kitten on the (electronic) keys

Why do synthesizer enthusiasts gravitate towards cats as pets/sidekicks? It's been discussed, with varying results.

This is another one of those niches that took me by surprise - every time I think I surely must have played out (unintentional Keyboard Cat reference) every known avenue of pet culture, something pops out of left field. But looking in from outside, the start of the cat/synth synthesis (ahem) was surely the Octave/Plateau Cat Synthesizer, manufactured from 1977-81. This fortunate naming made for some jolly ads. Then there's the well known attributes cats have of being curious, light on their feet and nimble with their paws. How often does your puppy scramble up to the keyboard? Not so much? You can enjoy a blog all about cats and electronic keyboards at CatSynth.

One discussion thread dropped the name "Wendy Carlos," the Moog music pioneer who scored the movies Tron and A Clockwork Orange. Why? Well, probably that Siamese draped blissfully over her shoulder on her homepage for starters, though she includes much, much more on her cats and other pets.