I spend the last ten days recording an album with the CAT: keenonkeys.bandcamp.com/album/behringer-cat And I had a closer look at the strange behavior of the sync modes as shown in the video ( 26:04 ). The dropouts mainly occur when you try to create sweeps with LFO or ADSR. The lower the notes the more dropouts you get, and it's getting worse if the sub octave of VCO1 is involved. But I am not quite sure if this is the case with all models. I have read a couple of reviews and not all of them mentioned this.
Seriously, this is a treasure trove of patch ideas. I don't think I've ever seen so inspirational tutorial. Calling this a "review" is a huge understatement.
35 Years ago: I self built an Elektor Formant Analog Synthesizer. Now: I ordered a Behringer CAT to teach my 5 year old daughter to make electronic music. She loves it and is always smiling, when she hears the funny "meowish" sounds. :-) Thank you for this fantsatic review!
What a world class presentation! Picture, sound, editing, content knowledge, the history documentary, musicianship and if I’ve forgotten anything, that was probably top class as well. My thanks and appreciation.
Thank you for an incredibly well made video review. This is one of the best reviews I have ever seen - period. This is not a cheap compliment to be taken lightly as I have watched quite a lot over the years and my favourite youtube channels regarding synthesizer reviews are loopop (for tutorials/reviews), starsky carr (technical overview), Alex Ball (history, performance, humor), musictrackjp (reviews), bad gear (HUMOR), Andrew Huang (overall content) and Tim Shoebridge (overall content). So the competition is rather fierce but you managed to give them a run for their money and made it look easy. Chapeau! I was on the brink of adding the Cat to my collection and clicked on your video on my mobile phone thinking it was Starsky's and I was immediately drawn in by your voice. It has perfect timbre and a soothing quality and I could listen to it for hours. Then there is the video length and content composition - just perfect. Some historical background without going in too deep and then the introduction of the Synthesizer in general, followed by examples of the use of the different sections. And everything is spot on and sounds absolutely amazing. Oh and did I mention your voice...? Too make a long story short: I have obviously bought the Cat (and will have a hard time making it sound as nice as you did), subscribed to your channel and hope that you will throw in a synthesizer review every now and then as I am not so much into older keyboards w/o synth capability). I don't really care which Synthesizer it is as long as I just can listen to that voice :-)... Thank you again and keep up the excellent work!
Thank you very much. I am sure you're gonna have a lot of fun with the CAT. I am still quite happy with it and I will certainly do a couple more Synth reviews in the future.
Yes, you mentioned the heavy hitters and Keen on Keys can keep company with them with this quality production. Really nice vocal production. Easy to listen to and good audio over all. It makes it enjoyable to take in what you have to offer.
I think this is the synth I have been always looking for, seems very hands on and versatile. Somehow I have overlooked this until recently, thank you for very good review!
I do not comment often, but I had to on this review. Not only an in depth product review but a full on synth tutorial with a huge amount of great sounding patches and well formulated explanation. I am baffled how many totally different sounds can be achieved with a seemingly simple parameter list. Makes me question the use of modern digital synths with lots of polyphony and endless modulation possibilities. This synth seems so much more hands on and fun and surprisingly versatile. Great video!
A lot of musicians don't know how to patch a synth. Especially with modern VSTs from the likes of U-He where you have literally thousands of patches people become patch hunters. The great thing about the (new)old synths is that it forces you to understand how sound is made. In defense of VSTs like Hive or Diva if you do take it upon yourself to learn how to use them the results can be amazing.
it is fantastic that there are no reverb or delay on fx, so we can hear real sound of synth. today, every synth, vst, demo, has a lot of reverb, and when you remove tham, you find out that you have nothing
I have some synths that I basically do 90% of the sound design with effects, like the Microbrute. Others like the Mother-32 don't even need effects. But I love each for the purposes I use them for.
I can tell you this, this review/demo is great and you have one of the best speaking voices/pace I have heard in any gear reviewing channel. Happy 2022!
First of all, fantastic demo, thank you. This is one of those gems I'm so glad to have picked up. It gets pretty deep and I found can be tricky when first learning the interface; your review/tutorial introduced me to configurations I haven't even considered. The first time I sat down with it I twisted knobs and flicked switches to a point where I lost sound output and couldnt figure how to regain any semblence of a workable patch. Each time I decided to sit with it, new configurations became apparent. I honestly think its extremely underrated out of behringer's vintage repro line. Thanks again for bringing out all these sounds, Bravo!
Wow, I wasn‘t prepared to watch such a good review/demo/tutorial/whatever! I really appreciate the style. Not so fast and chatty as many other video, but also not boring. And the outro tune is killer! 😃
Excellent rundown!!! Super quality info and presentation. All there is to know! I thought loopop was the only one who could master the perfection of product guides like this. Comparing the two of you, his excels in navigation with the time cues on the screen but yours tops his in performance demonstrations and in clarity and comprehensiveness, it’s a draw. (Edit: Didn't notice the time cues in the description when looking on my iPhone. This makes it even greater!)
Still one of my all time favorite synth presentation. Skillful, passionate, well articulated in word and play, resourceful and brilliant video and audioquality. It also perfectly brings the character of this device to life. Thank you Sir for all this effort.
This is honestly the best video to sell me on the Cat. I didn't think much of it because other videos didn't mention the modulation possibilities. I'm glad to realize it's far capable than what I gave it credit for! Fantastic and professionally presented as always! I look forward to your video on the PSS 480 if that's still in the works :)
I've watched this video like maybe 3 times now and every time it feels like the little melody's you play just get more and more familiar, even the first time it felt like I knew all the melodies and now it just feels even more like I know all of them, all in all I've attributed it to this TH-cam video just being magic idk, anyways absolutely loved every second of this, it deservers millions of views.
Had me glued to the end, and I normally switch off with some reviewers. Behringer released this statement on their facebook "CAT. In dual mode the note priority has now changed to from low to last note" Nice job, cool synth and you should do some more synth reviews.THANKS
Very good review! You really show what such a relatively simple 'mono' analogue synth can actualy do. No additional synth tutorial needed I suppose, in a way this is a synth tutorial and a review in one.
This video was extremely helpful, especially for understanding some of the unorthodox quirks of this synth. I just got the CAT yesterday, and thought that the weird mono mode keyboard tracking (only changing for descending pitches) and S&H behavior meant that mine was defective! Now that I know that it’s supposed to function that way, I can work around it.
First off: your videos are splendid. Tastes are subjective of course. However, to me everything about them is great. One can feel the sheer effort you have put in to make them. I highly appreciate the musical examples as well as the full blown carefully arranged full blown tracks and will definitely buy your albums (when I will have a decent income again, so that I don't have to pay a ridiculously low price now but instead am able to later actually support you financially). There is one thing that outshines all of the other great aspects of your videos in my opinion: no bullshit. I can not tell you how much this is worth. There are lots of content creators which make decent videos in terms of technical quality, but the content is sometimes simply lacking. With your videos, there is neither babbling, nor stuttering, repetitions, unnecessary commentary or anything else. Just pure facts, a soothing voice, clean and precise explanations and a bit of subtle humour every now and then. ("A saucerful of Milk" just played for example and I was forced to smirk due to the meow sounds.) Top that off with your editing skills and of course the music and you get one of my favourite channels on TH-cam. As for your question about making a video explaining the workings of a synthesizer: For me personally, such a video is not necessary. For people who just fell down the slippery slope and into the world of synthesizers and their strange addictiveness, such a video certainly will be useful, especially since it will presented in your own personal way, even though there already are decent explanations on the internet. (I think your no bs style is comparable to loopop for example, though I like your music better than his ;) It could certainly introduce a new audience to your videos, potentially increasing your financial gain. What I personally would highly enjoy is a video about your workflow and your inspirations for melodies, chords, compositions, etc. I think. I like to noodle around, design sounds on my synths, record a few loops and then simply stop at some point. When I set out to make a full track, I lose motivation or inspiration after half an hour and decide to do something else. Just sticking to it will help of course, however I am curious whether you have to force yourself to finish tracks as well or if you just enjoy to work on tracks until they're finished. Have a good one! Your work is highly appreciated.
Thank you very much. Yes, it is a lot of work, mainly because my english is so bad. But it is fun. Finishing a track always takes a while. Usually 80% is done in a few minutes, but the rest can take hours or days. I sometimes finish a song that I started a year or two before. But only a finished song helps me to improve. And that's one reason why I enjoy making music with small toy keyboards: The limitations.
@Keen On Keys Selbst wenn das Wort eines Schweizers wohl nicht so viel zählt wie das eines Native Speakers: für mich klingt dein Englisch super. Die Stimme ist angenehm und grammatikalische Fehler sind mir bisher noch keine aufgefallen :) Klar hört man den deutschen Akzent ein klein wenig heraus, allerdings bereichert der die Videos eher und stört überhaupt nicht, denke ich. Danke für die Info! Das klingt so, als ob die Effekte, Levels, Breaks, usw. viel Zeit in Anspruch nehmen, hingegen die Melodien, Akkorde, Pattern und Rhythmen schnell angedacht sind. Klingt zwar etwas kitschig, aber ich stimme voll und ganz zu: Limitations foster creativity. Ich halte ab und zu Ausschau nach einem guten alten PSR oder einem Casiotone. Leider verkaufen die Leute meistens nur moderne und für mich schlecht klingende Keyboards. Lieber einige wenige, eingeschränkte, aber dafür warme, angenehme Klänge mit Charakter. Und für die alten, leider oftmals ungepflegten Geräte wollen sie über Hundert Franken. Obwohl ich eine Art falsche Nostalgie spüre wenn ich die Klänge dieser alten Geräte höre (weil ich gerade mal 1995 auf die Welt gekommen bin) möchte ich mir trotzdem einmal ein älteres Keyboard leisten. Synths hatte und habe ich genug und liebe sie nach wie vor. Aber sich einfach mal mit so einem Gerät hinsetzen und einen Song schreiben ist wahrscheinlich doch noch mal etwas ganz anderes. Ich hatte vor ein paar Tagen etwas gefunden, was dich (ich bin so frei und duze und hoffe, dass mir das nicht übel genommen wird) interessieren könnte: Gratis Plugins für das PSS 170 und das PSS 480. Leider funktioniert der Link nicht mehr. Die VSTs kann ich dir aber gerne zur Verfügung stellen, falls du willst. Die Hardware fehlt natürlich und macht den Unterschied. Dennoch kann man sich auch künstlich limitieren, dafür aber trotzdem in den Genuss von erweiterter Polyphonie kommen :) Hast du schon einmal von koishistyle gehört? Er gehört auch den Synthesizer Multitrackern an und benutzt meistens nur ein Gerät für seine Aufnahmen. Diese sind meistens ziemlich günstig und dementsprechend limitiert, wie zum Beispiel der Korg Monotron. Er hat mir als einer der ersten vor ein paar Jahren gezeigt, dass es schlicht nicht auf die Zahl oder die Qualität der Geräte ankommt, sondern fast nur auf die Kreativität und die Geduld, respektive den Biss des Musikers. Ich könnte wohl bis morgen über Synths und Keyboards und Musik schreiben. Ein Gespräch mit dir würde viel Spass machen, denke ich, allerdings weiss ich nicht, ob dich das auch interessieren würde. Mach auf jeden Fall weiterhin Musik und Videos, ich finde beides super von dir :)
There is a way to change the low note priority to latest note. It's a hack in the Synth Tribe software. Select Polychain 2 then Unison mode. This way it thinks it is sending the latest note to the second synth and it works.
Loved the video. The more in depth the better for me. One thing though. That synth is screaming out for effects! Its kinda mind blowing just how much effects change the raw sounds. A little sweet reverb goes a long way. Of course then you get people complaining they want to hear it raw to better judge the sound but for me I'd never use any of those sounds raw. Anyway, thoroughly enjoyed the walkthrough. I'd never even heard of the original before. I want to see that last synth they made now too. It looks wild. The Voyetra one. Cheers.
I really like the no-effects showcase myself - keeps it easier to understand. =) Though I think Keen adds some effects in post when he uses the synths for the music (he mentioned in the past reviews and in the sampling process how-to), so the arrangements we hear *do* show just *how much* effects can change and improve the raw output. There’s definitely panning and reverb in there!
That's so true! I have a Casio CT-630 - a 1987 PCM-sample based synth that I inherited from my uncle, but I never really used it to make music because it sounds ridiculous. Yesterday I saw some videos of using guitar pedals with synths, so I tried and put it through a flanger, some compression and reverb, and WOW! You suddenly get very powerful, punchy leads and basses, and best of all, since it's PCM based, it has complex waveforms and lots of harmonics that the effects seem to latch on :D :D
The Cat is, by far, the most interesting clone Behringer has made as far as I'm concerned. I was never aware of the original, and by most accounts it seems like a fairly obscure synth, but good god, what a great choice of one to recreate. It's deceptively simple, and capable of plenty of common sounds, yet to my ears, has a real capability for knock-out sounds that are fatter and fuller than a lot comparable instruments. I have the Model D, and that's great, don't get me wrong. Classic sounds, and very capable. But the Cat is the one that gets under my skin and makes me crave more of those sounds. All of them. The weirder the better.
Excellent video! (Listening to the album on bandcamp as I type) I suspected that this synth was a sleeper. It has such a range of sound design possibilities. Thanks so much for taking the time to craft such a well thought out walk through. 🙏
Please make a synth explanation video as it will help people who are unfamiliar with all the terms and features to understand everything a lot better. For the uninitiated, it can be a bit daunting and overwhelming to hear so many terms and features mentioned without a proper, in-depth explanation as to what they do and can be used for. Really great videos and channel here. Very cool to see and hear so many awesome keyboards, their features and sounds. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, skill, talent and experience. Looking forward to many more videos. Keep up the awesome work!...
Aaand you also have a B.Meowsic to compliment it. Classy! Thanks for giving it such a thorough review, Keen, and expecially for explaining all the more difficult concepts in the way you do it. Sound synthesis is a little bit like exercise: if you’re not into it, it’s not easy to see why so many people love all these often-jarring experiences so much. It’s so much more enjoyable with a slow, steady intro course that shows where all the pieces should fall in! Really like the finishing composition too. I’m a tracker music / chip music radio moderator, so this reminds me of Stephane Picq from the AdLib era - one of the best music composers for the DOS games back in the day - if he’d be able to use much more than the YM3812 sinewaves. The lead at 33:07 was _amazing._ And speaking of DOS, thank you for showing the patch at 24:36 in particular! This very trick was used in another DOS soundtrack (to _Gobliins 2_ by Charles Callet) for a dream sequence scene, which is what eventually made me so interested in chip music. I finally found out how it’s done!! - Odd question, if you may: what are you using for the table backgrounds? If it’s thick colored paper, it’s really good at resisting creases from all the scratchy hardware you put on top!
Nice job! Thanks for the timestamped parts. I had the CAT a long time ago, recently got the bCat. Learned new things to do with your demo, especially the 4 note sequencer. I had not thought about the self modulation with the jacks... was thinking about how to interface with VCV rack, for more fun... anyway, thanks much!
Even though us furry scruffbums already have a full house, our owner decided to get another cat, from Behringer. After spending hours studying the old octave cat manual and watching tons of vidis, making a lot of random uncontrolled sonic fur balls he came across this gem of a video through a Reddit link we believe. Pure catnip, brilliant production and all the essential information to get the new cat on the block purring, meowing and hissing. This is now his, and should be any can openers reference documentary on how to raise a feral feline. You should be "the Behringer Presenter" and we hope you get some form of kickback from them as you furrily deserve it! Great tune at the end. Thank from the Manx
Thanks for this review! I feel like this synth is underrated. You can create so many interesting sounds with it. This demo makes me want the synth even more!
