Embarking on the journey of being a cat’s guardian is an adventure filled with many surprises. Who could have fathomed that the path to becoming the best Cat Dad would involve coaching your internet-famous rescued kitten on a skateboard? Or that a tiny kitten discovered under a car would ascend to the role of the CEO of your small business? And let’s not forget the enchanting tales of cats and their piano prowess! You just never know with cats. That’s what a cat’s family from Detroit has discovered with their musical prodigy feline, Basinski the Synth Cat.
Big Basinksi the Synth Cat
Brandon Murphy, a Detroit, Michigan-area musician, engineer and educator, first shared a video of Basinski the cat playing the keyboard back in 2020. The grey and white cat has access to all kinds of musical equipment and loves seeing what all the buttons do.
Basinski via Instagram/illiacsound
There are so many instruments to choose, but what he seems to really love best is creating sounds by tinkling the ivories.
Image via Instagram/illiacsound
Of course, it’s no stretch to think a cat can learn to push keys to make sounds. Just check out Billi the Talking Cat or cats that have learned to use doorbells and remote buttons that play sounds and release a treat.
From the start, Brandon and his Mom saw the paw-tential of these early random jam sessions. Basinski was a diamond in the rough. Given some time, where would these purrformances lead? Would the kitty eventually be signed as a recording artist? Probably.
“Yeah. That’s cool,” said Brandon.
Video via Instagram/illiacsound
When Will the Album Drop?
It looked like an album could drop any day with this musical cat, but, as with any feline, they only do what they want. Alas, no amount of pressure from the music executives or his assistant sound engineer dad could produce a single.
Video via Instagram/pawtechre
Oh well, it was all for fun, and this cat really loves playing the keys.
“Meow Meow Meow mom and dad are my biggest supporters 🐈⬛🪩”
Video via TikTok/pawtechre
A Sudden Stroke of Genius
As if out of nowhere, Basinski suddenly got a burst of creativity and inspurration in late 2023. This was it: a stroke of genius when his signature sound spontaneously flowed from his paws. It was as if out of nowhere, and the kitty was clearly proud of his work, finishing with a satisfying “Meeeowwww!” (see video below)
“That was dope!” said Brandon.
Online, Basinski’s fans knew this was the instant classic they had been waiting for.
“This cat just wrote the hottest Baltic song of the year,” commented musician Larion online.
Video via Instagram/pawtechre
Basinski Throws Down the Sounds
It would be hard to top this one-of-a-kind purrformance, but Basinski has been experimenting with some new sounds in the studio recently. So who knows when he’ll drop another track? Just don’t try to take his picture while he’s playing! It looks like the kitty is surprised when Dad tries to catch his musical genius on camera.
For more, you can follow Basinski the Synth Cat, Studio cat, noise boi, and meowdular synthesist on Instagram and TikTok.
“Throwing down a short noise set in the studio on the #mooggrandmother [a type of synthesizer] got caught up in the magic.”
Video via TikTok/pawtechre
