The warmth of the sun | An ode to Pivot & Bonnie

video upload by MIDERA

"On the way to the emergency vet, Pivot by my side. I remember the sun on her carrier. I hoped it had warmed her. Or if nothing else, I hoped the sound of my voice or my daughter's kept her company. Today was a hard day. It was time to put Pivot to sleep.

Pivot was very sick. Yesterday, she had thrown up multiple times and afterwards, just laid down and wouldn't move. I couldn't entice her to eat, not yesterday, not today - it's my litmus test for how my cat is doing. She, in fact, would move away from it. I had hoped over night she would feel better, but it just did not happen. She laid by a water bowl in the kitchen and occasionally drink from it (a sign, I thought, that she was improving), but she just seemed not well. I made the call. It had to be done.

Everyone said their goodbye's. My wife would stay home with our 2 year old who would not have handled the mood very well. However, to my surprise, my 6 year old wanted to come. I was glad. Pivot had laid with her for years. She would lay on my wife when she was pregnant with my daughter. She would lay by her carrier when she was asleep in it. She was always with her. Pivot was her fur mama. She loved my daughter.

It was a big gift that my daughter came with. When I cried, she would say "It's ok Papa." She was strong. Of course, she cried too. But the resilience of a 6 year old who, in 6 months, has had to deal with the loss of two of her favorite pets, is impressive. Tonight there was a lot of "I miss Bonnie and Pivot." I do too. We cried a lot.

I got Pivot in August of 2008, a week after I lost my last cat, Winchester. Pivot was best friends with Bonnie. Pivot was nuts. She would fly around my house and body slam cat scratch toys. She would lay down with rugs and kick them. But she would lay next to my face and fall asleep. If I was sad, I could make fake sad meow sounds and she would run to me. She always comforted me.

I did want to try to do an in-home service for putting her down. I thought that would be the kind thing to do, because she hated traveling, but ultimately, I knew it should be done sooner than later, and honestly, those home services are kind of a lot of money ($700+ instead of $400+). I feel a little bad that I chose the cheaper option, because Pivot HATED traveling (like she would pee herself when we'd leave the house). Today - hardly a peep. She did meow, but she had such little strength. I knew sending her off earlier was the better option too. Doing it away from the house at least made it so I didn't need to look at a spot and say "That's where Pivot died." Pivot let go of this life at 1:10PM, in my arms, full of love, all of which I hope she took with her.

So - here I am, alone now, everyone else asleep in the house. I wrote this as I sat here and felt the mood was fitting. I think of myself as the Rhodes Piano voice, a sad depressing tone, mixed in with the voice of Pivot, dancing around my sadness, as she really did so well. It begins and ends without her, the way our lives were entwined. She will be forever missed.|

Rhodes Piano in Strymon DIG
Prophet 10 in Strymon El Cap
All through Eventide Blackhole VST"

Update:

Bonnie

video upload by Mike Lewis

"Mar 13, 2023
This last weekend, on March 11th, I put my dear friend Bonnie (Flame Point Siamese cat) to sleep. She suffered a stroke (or had a growth in her brain) on Tuesday March 7th. We found her walking in circles, I think she was suddenly blinded. She was not well. I thought "if this is a stroke, cats can recover, even if she's blind." I tried to hold on to her, but something changed even further on Thursday night. That was the moment I realized that she had stopped purring when I pet her (she had been purring in the day). I think she may have had seizures, because I remember seeing blood on her paw pads, where her nails would have dug in (which were not there in the afternoon).

I think only one word really describes how I feel about losing her: Devastated.

She lived at least 15 years (with me) and was adopted in 2007, being about 2-4 years old (as a guess), meaning she was about 18-20 years old. That was a good long life for a cat. I had hoped she would have made it to 23 years old... dying in her sleep peacefully, but she (and I) didn't get that. I watched her suffer for a few days, but I think Thursday she stopped eating entirely. On Friday, I found her stuck behind the litter box and I knew that was time.

I don't know why I feel such guilt, but apparently that's a common feeling when you lose a pet. I think I feel guilty that I was kinda mean to her in the first year I had her. I even told people I didn't want her (note, that I could not ever bring myself to get rid of her). I don't know why I felt those things. I even said she was ugly (she did have a really funny weird brown spot on her nose that always made her look like she was snarling). I feel a lot of guilt for feeling and saying these things. I know she didn't understand them, but I wasn't kind.

What's strange is, all the things I found annoying or disliked, just now happen to be all of the things I miss. Like her tenacity to get in my lap and stop at nothing until she won (multiple times I'd get her off my lap, eventually she'd sneak in and win). Or her licking my arms. Or that funny snarl look on her face. These things... they just stick in my mind and I just absolutely devastated that I can't experience them now.