I'm of the opinion that there's room enough on your channel to review whatever bits of goodness you feel is entertaining and educational to put out there - Keen, you could review a DX7 and find things about it that no one else thought was interesting and make that the focal point of a half-hour video that would capture the imagination! You do you and we'll follow happily along: believe me. . This one was WAY fun, educational, comprehensive, exhaustive and concise! Far and away the best Behringer synth review on the Tubes. Many thanks for this gift! . The Cat is definitely the synth to get if you're into retro video game music and you want to analog it up!
excellent ! please more videos like this your are on the top of the synth review with this one ! VERY good job, full and deep research on the model reviewed, full quality, thanks a lot
I love this. Demo with an actual melody. There is way too many that just make noise for demo. I get it but this is way better, it actually demos the application. EDIT - this video made me subscribe. Thank you.
This is possibly the best video imo. Better gear, better video. I'd like to see you try some of the other classic boutique modules from Roland and behringer.
Brilliant review and demo!!! As a child of the 70's when you played the last tune, I just wanted to go out and put on some flares, platform shoes and grow my hair long again ;)
Great review. Loved how you went through so much and then provided that awesome song at the end. It’s an amazing sounding synth... and guess what? It arrives at my doorstep next week!
Excellent work all around. Really great vocal quality, great audio capture and the knowledge sharing with examples is top drawer. Much success. Subscribed.
By any chance was it Chase? I acquired a big stack of 80's electronic music magazines, which had adverts by Chase featuring the Cat for £349. Pretty sure they don't have them now, haha
When I saw the video title and that it was from your channel, I thought for sure this was a sponsored video by Behringer. But it isn't? You just liked this synth so much you made a Keen on Keys video about it! That's already a high compliment for the CAT. This does a much better job of explaining the CAT and why someone may want to pick it over the various other analogue synths than Behringer's own video about it. I think it would be nice to see other synth explanation videos from you, or some other modern product videos. You are so calm and methodical about how you walk through everything the synth or keyboard does, these videos are very easy to watch and extremely informative.
Thank you! No, I'm not sponsored by Behringer. I like the CAT, but since this is the only Behringer synthesizer I have, I really can't say if it's the best. I think I chose it because the original is not so well known.
@@KeenOnKeys That makes sense! I do really enjoy the history you focus on in each of these videos, especially that in-depth research into the Casio VL-Tone demo song. Since the Yamaha DX7 is so famous and Korg has that popular (and cute!) Volca FM recreation of it, would you consider doing a Keen on Keys history/analysis/breakdown of them? I have a DX7, I am happy to record anything (footage or audio) you might need of it if so.
@@KeenOnKeys the WASP is another unknow and not expensive and very interesting analog synth by B. it could be interesting if you can do the same with it, because all the concepts and possibilities of this synth are different than other analog synth, very particular
I spend the last ten days recording an album with the CAT: keenonkeys.bandcamp.com/album/behringer-cat
And I had a closer look at the strange behavior of the sync modes as shown in the video ( 26:04 ). The dropouts mainly occur when you try to create sweeps with LFO or ADSR. The lower the notes the more dropouts you get, and it's getting worse if the sub octave of VCO1 is involved. But I am not quite sure if this is the case with all models. I have read a couple of reviews and not all of them mentioned this.
I am loving it so far! “Shine On Your Crazy Cat” is a fantastic song, and “Danger Cat” has phat leads like you wouldn’t believe. \m/
dark side of the cat is beautiful. congrats and thx ;) s2
cool, which seq did u use in Cat Lovers? thanks
Absolutely amazing. "A Saucerful of Milk" is my favorite :-D
@@bluematrix5001 The Arpeggiator of the Yamaha PSS-A50
By far the best demo of the Cat I've seen.
Agreed!
not only cat, but every synth
Its somewhat no demo but a very good detailed guide/review. There are more "entertaining" demos. But if you have the cat, its worth soooo much.
A great program list included for CAT users.
Seriously, this is a treasure trove of patch ideas. I don't think I've ever seen so inspirational tutorial. Calling this a "review" is a huge understatement.
Good fan boy.
@@lambertlambert7076lol what
35 Years ago: I self built an Elektor Formant Analog Synthesizer. Now: I ordered a Behringer CAT to teach my 5 year old daughter to make electronic music. She loves it and is always smiling, when she hears the funny "meowish" sounds. :-) Thank you for this fantsatic review!
You need to find her one of those Cheshire cat midi keyboards, too cute.
Selbstgelötet.... ahhh, die fetten Jahre.
@@Pulse2AM B. Toys Meowsic
Are you still making electronic music?
What a world class presentation!
Picture, sound, editing, content knowledge, the history documentary, musicianship and if I’ve forgotten anything, that was probably top class as well.
My thanks and appreciation.
Just received my Cat. Your demo was one of the most inspiring demos of this or really any other instrument I’ve seen. Wonderful long form video!!!
Thank you for an incredibly well made video review. This is one of the best reviews I have ever seen - period. This is not a cheap compliment to be taken lightly as I have watched quite a lot over the years and my favourite youtube channels regarding synthesizer reviews are loopop (for tutorials/reviews), starsky carr (technical overview), Alex Ball (history, performance, humor), musictrackjp (reviews), bad gear (HUMOR), Andrew Huang (overall content) and Tim Shoebridge (overall content). So the competition is rather fierce but you managed to give them a run for their money and made it look easy. Chapeau!
I was on the brink of adding the Cat to my collection and clicked on your video on my mobile phone thinking it was Starsky's and I was immediately drawn in by your voice. It has perfect timbre and a soothing quality and I could listen to it for hours. Then there is the video length and content composition - just perfect. Some historical background without going in too deep and then the introduction of the Synthesizer in general, followed by examples of the use of the different sections. And everything is spot on and sounds absolutely amazing. Oh and did I mention your voice...?
