite contrasting in their interpretations of the night’s theme.

SO AR (formerly Ze Bib) is the collaboration of electronic musician and cellist Shanna Sordahl and percussionist Robert Lopez.  We had the chance to meet with them ahead of the summit and shared our encounter in this video:

The set unfolded as a series of conversations between Sordahl – first on cello alone and then with electronics – and Lopez.  The ups and downs in the pitches, rhythms, and intensities seemed to imply spoken language at times.  This was especially true during the more staccato and percussive sections at the beginning and end of the set.

Shanna Sordahl
[Shanna Sordahl]

The long tone sections brought in more of the electronics – Sordahl’s rig featured a Korg MS-20 and iPad.  The percussion once again seemed to match the longer tones, with extended rolls, long drum tones, and additional percussion.  But there were also moments where the texture diverged, between long electronic tones and rhythmic percussion runs.

Robert Lopez
[Robert Lopez]

Even at its most intense, there was a quiet quality to the music that seemed fit with the starkness of their stage presence and the darkened hall.  Even at low volume, the moments of silence stood out, with a bit of tension in the air.  Space and breath are an important part of how the duo approaches their music, and this comes out strongest in the quietest sections.

X A M B U C A is a solo electronic project by Chandra Shukla.  We had the opportunity to first see him perform last year with Hans-Joachim Roedellius at The Chapel in San Francisco; we were glad to see him join the lineup for this year’s Summit.

X A M B U C A
[X A M B U C A]

On a completely darkened stage, X A M B U C A delivered a set that was simultaneously rich and minimalist.  There were segments of long drones cut with high-pitched sweeps, and sections of fast drum-machine runs.  The styles of various sections (which segued from one to the next continuously) included fragmented dance-music patterns, elements of rock, and noise.  It is, of course, hard for me not to consider electronic music without also considering the instruments used.

Shukla’s rig was anchored by an Elektron Analog Keys, along with a Korg Electribe, a Stylophone, and sundry pedals.  Looking at these instruments, I can better understand how he was able to move so freely from drum patterns and hits to long tones and dense pads to distortion and noise.  It was quite a dynamic performance, showing the more “experimental side” of X A M B U C A compared to what we had experienced previously.

It was a solid night, and perhaps the most “out” of the Outsound Summit shows this year, as subsequent nights embraced more idiomatic forms of musical expression.  We hope to bring you those reviews over the next few days.

 

CatSynth video: Michael Hearst – Ode to Odd Instruments

A video with “odd instruments” and a cat, by Michael Hearst (via matrixsynth).

Including (in order of appearance): Knockman “Chachak,” daxophone, Hohner claviola, bass melodica, stylophone, otamatone, Moog theremin, Elasticbrand Audioware rattle, porter’s bell. Also featuring Maddie the cat.

www.michaelhearst.com”

CatSynth videos: Wicks Looper

From potterpaint2000 on YouTube, via matrixsynth:

“an improv featuring a KP3 processed Wicks Looper from Australia, a wonderful cacaphonous little device. Thanks Brian!…also a Nord Lead and a Stylophone Drumbeat”

I am not familiar with the Wicks Looper, but I did find some more info here, and another video: