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!

Resources:

• Casio CZ-1000 editor librarian at SoundQuest
  

via AnalogAudio1:

The Casio CZ-1000 is a digital synthesizer with the “phase distortion” synthesis. It came out 1985 and it was one of the first low cost synthesizers with MIDI multimode.

The CZ-1000 looks like something between Yamaha DX7 and Korg Poly-800. Like the Korg Poly-800, it can run with batteries. The CZ-101 is virtually the same, it just has small keys.

Casio had the idea to develop a digital synth with modern digital sounds, which is easy to program like an analog synth. Indeed, it uses similar terminology (DCO, DCW, DCA) – if you understand subtractive synthesis, the CZ will be also easy for you to understand.
Instead of real filters, you have the DCW – this is the unit, which distorts the phase of the DCO. Resonance is not available, but you can produce similar sounds with special DCO waveforms. There are 8 waveforms, two of them can be used at once.

It has portamento, monophonic / polyphonic modes and cartridge storage. Like the original DX7, the display is not backlit.

The Casio can produce digital and analog-style sounds. Great house organs can be produced. Some “filter sweep” sounds are interesting (the bass in the movie). But other analog-style sounds are a bit static and boring to my ears, I would recommend the Casio for digital sounds – not for the analog sounds. Analog sounds are better on the competitor Korg Poly-800.

The timing of the sound engine is not the best – a three notes chord causes a significant delay between notes (you can hear it in the movie). But okay, it was a small budget synth.

In the video I played the CZ-1000 with a Lexicon MPX 500 reverb.

Vince Clarke used to have one in the eighties.

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!

via littlebootsvideos

AlgoMusic has introduced CZynthia, a VSTi based on the classic Casio CZ synthesizer line.

You can preview the sound of CZynthia below:

Features:

• Two Phase Distortion Oscillator sections each offering two sets of 8 waveforms.
• Three 8 stage envelopes each synth for control of pitch, phase and amplitude.
• LFO (BPM synced or free running) offering 22 waveforms, rate and delay with pitch and phase destinations.
• Pulsar module for algorithmic style pitch/phase modulation. (BPM synced)
• Ring modulation, detune and transpose controls
• Volume and panorama controls for stereo imaging and master volume.
• Scale generator for force scaling of notes. Choice of 8 scales with root key selection.
• Powerful multi FX section offering 7 simultaneous stereo effects: EQ, Rotor, Metal, Wah, Delay, Chorus, Reverb.

CZynthia retails for $39.95 / €27.95. A demo is available.

This is a vintage flexidisc from Casio introducing the Casiotone 202 Electronic keyboard, their second ever.

1981 Casiotone 202 Demo Record

via jafafah0ts

Sunday Synth Jam: Amza Tairov plays a Korg Triton, using what appears to be a Casio CZ-101 to modulate it. Tairov makes extensive use of the pitch-bend wheel, giving his playing a string-like quality.

It’s not clear from this video if Tairov is synth-syncing (miming to a prerecorded track) or if the video editing is just a little iffy on this.

If you know more about Amzo Tairov, leave a comment below!

via orcunsp2:

Klavye Virtüözü Amza Tairov’dan Popstar Alaturkada çald??? Mükemmel Solo- Amza popstar alaturka Tairov Hamza Tairof popstar alaturka org klavye ?ov bulgar makedon casio cz101 korg cigani cita svirac canl? show ?ov pa 80 Cita Svirac cigani makedonija solo Keyboard KORG TRITON CASIO Komotini Sampling

Have you ever wondered if a cheap Casio synth could be used to make a complete track – that doesn’t sound cheesy?

That’s the challenge robotpickle took on in creating this track. Every sound comes from a Casio CZ-101 synthesizer.

At the time the Casio CZ-101 synth was released in 1984, it was one of the cheapest polyphonic synths ever made and featured 49 miniature keys.

