briandc

Hi guys,

@BradMZ: as a not-by-chance linux user, you can imagine all the reasons why I'm not interested in getting an Apple product. (I'd rather spend the money on a hardware synth! )

@happyrat1: Thanks for link to the softsynths! I'm familiar with Kassiopea but I'll certainly explore the others too. I tested the one at PluginBoutique (it was on sale over the Christmas holidays for about 40 bucks-- arrgh!) and it worked very nicely. Certainly a good alternative to consider, even if I may pay more than I could have...

Still, a CZ softsynth by Casio would be veeerrry nice. Maybe someday...  :hopeful:

brian

Hi everyone,

I was looking around this forum to see if there's a CZ app made for PC (windows or linux) but I don't see one. Is Casio not interested in producing one?

There are several softsynths that do some emulation, but I would love to see Casio make its own!

brian

anyone know the direct link to the water sound OP was talking about?

Sorry for not getting back sooner..  here's a newer water sound, even better than the one made back in the 80's but probably can be done on the CZ nonetheless:

http://www.amsynth.com/amSynthdemos/8-92-Dripping.ogg

and this:

http://www.amsynth.com/amSynthdemos/10-74-Thirsty.ogg

brian

Here's a guy that knows how to tickle the ivories... (CZ101 patch played on AZ-1)

and another take:

NICE.

brian

I too have never heard The Minotaur by Dick Hyman before now.  Thanks very much for sharing this!

 

The comment about it sounding very ELP-ish is more accurate than you might think.  Emerson definitely quotes this piece during the live version of AquaTarkus on the triple live album "Welcome Back My Friends..."  I've always loved prog-rock, primarily because the keyboard players used the latest synths and produced the coolest new sounds.

 

When I was old enough to be able to start buying my own keyboards, I purchased a Casiotone MT-100 which I kept in my dorm room and played for years.  As the years went by, I really started to collect "cheap" keyboards, mostly by Casio.  I never really liked the sounds of Yamaha keyboards and FM synthesis left me cold.  However, many of the Casio sounds seemed "warmer" and more "analog" to me.  Eventually I got myself a CZ-101, which was my first programmable synth.  I eventually added more gear and wrote quite a bit of music.  Most of my gear was put away after I got married and had a child because my "studio" became my daughter's nursery.

 

It's only been the past couple of years that I've begun writing music again, due in large part to some great apps on the various iOS products.  I've sold some of my old gear in order to purchase newer gear such as a Casio WK-7500 and XW-P1 and I'm happily creating music once again!

 

Pierre

I have to agree about FM synthesis. Lots of people like it, and I can understand it. Yet to me it's a very cold, metallic-sounding synthesis method.  I'm not sure why.  -Is it the use of harmonics, perhaps incorrectly, that leads to lots of high-end tine-like sounds?   I don't know.

I wish I had delved into tweaking my Casio CZ1000 back then, to see really what it could do.  I'm now mostly working on amSynth (linux) and it's been fun getting a variety of sounds, whether FM-ish, warmer pads, effects, whatever.  Just standard subtractive synthesis.  But I like it better than FM.

brian

My first true exposure to synth music was with Jon Vangelis, the third record (yes vinyl:)) I bought in the early 80s (I would have been the class of '84) was Spiral...I proceeded to buy three more of his records. I liked the sounds and I could study by them in college. I finally returned to my love of synth's last year..took up the staff and started to learn music composition, main reason I bought Logic Pro. I was hooked...I stumble onto the XW-P1 because I was looking for a 40+key midi controller...then the wild idea crossed my mind to look at a simple synth...XW-P1 fit the bill, Midi Control Capability, 61 Keys plus bonus of huge assortment of sounds to play with. I almost bought a Novation Synth UltraNova but I liked the sugar coating of step sequencer / arpeggiator / performance keying. I use to look for the next Software Synth package to buy...Now I want to run the XW-P1 harder

Sounds like fun.

I read the other day that the newer Casio line has some of the CZ capabilites incorporated in it (ie. 9-step envelopes). I think it's good they keep offering a unique product. And of course with today's technology compared to what we had back in the 80's...

brian

I fell in love with the sound of synthesizers back in the 60's the first time I heard Dick Hyman play "The Minotaur"

http://grooveshark.c...an the minotaur

Incidentally, this was the first recorded album that ever incorporated synth technology.