Too make a long story short: I have obviously bought the Cat (and will have a hard time making it sound as nice as you did), subscribed to your channel and hope that you will throw in a synthesizer review every now and then as I am not so much into older keyboards w/o synth capability). I don't really care which Synthesizer it is as long as I just can listen to that voice :-)...
Thank you again and keep up the excellent work!
Thank you very much. I am sure you're gonna have a lot of fun with the CAT. I am still quite happy with it and I will certainly do a couple more Synth reviews in the future.
Yes, you mentioned the heavy hitters and Keen on Keys can keep company with them with this quality production. Really nice vocal production. Easy to listen to and good audio over all. It makes it enjoyable to take in what you have to offer.
You can change the "lower note has priority" setting using the PC software or using sysex commands (see manual). This applies to all beringer synths.
Oh wow, that's great to know!
You have an excellent grasp on the architecture of the synth engine and how to play the wide variety of sounds that are lurking in the beast
I think this is the synth I have been always looking for, seems very hands on and versatile. Somehow I have overlooked this until recently, thank you for very good review!
This Cat sure does purrr, I love it. I also appreciate the fact that you sound like a German Liam Neeson
Thanks for keeping the front panel clearly visible and giving us a lot of patch ideas.
Best Synth presentation ever, I really enjoyed it. I hope you review other Behringer Modules
I do not comment often, but I had to on this review. Not only an in depth product review but a full on synth tutorial with a huge amount of great sounding patches and well formulated explanation. I am baffled how many totally different sounds can be achieved with a seemingly simple parameter list. Makes me question the use of modern digital synths with lots of polyphony and endless modulation possibilities. This synth seems so much more hands on and fun and surprisingly versatile. Great video!
A lot of musicians don't know how to patch a synth. Especially with modern VSTs from the likes of U-He where you have literally thousands of patches people become patch hunters. The great thing about the (new)old synths is that it forces you to understand how sound is made. In defense of VSTs like Hive or Diva if you do take it upon yourself to learn how to use them the results can be amazing.
it is fantastic that there are no reverb or delay on fx, so we can hear real sound of synth. today, every synth, vst, demo, has a lot of reverb, and when you remove tham, you find out that you have nothing
I have some synths that I basically do 90% of the sound design with effects, like the Microbrute. Others like the Mother-32 don't even need effects. But I love each for the purposes I use them for.
I can tell you this, this review/demo is great and you have one of the best speaking voices/pace I have heard in any gear reviewing channel. Happy 2022!
First of all, fantastic demo, thank you. This is one of those gems I'm so glad to have picked up. It gets pretty deep and I found can be tricky when first learning the interface; your review/tutorial introduced me to configurations I haven't even considered. The first time I sat down with it I twisted knobs and flicked switches to a point where I lost sound output and couldnt figure how to regain any semblence of a workable patch. Each time I decided to sit with it, new configurations became apparent. I honestly think its extremely underrated out of behringer's vintage repro line. Thanks again for bringing out all these sounds, Bravo!
The quality of this video is amazing!
When a guy who actually knows what he's doing demos a synth.
Perfect music store salesman
You could say he's "Keen On Keys"
it becomes a crash course. that I'm following because I've just been gifted one of these.
Nah he’s gay
Exactly. Very professional and knowledgeable.
One of the best synth tutorials I've seen generally. So informative and no nonsense
The blending of wave forms on synths in general is underrated. Have to have this
Wow, I wasn‘t prepared to watch such a good review/demo/tutorial/whatever! I really appreciate the style. Not so fast and chatty as many other video, but also not boring. And the outro tune is killer! 😃
Thanks for this complete demonstration on the use of CAT. 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Man, your review is the best I've ever seen! Outstanding!
Excellent rundown!!! Super quality info and presentation. All there is to know! I thought loopop was the only one who could master the perfection of product guides like this. Comparing the two of you, his excels in navigation with the time cues on the screen but yours tops his in performance demonstrations and in clarity and comprehensiveness, it’s a draw. (Edit: Didn't notice the time cues in the description when looking on my iPhone. This makes it even greater!)
Still one of my all time favorite synth presentation. Skillful, passionate, well articulated in word and play, resourceful and brilliant video and audioquality.
It also perfectly brings the character of this device to life. Thank you Sir for all this effort.
This is honestly the best video to sell me on the Cat. I didn't think much of it because other videos didn't mention the modulation possibilities. I'm glad to realize it's far capable than what I gave it credit for!
Fantastic and professionally presented as always! I look forward to your video on the PSS 480 if that's still in the works :)
Starsky Carr did a review which mention everything including the quirks not sure if you have seen that one ??
Wow.....this synth sounds incredible, vibe and fat tone for days. Thanks for an excellent video
Excellent review, great programming and fantastic production. Top notch all around. Thanks so much for making this video!
I've watched this video like maybe 3 times now and every time it feels like the little melody's you play just get more and more familiar, even the first time it felt like I knew all the melodies and now it just feels even more like I know all of them, all in all I've attributed it to this TH-cam video just being magic idk, anyways absolutely loved every second of this, it deservers millions of views.
Best video about the Cat synth! Very clear and cool sounds.
Had me glued to the end, and I normally switch off with some reviewers. Behringer released this statement on their facebook "CAT. In dual mode the note priority has now changed to from low to last note" Nice job, cool synth and you should do some more synth reviews.THANKS
Yes, please make the synth explanation video, if you haven't already... Please, just make any video... They are so much joy, they are precious.
