Pretty picture of a tuxedo cat that bears a strong resemblance to Sam Sam (minus the nose smudge) with a classic Roland SH-101 synthesizer. From verzerrung on Instagram.
Sam Sam does not have access to an SH-101, but she does seem to like the Roland Boutique synths, so maybe we will get an SH-01 for her at some point 😸
Originally rom a now completed listen on Reverb.com, today’s pic arrives via matrixsynth, where you can see more pictures (sans cat).
The Korg Micro Preset synthesizer is a curious late 1970s beast with a slightly bizarre matrix of pre-set sounds, including woodwind and similar noises and a keyboard all housed in a wooden box! It’s a 32-note monophonic preset synthesizer with 6 push-button presets including voice, synth1, synth2, brass, string, and wood. Its single-oscillator design has only rudimentary decay/release envelope controls and no access to the guts of the sound generation stuff.
Once you’re past the outward appearance, a bit of probing will reveal a noise box that sounds remarkably similar to the MS-10 at times. There is a lot of fun to be had with the ‘traveller’ control, a sort of filter and resonance control rolled into one, offering interesting squelchy acid-style bass run effects. In fact, like the MS-10, bass is the best of what you get out of this guy along with lots of other useful noises. Add N To (X), The Human League, OMD, Jean Michel Jarre, OMD, Pop Will Eat Itself and Brian Eno are thought to have used the Micro Preset.
A few of the presets are slightly quieter. Easily addressed by turning the volume up. Since this Keyboard was only ever used in our smoke free studio, we never had a tech fix it. Our tech HAD seen this issue before and did say the fix would take 1hr and require minimal parts he, and thusly most techs, should have. This thing sounds amazing straight into a delay pedal and then a DI. Only selling it because we loved it so much we bought 2 but need only one. It’s killer for when you want a simple MS-10/20 sound but don’t want to fuss about. It’s been on a ton of records made here. Great and affordable addition to any collection and would be a great first synth.”
Gracie returns, this time with a Moog Subsequent 37. Though she does seem more interested in the Eurorack modules behind it 😸
“Hmmm. Analog …”
From Alsún Ní Chasaide via our Facebook page.
One of our CatSynth TV episodes this week featured a close-up demonstration of the Wicks Looper by Rarebeasts, a tiny musical instrument that can make beats, loops, and all sorts of noises. We also added a Korg Delay Monotron for filtering and delay effects in the last portion of the demo.
The Wicks Looper is a fun instrument that I have used in several live performances, though less so lately. Its audio jack is a bit fussy at times, but as long as I remember I know how to make it work reliably. Both it and the Monotron should see more use again this year as I plan out new ideas for solo performances. And we still love that cat logo that looks so much like our dear Luna. But there is also a (non-black) Luna who lives with the human who created the instrument, a fact involved in our discovering it in the first place.
Rarebeasts has moved on to newer custom electronic instruments that are quite sculptural in nature. You can see their work at their Etsy shop.
Our fluffy white friend from Eevo Lute Music & Technology is back once again. This time with four Korg Volca synthesizers.
We currently have two Volca’s here at CatSynth HQ, so those stands caught our interest. 😺
From Alsún Ní Chasaide on the Facebook group Synthesizer Freaks.
Like I spent weeks restoring this & she can’t wait to get on it. If vocoders aren’t for sits, then why are they made of warm?
We at CatSynth had the opportunity to play with a Korg VC10 vocoder last year. It is indeed made of warm, as are most analog vocoders 😸. It also had a bit of the Korg grit that characterizes their vintage instruments, and best of all it allowed for external carrier signals (this is something I wish was easier to do on the Roland VP-03).
Rosie with a blue Korg Electribe MX. (At least we think it’s Rosie. We’re pretty sure about the Electribe.) From our friend Karl Lee Avery via Facebook.
The Electribe family has undergone quite a few iterations, including the newer Electribe 2. I do like the blue-tinted models in particular.
Our pal Mister Kitty returns to the pages of CatSynth with his new RE-303 bass synthesizer.
The RE-303 is a replica of the infamous Roland TB-303. This one was assembled by Mister Kitty’s human, Prophei (aka Michael Dietel). We at CatSynth approve of their choice of the black case. Oh, and it sounds great, too.
As a replica, the circuit board and CPU are compatible with the original TB-303, which suggests the parts can be used to refurbish vintage instruments in addition to building new ones. You can read a bit more in this Synthopia article from 2015. Clearly, the statement about DIY kits turned out to be wrong, as evidenced by this article. You can find out more about the RE-303 and kits here.
Meanwhile, we wonder what Mister Kitty may have in store for us next…
Leo the cat lays down some beats on a Korg Electribe. Submitted by @6bq9music via Twitter.
If you are on Twitter, please follow us at @catsynth. You can tweet us your cat-and-music pics as well as ideas for future articles.