This video looks at fixing a broken, cheap toy Casio keyboard.

via organfairy:

I got this little CASIO SA-10 from a jumble sale. It cost me a massive 10 dkr – the equivalent of 2$.Unfortunately there was no sound but it turned out to be just some old batteries that had leaked all over the place. This video shows the restoring process where I first take it apart. Then I wash the plastic parts and clean the contact pads. And finally I put it together again and test if it works.

The music that comes with this video is something I made myself and it is played on the Yamaha HE-8 organ,Viscount RBX-850 organ, Roland JX-8P synthesizer, Korg Rhytm 55 drum machine, and the melody is played on a Yamaha PSS-12 and a CASIO SA-1 toy keyboard. The SA-10 that is shown in this video has the same sound chip as the SA-1 but four note polyphony instead of two.

The Casio CZ-1 was the top of the Casio’s CZ synthesizer line. The CZ series were a family of low-cost phase distortion synthesizers produced by Casio mid-1980s.

The CZ-1 synthesizer offered the classic CZ sound, but also featured stored splits and layers , velocity and aftertouch sensitivity. The CZ-1 also featured a backlit display – an improvement over the rest of the series.

There were eight models of CZ synthesizers released:

• CZ-101
• CZ-230S
• CZ-1000
• CZ-2000S
• CZ-2600S
• CZ-3000
• CZ-5000
• CZ-1

Additionally the home-keyboard model CT-6500 used 48 phase-distortion presets from the CZ line.

The CZ series were flexible synthesizers, and their price made programmable synthesizers affordable.

If you’ve used the Casio CZ-1, leave a comment with your thoughts!

Casio CZ-1 Resources

• Wikipedia entry for the Casio CZ series
• Casio CZ-1 at SonicState
• The Casio CZ-1 at RetroSound
• Cosmo’s Casio World
• Deep Synthesis on the Casio CZ-1
• Casio CZ-1 Banks for Kontakt3, Wav
• Casio CZ-1 Editor/Librarian and Virtualizer for Windows and Macintosh OS X
• Patchman offers patches for the Casio CZ-101, CZ-1000, CZ-3000, CZ-5000, CZ-1

Video via AnjelicasBaby:

Hi Paul Leishman from British new wave, dance, electronic synthpop and pop music artist Anjelicas Baby here.

Just been experimenting with a now very rare Casio CZ-1 Phase Distortion synthesizer in cubase. All sounds are off the Casio CZ-1 with the addition of modern computer FX and a house drum loop for added effect.

Angelicas Baby music now can be downloaded or listened to from the following sites: iTunes U.S., iTunes Australia/N.Z., iTunes Canada, iTunes UK/European Union, iTunes Japan, Rhapsody, Napster, eMusic, IMVU, Amazon MP3, Lala, Shockhound, Amie Street, last.fm, indiestore.com. In the near future there will be many more.

Many thanks for your ongoing support

This is a demo of the funky Casio SK-10 sampler/synthesizer, by Liz Luttinger.

The SK-10 offers 1.4 seconds of 8-bit sampling goodness, along with some eightiestastic drum beats and synth tones.

If you’ve used the Casio SK-10, leave a comment with your thoughts!

Casio SK-10 Features:

• 9.38 kHz sampling frequency
• 8 bit
• 1.4 seconds of sampling
• holds one sample
• 32 mini keys
• 13 envelope shapes
• portamento
• vibrato
• 11 drum patterns: disco, rock, pops, march, samba, bossa nova, rhumba, 4 beat, swing, slow rock, waltz
• additive synth section.
• 5 PCM tones: piano, brass ensemble, trumpet, synth drums, human voice
• 3 synth tones: flute, pipe organ, jazz organ
• Sequencer: 400 steps of polyphonic programming or 99 step chord sequence with and 198 steps each of two solo voices.
• Loses all sequence and sample memory when turned off.

Casio SK-10 Resources:

• Casio SK-10 resource site.
• Details circuit bending photos of a Casio SK-10
• Highly Liquid carries a MIDI retrofit for the Casio SK-10
• Video demo via zachknows

If there’s anybody that you don’t want driving up and down your street at night, it’s probably EXOcontralto.

This video documents how he hooked up a cheap Casio synth to his 2000 watt automotive sound system so he could rock his ‘92 Dodge Caravan like no other, with massive “Loud Ass Bass.”

Details on this hack below.

This is a remake to a how-to car modification video, explaning, and going through the various procedures involved when re-wiring speaker terminals into RCA connects, designed for hooking into external receivers, Like you Car Audio Amplifier!

Loud Ass Bass!

Directions:

Solder existing speaker terminals with Idental pair of wires, Solder RCA connects, Connect to Auxially Receiver, or Amplifier, your DONE!

Tone: Synth Bass
Bass test tones were recorded in the key of C, and I go through various steps within that scale.

92 dodge caravan

Pioneer DEH-P6000ub
Clarion Eqs746
(1) Alpine MRP-M500
(1) Alpine MRP-M1000
(3) Orion HP12 sub’s @ 2 ohms
(2) Orion Cobalt 5.25’s
(2) Polk DB 5×7’s
(2) Polk DB 6×9’s
Big Three in 0 Gauge
(1) MCR 200 amp H/O Alternator
(2) Power Acoustik PCX’5 Caps

_ – ~ Auxillary ~ – _
(1) Coleman 800wrms DC/AC Power Inverter
(1) Sony THS-K670 @ 600wrms into 4 ohms
(1) 10′ MTX Blue Thunder SVC Sub into 4 ohms

This is a demo of PHONICPOTION’s wickedly bent Casio SK-1, featuring 24 modifications!

This video looks at the Casio SK-1: Everyman’s Sampling Keyboard.

The SK-1 is a small sampling keyboard that was made by Casio in 1985. It has 32 mini keys, four-note polyphony, with a sampling bit depth of 8 bit PCM and a sample rate of 9.38 kHz, a built-in microphone and line level input for sampling, and an internal speaker. It also features a small number of four-note polyphonic preset analog and digital instrument voices, and a simple additive voice.

In the video, one man band Willis P. Jenkins demos the SK-1 and explains how he uses it in his music.

via gearwire

This vintage video, with Jay Levy, is the introduction to a series of videos that show you how to play your Casio keyboard!

Best quote: “That bass player really knows how to lay down a groove down! That’s really a big hot smokin’ band we’re listening to!”

via teenageengineering, via Axehole

This is a rendition of Jarre’s Oxygene played entirely on a cheap Casio toy organ (except percussion and sound effects).

Why?

“Just to see if it was possible to get a minimally recognizable result, and to show that you don’t need lots of expensive keyboards to have fun playing classic synth stuff.”

All lines were played by hand with no sequencer and no MIDI, just a multitrack recorder. Some parts were just ad-libbed or deliberately changed to sound better with the (very) limited range of available sounds, but you’ll get a general idea of arrangements and overall mood.

Not bad for a $20 casio toy!

Let me know what you think of covering Jean Michelle Jarre’s Oxygene on a cheap Casio toy!

via cmatsuoka

Cheesetacular.

This is a quick, Bourne-o-vision video demo of the Casio KX-101 keyboard boombox, a relic from the glory days of boomboxes.

If you’ve got a Casio KX-101 send it to me, or at least leave a comment and let us know what you think of it!

via munnsey

MspidermanM’s Me Playing Electronic Keyboard has a infectiously happy naive quality about it – it’s so happy that it may just creep you out a bit.

via MspidermanM:

After one week self-study how to play electronic keyboard, I recorded the first chord played on my brother’s Casio CT-670 which he bought in 1996.

But he couldn’t handle it, my niece also, even after attending course to learn how to play.

They were all failed and he’s shocked when I played 3 solos once he came to visit us yesterday. (because he just gave it to me half month).

I just responded him that ‘nothing is impossible’ with smile.

Enjoy it,the audio part of the video! Although it’s just a very basic level.

Enoesque naiveté or just kitch? Let me know what you think in the comments.

This video demonstrates the sonic mangling power of a circuit bent Casio KA2 SA-2 Noize Keyboard/Synth Statikstramentz.

Not for the faint of heart.

via sunshinestatik