YES! PLEASE! Make a synth tutorial video that covers basics and goes through higher concepts.
Thanks for make a video demonstrating it's potential for pleasant sounds. I've been well informed on how it screeches. Most appreciated.
...and that's a pretty jamming tune at the end there.
Very good review! You really show what such a relatively simple 'mono' analogue synth can actualy do.
No additional synth tutorial needed I suppose, in a way this is a synth tutorial and a review in one.
This video was extremely helpful, especially for understanding some of the unorthodox quirks of this synth. I just got the CAT yesterday, and thought that the weird mono mode keyboard tracking (only changing for descending pitches) and S&H behavior meant that mine was defective! Now that I know that it’s supposed to function that way, I can work around it.
I always felt LFO delay was an essential feature - Brilliant presentation - Thanks for doing this. Cheers.
First off: your videos are splendid. Tastes are subjective of course. However, to me everything about them is great. One can feel the sheer effort you have put in to make them. I highly appreciate the musical examples as well as the full blown carefully arranged full blown tracks and will definitely buy your albums (when I will have a decent income again, so that I don't have to pay a ridiculously low price now but instead am able to later actually support you financially). There is one thing that outshines all of the other great aspects of your videos in my opinion: no bullshit. I can not tell you how much this is worth. There are lots of content creators which make decent videos in terms of technical quality, but the content is sometimes simply lacking. With your videos, there is neither babbling, nor stuttering, repetitions, unnecessary commentary or anything else. Just pure facts, a soothing voice, clean and precise explanations and a bit of subtle humour every now and then. ("A saucerful of Milk" just played for example and I was forced to smirk due to the meow sounds.) Top that off with your editing skills and of course the music and you get one of my favourite channels on TH-cam.
As for your question about making a video explaining the workings of a synthesizer: For me personally, such a video is not necessary. For people who just fell down the slippery slope and into the world of synthesizers and their strange addictiveness, such a video certainly will be useful, especially since it will presented in your own personal way, even though there already are decent explanations on the internet. (I think your no bs style is comparable to loopop for example, though I like your music better than his ;) It could certainly introduce a new audience to your videos, potentially increasing your financial gain.
What I personally would highly enjoy is a video about your workflow and your inspirations for melodies, chords, compositions, etc. I think.
I like to noodle around, design sounds on my synths, record a few loops and then simply stop at some point. When I set out to make a full track, I lose motivation or inspiration after half an hour and decide to do something else. Just sticking to it will help of course, however I am curious whether you have to force yourself to finish tracks as well or if you just enjoy to work on tracks until they're finished.
Have a good one! Your work is highly appreciated.
Thank you very much. Yes, it is a lot of work, mainly because my english is so bad. But it is fun.
Finishing a track always takes a while. Usually 80% is done in a few minutes, but the rest can take hours or days. I sometimes finish a song that I started a year or two before. But only a finished song helps me to improve. And that's one reason why I enjoy making music with small toy keyboards: The limitations.
@Keen On Keys Selbst wenn das Wort eines Schweizers wohl nicht so viel zählt wie das eines Native Speakers: für mich klingt dein Englisch super. Die Stimme ist angenehm und grammatikalische Fehler sind mir bisher noch keine aufgefallen :) Klar hört man den deutschen Akzent ein klein wenig heraus, allerdings bereichert der die Videos eher und stört überhaupt nicht, denke ich.
Danke für die Info! Das klingt so, als ob die Effekte, Levels, Breaks, usw. viel Zeit in Anspruch nehmen, hingegen die Melodien, Akkorde, Pattern und Rhythmen schnell angedacht sind.
Klingt zwar etwas kitschig, aber ich stimme voll und ganz zu: Limitations foster creativity. Ich halte ab und zu Ausschau nach einem guten alten PSR oder einem Casiotone. Leider verkaufen die Leute meistens nur moderne und für mich schlecht klingende Keyboards. Lieber einige wenige, eingeschränkte, aber dafür warme, angenehme Klänge mit Charakter. Und für die alten, leider oftmals ungepflegten Geräte wollen sie über Hundert Franken. Obwohl ich eine Art falsche Nostalgie spüre wenn ich die Klänge dieser alten Geräte höre (weil ich gerade mal 1995 auf die Welt gekommen bin) möchte ich mir trotzdem einmal ein älteres Keyboard leisten. Synths hatte und habe ich genug und liebe sie nach wie vor. Aber sich einfach mal mit so einem Gerät hinsetzen und einen Song schreiben ist wahrscheinlich doch noch mal etwas ganz anderes.
Ich hatte vor ein paar Tagen etwas gefunden, was dich (ich bin so frei und duze und hoffe, dass mir das nicht übel genommen wird) interessieren könnte: Gratis Plugins für das PSS 170 und das PSS 480. Leider funktioniert der Link nicht mehr. Die VSTs kann ich dir aber gerne zur Verfügung stellen, falls du willst.
Die Hardware fehlt natürlich und macht den Unterschied. Dennoch kann man sich auch künstlich limitieren, dafür aber trotzdem in den Genuss von erweiterter Polyphonie kommen :)
Hast du schon einmal von koishistyle gehört? Er gehört auch den Synthesizer Multitrackern an und benutzt meistens nur ein Gerät für seine Aufnahmen. Diese sind meistens ziemlich günstig und dementsprechend limitiert, wie zum Beispiel der Korg Monotron. Er hat mir als einer der ersten vor ein paar Jahren gezeigt, dass es schlicht nicht auf die Zahl oder die Qualität der Geräte ankommt, sondern fast nur auf die Kreativität und die Geduld, respektive den Biss des Musikers.