The hardest part for me was after realizing she was going to be put down - telling her what a good kitty she was, how I loved her so much, and that she was one of my best friends. Well, the hardest part was holding on to her as life left her. I knew she was no longer in pain, but I think that feeling will stay with me forever. We drove to the vet in the same car she came home in when I adopted her. I thought she'd like that. I talked to her in the car, telling her how beautiful it was outside with the thick snow falling gently in the grey sky. While she was probably deaf, and now blind, I hoped she could hear me, even just a little.

Now, she is gone. I look at the kitties and puppy I have left and tell myself that I need to be more present for them. I also tell myself, everything that bothers me about my pets will be the very things I will miss when they're gone. I need to be more present in general, for my wife and my kids.

There is the biggest hole in my heart, where apparently Bonnie resided. I had no idea how big that space was until she left me."

Analogue Solutions Colossus Synthesizer Single Sequence

video upload by Analogue Solutions

"Here's a single Colossus #synthesizer sequence captured via mobile. This was a demo sequence we used at Sweetwater during the AS visit and presentation. It was quickly taken apart via participants' hands, which is part of the fun of #Colossus and modular in general! Too cool not to share. :)

We have several configurations of the Colossus synth. Drop a line or visit the website for more information:

www.analoguesolutions.com"

Korg Prologue and 01w - Where the Streets Have No Name - Intro

video upload by Sonicwave

"Layered pad

Korg Prologue 293- Lush Pad with riser reverb
Korg 01W - B21 Serenity"

UDO Super 6 - Virtuality Vol.1

video upload by Scott McAuley Sounds

"Patches will be available at https://www.orano.co.uk/shop or http://www.synthsounds.co.uk

So, Here it is, my first pack of 64 Sounds for the amazing UDO Super 6, the synth is an absolute pleasure to program, play and hear! it sounds like no other synth I own or have heard.

No other effects were used in this demo apart from the two generative patches at the end I added some reverb to let you hear it in context.

Hybrid Synths can achieve so much, with the state of the art FPGA digital hardware oscillators, the S6 sounds amazing.

George Hearn and his team have done a remarkable job with this synth, and I feel there will be many many more banks coming from me for this one.

A mixture of classics, modern, dirty, beautiful and creamy sounds in this bank, I hope you enjoy these as much as I enjoyed making them.

I used UDO Facotry waveforms for this entire bank.

Next bank will contain some (if not all) SM custom Waveforms.

as always, thanks for checking them out.

SM."

Dogma: Cinematic Synth Improvisation with the Melbourne Instruments NINA + Expressive E Osmose

video upload by Christopher Gwinn

"Dogma: another bit of improv with a very cinematic pad on my Melbourne Instruments NINA desktop synth, using an Expressive E Osmose as the controller. Running through light UAD EQ, compression/limiting, and tape sim.

© 2003 Rig Veda Music."

1980's Jam #1

video upload by ItsCoolDiamond

"A 1980's style funky instrumental. Track Name: Refraction. Enjoy!

For Sample Packs, Sounds Kits, Preset Packs & Production:
www.itscooldiamond.com
IG: ItsCoolDiamond
Twitter: ItsCoolDiamond"

Lectric Panda's Automata Sequencer

video upload by Lectric Panda

https://lectricpanda.com/

"Cellular Automata based MIDI Sequencer. Bits from the Automata state are added to the note base parameters: Trigger, Pitch, Velocity, Duration, Slice, and Hold.

Four MIDI CC's can also be generated.

1-D Automata.
Reset every N steps.
Scalable UI.
Integrated tool tips.
Host Transport Sync.
Sample accurate MIDI Generation.
VST3 Format."

"Automata was heavily influenced by work David Burraston @ noyzelab had done with his uMANIAC sequencer."

PlayFader PlayMates

video uploads by Play All Day

You might remember Play All Day from previous posts here.

Playlist:

1. PlayFader PlayMates

PlayFader meets @erfindungsbuero ERM Polygogo.

Headphones recommended.

Channel A:
CV - V/oct of Polygogo and multed into Natural Gate’s Control input to open up the decay time. Set to User Scale. Gate - Right-hand side Hit input on Natural Gate.

Channel B:
CV - Various modulation inputs on Polygogo. Set to 2v unquantised.
Gate - Left-hand side Hit input on Natural Gate.

Clock input, set to CV.- from @makenoisemusic Function EOC output.

PolyGogo X and Y outputs are split into separate sides of the Natural Gate so they can be independently gated. It’s all running through the @busycircuits MFX for some stereo glue and then onto the delicious Sealegs by @intellijel for delay vibes.

PlayGuide:
We start by setting each channel’s time division to different settings. Then we record a 16 step loop of both channels simultaneously, creating nice polyrhythms. Then we play around with the record arm of CV and Gate, essentially decoupling them so we can record just CV over the gate patterns in the Loop buffer. Then we overdub some different gate patterns by setting the channels to different divisions. We even play with 24ppn which is crazy fast but gives a nice effect. We overdub that again showing how you can endlessly play over your recordings. And we use Latch a lot, because we love Latch… a lot! Latch allows the CV output to be played live with the faders, over the top of the buffer contents. A quick double-tap of Latch releases the CV from the live fader position, and back to whatever’s in the Loop buffer.

