Casio

Tom at Waveformless put together a fun post taking a look at going vintage on the cheap.

There are a number of really underrated synths that seem to go for consistently low prices. They’re awesome synths, but nobody seems to know about them, which means you can get a great deal.

Here’s the list of synths that he highlights:

1. Casio CZ-101 (typically less than $100)
2. Ensoniq ESQ-1 (typically $150-$300)
3. Moog (Realistic) Concertmate MG-1 (typically $100-$500)
4. Oberheim Matrix-6R (typically $150-$350+)
5. Roland HS-10/80 (typically $25-$100)
6. Roland HS-60 (typically $200+)
7. Roland MKS-7 (typically $200+)
8. Yamaha CS-01 (typically $150-$250)
9. Yamaha TX81Z (typically $50-$85)

See Tom’s post for his take on each of these synths.

Are these great synths? No – but you can get great deals on them and make some great sounds.

As an alternative to the Casio CZ-101, I’d recommend the CZ-1, which has twice the polyphony plus a velocity + aftertouch sensitive full-size keyboard. And is still dirt cheap.

Got other ideas for cheap vintage synths that don’t suck? Leave a comment!

The Casio CZ-1000 is a vintage (80s) Phase Distortion Synthesis synthesizer, that’s basically a CZ-101 with full-size keys.

It offers 8-voice polyphony and a 49-key full-size keyboard. A two oscillator per voice option lets you get thicker sounds, but reduces the polyphony to 4 voices.

The CZ’s aren’t true classic synths, but they are reliable and offer a great vintage synth value.

If you’ve used the Casio CZ-1000 synthesizer, leave a comment with your thoughts! Read more…

Sunday Synth Jam: this video captures a “midnight ambient performance”, featuring the sounds of the JX-305, two 03R/W, Prophecy and a Casio VZ-1.

via L00m33r

This set of videos, via SynthManiaDotCom, offers a video review and tutorial for the classic Casio CZ-101.

While the CZ-101 is a minisynth, it can create some massive sounds, as these videos demonstrate.

This is the latest video from Little Boots (Victoria Hesketh), Earthquake.

Hesketh showed a great deal of promise with her bedroom synth jams – but the production of her EP and her videos seem to have largely homogenized her sound & look, Casio SK5 notwithstanding.

Let me know what you think of Little Boots’ latest in the comments! Read more…