Ich könnte wohl bis morgen über Synths und Keyboards und Musik schreiben. Ein Gespräch mit dir würde viel Spass machen, denke ich, allerdings weiss ich nicht, ob dich das auch interessieren würde.
Mach auf jeden Fall weiterhin Musik und Videos, ich finde beides super von dir :)
There is a way to change the low note priority to latest note. It's a hack in the Synth Tribe software. Select Polychain 2 then Unison mode. This way it thinks it is sending the latest note to the second synth and it works.
Loved the video. The more in depth the better for me. One thing though. That synth is screaming out for effects! Its kinda mind blowing just how much effects change the raw sounds. A little sweet reverb goes a long way. Of course then you get people complaining they want to hear it raw to better judge the sound but for me I'd never use any of those sounds raw. Anyway, thoroughly enjoyed the walkthrough. I'd never even heard of the original before. I want to see that last synth they made now too. It looks wild. The Voyetra one. Cheers.
I really like the no-effects showcase myself - keeps it easier to understand. =)
Though I think Keen adds some effects in post when he uses the synths for the music (he mentioned in the past reviews and in the sampling process how-to), so the arrangements we hear *do* show just *how much* effects can change and improve the raw output. There’s definitely panning and reverb in there!
@@MyOtheHedgeFox I'm a simple man. I put it through the massive reverb from another dimension and it all sounds great haha.
That's so true! I have a Casio CT-630 - a 1987 PCM-sample based synth that I inherited from my uncle, but I never really used it to make music because it sounds ridiculous. Yesterday I saw some videos of using guitar pedals with synths, so I tried and put it through a flanger, some compression and reverb, and WOW! You suddenly get very powerful, punchy leads and basses, and best of all, since it's PCM based, it has complex waveforms and lots of harmonics that the effects seem to latch on :D :D
What a great demo and tutorial... There's a great story I have about this synth, but this was awesome!
The best review of the CAT. Thank you!
The Cat is, by far, the most interesting clone Behringer has made as far as I'm concerned. I was never aware of the original, and by most accounts it seems like a fairly obscure synth, but good god, what a great choice of one to recreate. It's deceptively simple, and capable of plenty of common sounds, yet to my ears, has a real capability for knock-out sounds that are fatter and fuller than a lot comparable instruments.
I have the Model D, and that's great, don't get me wrong. Classic sounds, and very capable. But the Cat is the one that gets under my skin and makes me crave more of those sounds. All of them. The weirder the better.
how stable is the Cat's tuning?
@@JeezVince If it's as stable as the Model D, then it should be very good.
@@rars0n Sorry I misread and thought you had the CAT. Cheers, mate.
@@JeezVince No worries, I'm probably going to buy one soon.
Simply the Best Demo!!! Please do more demo's on other analog synthesizers.
wow this has real character, great review, love the jam at the end
Definitely a great demo / review. This is going to be one of my next Behringer synths to join the arsenal. 👍👍👍👍👍
more synth videos!
this is the best cat review i've seen
Great tutorial! love the song at the end!
Excellent video-and the outro song is amazingly good!
Excellent video! (Listening to the album on bandcamp as I type) I suspected that this synth was a sleeper. It has such a range of sound design possibilities. Thanks so much for taking the time to craft such a well thought out walk through. 🙏
Thanks for showing us what this Kitty-CAT can do. I had no idea that it was this versatile.
Please make a synth explanation video as it will help people who are unfamiliar with all the terms and features to understand everything a lot better. For the uninitiated, it can be a bit daunting and overwhelming to hear so many terms and features mentioned without a proper, in-depth explanation as to what they do and can be used for. Really great videos and channel here. Very cool to see and hear so many awesome keyboards, their features and sounds. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, skill, talent and experience. Looking forward to many more videos. Keep up the awesome work!...
Excellent and exhaustive review! Thank you!
Aaand you also have a B.Meowsic to compliment it. Classy!
Thanks for giving it such a thorough review, Keen, and expecially for explaining all the more difficult concepts in the way you do it. Sound synthesis is a little bit like exercise: if you’re not into it, it’s not easy to see why so many people love all these often-jarring experiences so much. It’s so much more enjoyable with a slow, steady intro course that shows where all the pieces should fall in!
Really like the finishing composition too. I’m a tracker music / chip music radio moderator, so this reminds me of Stephane Picq from the AdLib era - one of the best music composers for the DOS games back in the day - if he’d be able to use much more than the YM3812 sinewaves. The lead at 33:07 was _amazing._
And speaking of DOS, thank you for showing the patch at 24:36 in particular! This very trick was used in another DOS soundtrack (to _Gobliins 2_ by Charles Callet) for a dream sequence scene, which is what eventually made me so interested in chip music. I finally found out how it’s done!!
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Odd question, if you may: what are you using for the table backgrounds? If it’s thick colored paper, it’s really good at resisting creases from all the scratchy hardware you put on top!
yes, it's coloured paper and I had to flip it after a while.
@@KeenOnKeys That’s clever! Thank you for clarifying - and thank you once again for the really nice video!
@@MyOtheHedgeFox Thanks for watching!
Nice job! Thanks for the timestamped parts. I had the CAT a long time ago, recently got the bCat. Learned new things to do with your demo, especially the 4 note sequencer. I had not thought about the self modulation with the jacks... was thinking about how to interface with VCV rack, for more fun... anyway, thanks much!
the piece you play in the final performance is an absolute banger
This is how you do a review! Excellent job, awesome sounds!
