In the purrfectly balanced picture, we have a tableau of cat, ukulele and Ableton Push MIDI controller above a beautiful Rhodes Mark II stage piano and two Yamaha Reface synthesizers. From robbiesko via Instagram.
Rewiring the 100 + cables at home to get things running more smoothly..rat’s nest be gone!! Hope y’all are doin well ✌🏼
Ah, the proverbial rat’s nest of cables. Something we have to take care of periodically here at CatSynth HQ as well. But I am most interested in that Rhodes.
Big Merp has taken to our recently acquired Yamaha RX5 drum machine. I think he will be ready to lay down some rhythm tracks soon. He also has his rear paw on another recent acquisition: the Buchla Red Panel 158 oscillator. Look for these two instruments featured in upcoming episodes of CatSynth TV!
Back in the late 1980s when I was getting into synthesizers, Yamaha’s DX series dominated the landscape (along with Roland’s D series). I got Yamaha’s “After Touch” magazine which featured new releases including the RX5, which became the flagship of their drum-machine line. It was beyond my reach then, but I now I have one and looking forward to seeing what I can do with it in our eclectic studio at CatSynth HQ.
Cute kitten on a Korg MS-20 synthesizer. Below is a Yamaha CS 15, and above we see a stack of DX-era ROM cartridges. From Frank Jacobs via Facebook. You can see a picture of this kitten with mom here.
An adorable photo of a mother and kitten on a Yamaha SK30. Above them is a Korg Polysix, and off to the right is a Roland Juno. From Frank Jacobs via Facebook.
My cuties love analog, too.
The SK30 was a combination organ, string, and subtractive synthesizer, released in 1980. All of the SK series had the organ and string sections, but different models had different synthesizer sections. The SK30 had two synthesizer sections, a dual-oscillator polyphonic section that was good at classic pads, and a solo monosynth section with multiple waveforms, envelope and filter. As a bonus, one could play the solo synth and one of the other modes (organ, string, polysynth) at the same time.
Phantom performs on a Yamaha DX21 synthesizer. From Andreas Gregor via Facebook.
This was Phantom. He had an ear for synthesizers. I recorded him on my DX21 one day. I think he might be the only cat that released a track on iTunes and Amazon. Lol.
The track Naptime Electronique is available on Amazon and Apple Music.
Loki returns, this time with a vintage Yamaha DX100 alongside the more contemporary Novation Bass Station. From thedigitalpurrgatory on Instagram.
The DX100 was the smallest of Yamaha’s DX series. It featured the same sound architecture as most of the other 4-operator FM models (before the TX81Z), but was smaller in size, with mini keys and hooks for a guitar strap. I actually had one which I used primary in “keytar mode” in the 1990s, but rarely used it after that.