Throughout the 70's I was a rabid fan of all the progressive rock groups but couldn't afford a keyboard until I reached my 20's back in the early 80's.

Wow! Never heard that one before! Very nice... kind of Emerson Lake and Palmer-ish.

Another group I hadn't heard of until last summer (but quite historic), with a pretty wild synth solo, here:

brian

Hi everyone,

I'm glad I found this forum! This is my first post here and I'd like to start by sharing my experience with Casio.

As a teen back in the 80's, I fell in love with synthesizers. I had been studying piano since I was 5 and although I enjoyed playing the piano, synths were amazing. I think "Howard Jones" was a major "culprit" in whetting my appetite to get a synth, and after a lot of peskering, my folks gave in.

I originally wanted a Roland, probably because that was one of the main synths I saw popular rock artists using on stage, and the place where I was studying piano at the time had a used Juno 106 come through. I thought it was a Godsend, but after a weekend of thinking about it (my mom insisted I be patient, after all, it was a big expense back then), when I got back on Monday it was gone!

Well, I then started considering the new CZ-1000 that was in the shop. I knew it would be fun, and although I didn't consider it a "serious" synth (I had friends around me buying everything but! Yamaha, Roland, Korg..). Maybe it was desperation, I don't know, but I bought it.

Waveforms and LFOs and everything else was pretty new to me, but I had fun tweaking. Maybe too much fun. And I discovered that the 8-stage envelopes for filter, pitch and amplitude were a head above the other "professional" synths that were out there. (Heck, even the DX7 didn't have stereo output!)

Then, I met a guy at the place where I worked, Tom, who had a CZ-101. So we decided to get together with our keyboards one weekend. After that weekend, we decided to meet again and share what we had come up with.

My friend absolutely amazed me with the sounds he had come up with! One was a trickling water-type sound; another was an emulation of the "Baba O'Reilly" intro. Another was a pretty impressive helicopter sound (not the cheezy stuff I had heard in the past).

I began looking at my CZ-1000 in a different light. This thing had power. In fact, I began "wowing" some of my friends who had other synths, as they couldn't reproduce the sounds (like the trickling water) that I was able to show them. (I even came across an ad about a "modulation strip" that could be soldered to the CZ-1000 to give mod wheel capability. So I got it, and my best friend (his name is Mike Martin! lol) gave me a hand in adding it. COOL!)

----

Well, time went by. I sold my CZ, which I now thoroughly regret. It was in good shape, but I thought the money was more important at the time. It wasn't. The money wasn't worth the synth. --Big mistake.-- With it, I sold several cartridges, and all the sounds it could make that I've never seen people post, even on YouTube. A true "love affair" ended.

----

Since 2001, I own a Yamaha Motif 8 that I enjoyed for a while, but I'm much more fascinated by tweaking waves than playing samples. (Yes, it's tweakable, but not the same world, imo.)

Then I began exploring softsynths, and in particular, linux-based synthesizers, as I use only linux now. So I use the Motif as a controller now, and it does a good job for that, weighted keys and all.

--------

Still, I certainly miss the CZ. I've recently made a website where I'm showcasing linux-based synths, and I was finally able to tweak the trickling water sound my friend Tom had created back then. I did it on a softsynth called amSynth. I called the sound "Mr. Tom" in dedication. What he could do, I've never seen demonstrated on any Casio demo, which is sad. Still to this day, I think that synth series wasn't given the attention it should have. Especially the CZ-1, with all the capabilities the CZ-1000 didn't have. Lots of powerful features there. Unfortunately, sampling arrived on the scene and changed the tide.

But I still love tweaking, probably now more than ever. Lots of info out there to learn from, and I'm now doing my part participating in the virtual synth arena. (How I wish I had had Internet back in the 80's, to show the world what my CZ could do!!!!)

End of rant...

If anyone is curious about the trickling water sound (as well as an emulation of the CZ "Brass Ens. 1" start-up patch) or about linux-based softsynths, feel free to visit me at: http://amsynth.com

In my humble experience, Casio is where it all started. I think the vision was good (and Tom should've been hired as a sound designer!). It's just sad that more attention wasn't given to it when it first came out.

Fortunately, I do see some passion re-ignited for these 80's synths. Maybe they'll re-make the CZ line, perhaps with a few more "modern" features, but maintaining the same traditional structure? I'd certainly consider the purchase if they did!

To me, the CZ line was as unique as the Moog or Prophet.

Love to hear anyone's comments!

brian