Great review Keen!!!!! Thanks
epic outro!!!! thanks for the vid :)
Even though us furry scruffbums already have a full house, our owner decided to get another cat, from Behringer. After spending hours studying the old octave cat manual and watching tons of vidis, making a lot of random uncontrolled sonic fur balls he came across this gem of a video through a Reddit link we believe. Pure catnip, brilliant production and all the essential information to get the new cat on the block purring, meowing and hissing. This is now his, and should be any can openers reference documentary on how to raise a feral feline. You should be "the Behringer Presenter" and we hope you get some form of kickback from them as you furrily deserve it! Great tune at the end. Thank from the Manx
amazing video and I feel like you have the right voice for these kind of videos
Your playing is stellar! Excellent video.
Thanks for this review!
I feel like this synth is underrated. You can create so many interesting sounds with it.
This demo makes me want the synth even more!
I'm of the opinion that there's room enough on your channel to review whatever bits of goodness you feel is entertaining and educational to put out there - Keen, you could review a DX7 and find things about it that no one else thought was interesting and make that the focal point of a half-hour video that would capture the imagination! You do you and we'll follow happily along: believe me.
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This one was WAY fun, educational, comprehensive, exhaustive and concise! Far and away the best Behringer synth review on the Tubes. Many thanks for this gift!
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The Cat is definitely the synth to get if you're into retro video game music and you want to analog it up!
The production value on this is amazing
Last Note Priority is located in "Poly Chain" Total Device:2 Voice Mode: Mono2 , Priority:Last
excellent !
please more videos like this your are on the top of the synth review with this one !
VERY good job, full and deep research on the model reviewed, full quality, thanks a lot
From the history portion, I would love a Voyetra 8. The sounds New Order got out of that were quite fantastic.
Thx so much great review, you have a new fan 😊
The outro demo is Fantastic!
Absolutely love the sounds poppin off that thing. The theremin even sounds amazing.
I love this. Demo with an actual melody. There is way too many that just make noise for demo. I get it but this is way better, it actually demos the application.
EDIT - this video made me subscribe. Thank you.
Brilliant review and demo. Best patches I've seen so far. 👍
Outstanding review! Even better tune at the end!! Thank you. Liked and Subscribed
Good review. Liked the funky jam.
Really lovely demo. Thanks for handling this proper. Do more of these Behringer synths! :) Thanks!
the best demo i have ever seen
This is possibly the best video imo. Better gear, better video. I'd like to see you try some of the other classic boutique modules from Roland and behringer.
Best demo ever subscribed
I bought one of these and have been watching this video on repeat to satisfy my hype while I wait for it to arrive
Awesome! Especially outro song. Subbed
I‘d love to see more of the occasional „big“ synths on this channel!
You'll probably see a few more this year.
Excellent review and tutorial
Very thorough. It is an interesting synth for sure.
Heck yeah, that jam at the very end! Very nice.
Brilliant review and demo!!! As a child of the 70's when you played the last tune, I just wanted to go out and put on some flares, platform shoes and grow my hair long again ;)
Great review. Loved how you went through so much and then provided that awesome song at the end. It’s an amazing sounding synth... and guess what? It arrives at my doorstep next week!
This was perfect 👌 video review keep this quality up. Real showed what this thing can do.
Thank you for the review, very interesting.
Good review. Definitely a tempting product. A friend had the original Cat back in the 80s. Great synth.
What a review!!! Thank you so much !!! Best review ever!!!
Excellent work all around. Really great vocal quality, great audio capture and the knowledge sharing with examples is top drawer. Much success. Subscribed.
Only 8k subs? Excellently produced video and fantastic playing!
I remember playing on both the Cat and the Kitten at a well known music store in Manchester in the 80's, it got me into Electronic Music.
By any chance was it Chase? I acquired a big stack of 80's electronic music magazines, which had adverts by Chase featuring the Cat for £349. Pretty sure they don't have them now, haha
Damn, this is a seruosuly quality video. Love the synth history lesson at the start, basically a mini documentary.
The best Examples from this interesting analog Monster.Best Video of YT
When I saw the video title and that it was from your channel, I thought for sure this was a sponsored video by Behringer. But it isn't? You just liked this synth so much you made a Keen on Keys video about it! That's already a high compliment for the CAT. This does a much better job of explaining the CAT and why someone may want to pick it over the various other analogue synths than Behringer's own video about it.
I think it would be nice to see other synth explanation videos from you, or some other modern product videos. You are so calm and methodical about how you walk through everything the synth or keyboard does, these videos are very easy to watch and extremely informative.
Thank you! No, I'm not sponsored by Behringer.
I like the CAT, but since this is the only Behringer synthesizer I have, I really can't say if it's the best. I think I chose it because the original is not so well known.
@@KeenOnKeys That makes sense! I do really enjoy the history you focus on in each of these videos, especially that in-depth research into the Casio VL-Tone demo song.
Since the Yamaha DX7 is so famous and Korg has that popular (and cute!) Volca FM recreation of it, would you consider doing a Keen on Keys history/analysis/breakdown of them? I have a DX7, I am happy to record anything (footage or audio) you might need of it if so.
@@KeenOnKeys the WASP is another unknow and not expensive and very interesting analog synth by B.
it could be interesting if you can do the same with it, because all the concepts and possibilities of this synth are different than other analog synth, very particular
brilliant review
Excellent and comprehensive demo, thank you.