Available for Pre-order now ❤️

In our next PlayMates video, PlayFader meets @noiseeng BIA & @michigan_synth_works SY0.5 - things get seriously wild..."

2. PF Clocked redux

PlayFader has dark side, don’t be fooled by all pretty colours 🙃

Our 2nd PlayMate video shows the less conventional and, frankly, crazy side of PlayFader. Hard to explain in detail what happened here but the main idea was to explore playing with the speed of the clock input. Recording patterns at slow clock rates and speeding up really fast.
Huge thanks to Paul’s Alex Bow for the idea!

Channel A is playing with BIA by Noise Engineering and Channel B is having fun with Michigan Synthworks SY0.5 and both are running into the mighty M T2D dual triode distortion by Sonocurrent.

Channel A:
CV - to the pitch and various modulation inputs on BIA via the fabulous Ochd by DivKid and Instruo.
Set to 5v un-quantised range.
Gate - BIA trigger input


Channel B:
CV - pitch input on the SY0.5
Set to 5v un-quantised range.
Gate - to trigger input of SY0.5

Hard to explain, but things go nuts. Due to the fact the looper and clock divisions are always tight, cool patterns emerge and when you speed the clock up you get interested low bit res waveforms and glitchy mayhem.

3. PlayFader PlayMates Pt2

Another little snippet of these PlayMates having fun. Slowing the clock coming into PlayFader allows you to record more into the 16 step buffer when it’s set to faster decisions. We then speed up the clock and all kinds of interesting happen.

In case you didn’t already know, we’re open for pre-orders. Link in bio. And stay tuned for more episodes of PlayMates coming soon. If you have any suggestions of friends you’d like OlayFader to meet, let us know in the comments.

And if you can’t quite figure out what PlayFader is doing, check out the PlayData manuals on our website.

Love and patches,
Play All Day ❤️

Behringer Pro-800 - "Organica" Soundset 50 Presets

video upload by LFOstore

"We are continuing a new series of banks for Behringer Pro-800.

Welcome to 'Organica' Soundset with 50 hadrcrafted alive sounds onboard!

Soundset is here: https://lfo.sellfy.store/p/behringer-...

Behringer Pro-800 is a powerful synthesizer with huge potential and an incredible variety of sounds, this time we will dive into the world of pulsations, modulations and vintage feel.

Expressive Alive Leads
Beautiful Strings & Pads
Modular-Like Sequences
Cinematic Arps
Plucks & Poly's
FX

Suited for all modern genres of electronic music: retrowave, ambient, trance, house, classic electronica, downtempo.

Nearly all our patches utilize the Mod wheel or / and aftertouch for expressive sounds - make sure to always try them when checking out the patches.

Instructions are included.

By Nick Klimenko aka Chronos, a creator of 'Organica' for Waldorf Blofeld & 'WS Universe' for Korg Wavestation."

PhonicBloom GechoLogic Loopstyler

video upload by Gecho Loopsynth

"After a lot of prototyping, we're finally happy with the circuit, and here are its first sounds! :) We've opened preorders at https://phonicbloom.com/ [priced at €175 +VAT] and manufacturing will commence shortly, our favourite PCB factory is happy with the blueprints and all components are in stock. If you are interested in technical details and the development journey, check https://loopstyler.com/.

This demo shows a very basic configuration: 4 samples across 4 rows of pads, sharing the same octave and mode. After activating the arpeggiator, you can change key, octave, mode, or instrument that the arpeggiator controls. We also hear complaints about incorrectly entered command sequence; this prototype lacks texts on some pads, and LED lights are not yet showing cues about what is going on, which makes it harder to control. An annotated video explaining these controls in detail, will be recorded once the first production unit arrives from the factory."



"The Loopstyler is a powerful pocket synthesizer capable of running multiple sound engines and effects at once. It can handle a large amount of samples on the SD card, limited only by the card capacity. Browse and organize them easily to be used in patches, play them back with at least 32‑voices polyphony, smooth time stretching and pitch shifting.

You can play the Loopstyler in different ways: like the classic Stylophone, or in a tape loop emulation mode, or by programming it using the multitrack sequencer. Apart from the sampled sounds, it runs other sound engines, such as FM, Karplus‑Strong, granular and subtractive synthesis. The usual suite of effects can be applied per voice or globally. A single microphone and monophonic line input allow for sampling possibilities (you can import stereo samples easily via the SD card).

Designed to fit snugly in your pocket, Loopstyler is the source of endless hours of fun anywhere you go. And of course, everything you play can be recorded internally, so nothing is lost."