Maci continues to enjoy this modular system, and we have the video to prove it!
Submitted by Krasi Yonchev via our Facebook page.
synthesis technology
Maci and Modular
Macy is lollygagging around the modular, where we see a Mutable Instruments Clouds, an E350 Morphing Terrarium from Synthesis Technology (a favorite of ours), and a Mutable Instruments Beads.
In this view above, we see Ripples, also from Mutable Instruments, and a Belgrad filter from Xaoc.
Submitted by Krasi Yonchev via our Facebook page.
Big Merp on the Modular Desk
Big Merp loves attention and always wants to be where the action is. So it’s fairly common to find him on this spot between the MacBook Pro and the Modular system. And in this instance, he struck a particularly handsome pose 😻. You can see quite a few of our Eurorack modules, including our prized Metasonix yellow and silver tube modules in the upper left corner of the case, as well as many others that have appeared in our recordings and videos over the years. A full list of brands is in the tags.
This is also where we shoot a lot of our hardware demo videos, so it often ends up cluttered. But we always make sure there is space because you never know when Merp is going to jump up and say hi.
Big Merp, Yamaha RX5, and Modular
Today we feature our very own Big Merp in the studio. He was assisting with our recent video on the Yamaha RX5 – specifically the “RX5USB” cartridge. We also one portion of our modular collection, including Metasonix modules, Rossum Morpheus, E350 Morphing Terrarium, Benjolin, Expert Sleepers, Sputnik Modular, Mordax, 4MS, Make Noise, Pittsburgh Modular, Koma Elektronik, 2hp, Folktek, and more.
This is the video we were working on at the time.
We also have a detailed tutorial for the RX5 itself
Big Merp, Yamaha RX5, Modular
Today we have CatSynth pics with our very own Big Merp, who loves to jump up on the desk. Here we see him with our Yamaha RX5 drum machine and our massive modular system. The Metasonix modules are easy to spot, as are the Make Noise modules. We also have MOTM, Rossum Electro-music, Sputnik modular, 4MS, Malekko, Folktek, Mordax, and more as we get into the second grouping in the distance. We also see a bit of the Arturia MiniBrute 2 and Moog Mother-32. A fuller accounting can be found in the tags.
CatSynth Pic: Milo and MOTM 490
Our pal Milo is inspecting an MOTM 490 filter that has been modified by Keith Winstanley.
It looks like Milo is falling asleep on the job 😸
The MOTM 490 is a lowpass ladder filter designed to sound like classic synthesizers from the 1970s – or as Synthesis Technology puts it, “that synthesizer sound”. You can hear some demos on MOTM’s site.
CatSynth Pics: #NationalCatDay with Sam Sam and Big Merp
Of course, every day is National Cat Day (or International Cat Day) here at CatSynth. But we are marking the occasion by letting Sam Sam and Big Merp share their own pics. Above, we see Sam Sam in one of her favorite spots in the studio, in front of the Yamaha TX802 and cassette deck. Sam Sam would also like to share her recent studio video.
And lest Big Merp is left out of the fun, here is a pic of him hanging out behind the main modular synth.
CatSynth Pic: Merp, Modular, Mother-32
Wordless Wednesday: Modular Synthesizer
NAMM: Synthrotek and Synthesis Technology
We finally come to the end of our exhaustive visit to the huge analog modular booth at NAMM. We of course had to pay our friends at Synthrotek a visit. They make DIY synthesis kits as well as full modules, often with a delightfully noisy quality. For example there is the aptly named DIRT Filter and the Chaos NAND of which we at CatSynth are quite fond. They had some new offerings for this year’s show.
Among the new modules were a series that came from a collaboration with George Mattson. The MST and Synthrotek modules together form a complete analog synthesizer voice, with MIDI-to-CV, oscillator, filter, mixer, and modulations. There is even a classic Mattson-designed buffered multiple. Another interesting offering was the DS-M, a complete drum synth module with multiple “colors” of noise, built in oscillator, VCO and a voltage-based “velocity sensitivity.” It can create standard analog drum sounds, but can also do some rather unusual sounds as well. Like most products from Synthrotek, these can be ordered as raw kits, module-assembly kits (with panels, etc.), or as completed versions.
Nearby was Synthesis Technology, makers of the E-350 Morphing Terrarium that was among the first modules I bought back in 2012.
Next to the e350 in the photo is an expander module from Manhattan Analog that opens up some additional functionality of the original module. Also pictured above the the E-102 Quad Temporal Shifter, basically a digital implementation of the Serge analog shift register. The E-560 thru-zero frequency shifter and ring modulator is quite interesting as well.
This concludes our reports from this year’s NAMM show. There was so much to see on the synthesizer front we were not able to get to it all, much less write about it. It was definitely one to remember, but we are looking forward to more next year!
