Casio HT-3000

[giano]

Hi everyone!

 

This is a short demonstration of how the internal sequencer on the HT3000 can be used to produce some simple FX or percussive sounds.

In the first example a fast chord pattern is emulating a ringing telephone, in the second one a fast rim-shot pattern reproduces a vibraslap sound. 

 

https://youtu.be/i18VFNdswzo

 

Edited: Noo! that's a hihat!! this is the vibraslap!!!!

 

https://youtu.be/yq8j1tRYuM8

 

Thanks for listening!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 6, 2021 by giano

[kefmif]

Hi, I am also a temporary HT 3000 user since I've just put mine on an auction

Although I did record some tracks played with it. I think it is a mighty little junky synth that has a lot of potential. I hope it will get a new, better home.

This is my version of Enjoy The Silence played with this instrument, I hope you'll like it!

 

 

[giano]

hi everyone!
 
This video shows some examples of external MIDI re-routing on HT3000:

1) upper and lower voice layered
2) bass preset and upper voice layered
3) upper voice with additional 5th.

 

I have used the MIDI-OX software and I think this can be done with many synthesizers.

There are lots of possibilities, although at the costs of polyphony.

 

Thanks for listening!

 

 

 

[Chas]

On 11/28/2021 at 9:27 AM, giano said:

hi everyone!
 
This video shows some examples of external MIDI re-routing on HT3000:

1) upper and lower voice layered
2) bass preset and upper voice layered
3) upper voice with additional 5th.

 

I have used the MIDI-OX software and I think this can be done with many synthesizers.

There are lots of possibilities, although at the costs of polyphony.

 

Thanks for listening!

 

 

 

@giano- Nice work again! Some really interesting sounds you manage to get out of the HT 👍

Once I finish my CZ comparison video, I plan on digging out my HT700 and HT6000 to compare those to each other. I also look forward to re-exploring Spectrum Dynamics synthesis again. I remember really liking my HT700, it had such a sweet sound ❤️ 

[giano]

@ChasThanks, happy you like it! looking forward to the CZ battle!! 😀

and of course to a future HT comparison! 

[giano]

Hello CMF!

 

I am reviving this old thread with some more sound examples from my HT3000:

 

Casio HT3000 - Dance E.59

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJPd34Ra_zQ

This is a short track to try out some new patches.

Comparing it with @Brad Saucier 's recent clip on the Casio S1000V makes me want to sell all my vintage instruments Still, the HT is 35yo so give him a chance...

 

Casio HT3000 - is it time for a new synth?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abJygxxhkJg

This is a sound example using MIDI re-routing and a simple effect box. The recording quality is better, and the HT3000 sounds good. So maybe I am going to keep it for some more...

 

Casio HT3000 - how low can it get?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFK27z3DMdI

This video shows how low the HT3000 can play. I have used a little trick on the LFO to gain one semitone more. All in all, I could get it down to E1,  even Eb1 with some additional tricks.

 

Hope you like it, cheers!

 

[Brad Saucier]

The old HT sounds great!  That bass sound could do the bass line in Axel F, which I thought you were about to play.  😅

[giano]

On 5/14/2022 at 3:45 PM, Brad Saucier said:

The old HT sounds great!  That bass sound could do the bass line in Axel F, which I thought you were about to play.  😅

Thanks; direct recording sounds better than DAW, i will try some higher resolution and sample rate next time, but I don't think I will get anywhere near modern equipment. An HT version of Axel F would be nice - getting the sounds would be hard but the HT may compensate with its 80s soul!

[giano]

Hi CMF!

here is a short video on replacing the battery on the RA100 RAM Card.

 

For clarity, my card was not working before and it still does not now...at the same time I must say that I had not noticed the small hole on the side and I have used quite some force to open the card the first time...

 

I hope it helps, cheers!

 

 

 

 

 

[Chas]

On 5/14/2022 at 4:52 AM, giano said:

Casio HT3000 - how low can it get?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFK27z3DMdI

This video shows how low the HT3000 can play. I have used a little trick on the LFO to gain one semitone more. All in all, I could get it down to E1,  even Eb1 with some additional tricks.

 

 

Though it's not in the Moog level of bass, some of the bass sounds in the HT series are still very usable and can easily provide the bass parts in a synthpop style song. I have a couple of rough HT700 songs I wrote and recorded a number of years ago and was surprised at how well the bass part would sit in a mix. I also used the same trick that you did by transposing the keyboard down as low as it would go to get the lowest bass notes that I could. I never knew about the LFO trick though - I must try that!

One thing I did discover might be the reason that the pitch bend can only go down -7 semitones rather than an entire octave. Transpose the keyboard to the lowest setting, hold down the lowest key on the keyboard (a physical C, though it's lower because of the transpose), then while the note is playing, pull down the pitch bend wheel as low as it will go and then simultaneously play a key an octave higher. Despite the actual keys being pressed being an octave apart, you'll find that they are out of tune with each other. It seems that when the pitch range goes below a certain level, the HT can't accurately pitch it with the rest of the keyboard. Coincidentally, this is similar behaviour to the 1984 CT6000, though that can actually pitch bend +/- a whole octave. It made me wonder if the HT series uses a similar sound generation to the CT6000, that from what I have discovered uses an advanced form of Consonant Vowel as used in many early Casios/ Casiotones. The CT6000 could produce sounds that no other Casio could at the time of its release, but with the CZ Phase Distortion synths being released the same year, it seemed that the CT6000 was the end of the line for Consonant Vowel. And despite Casio going all modern with the CZ, FZ and VZ range (and even the SK samplers), the Spectrum Dynamics HT/ HZ released in 1987/ 8 were somewhat a surprise by using an entirely different sound generation and analogue filters (at a time when analogue was deemed totally out of date). It's purely speculation, but I wonder if Casio took the development they invested into the CT6000 and then repackaged it for use in the SD Casios and added an analogue filter (I think the filter is the same as in the MT400V/ CT410V, so they already had this technology).

 

Regardless, even though they lack fat and low bass sounds that can be had on other synths, I still love the HT/ HZ SD Casios as they have a unique and sweet sound all of their own.

 

 

[Chas]

On 5/22/2022 at 8:34 AM, giano said:

Hi CMF!

here is a short video on replacing the battery on the RA100 RAM Card.

 

For clarity, my card was not working before and it still does not now...at the same time I must say that I had not noticed the small hole on the side and I have used quite some force to open the card the first time...

 

I hope it helps, cheers!

 

 

 

 

Nice little video, and luckily I was aware of that small hole on the RA100 ram cards that would pop the battery tray out. I forget where I discovered the info, but prior to that I was told that I would have to peel the stickers off the card and then unscrew the two halves to get to the battery!

 

When you say your card wasn't/ isn't working, what happens when you try and use it with your HT3000? Do you get anything on the display?

 

It's worth remembering that not all HTs or HZs use the same card format, and if you try and use the RA100 and it was formatted for use in another HT model, it will give you an error. IIRC, the HT700/ 3000 use the same format and can be interchanged, but the HZ600 and HT6000 each have their own format and cannot be used with any other SD model UNLESS you format it first. 

 

I forget exactly how to do it (I think it's found at the upper end of the main menu), but try formatting the card with it installed in your HT3000. It may just need to be reformatted for your specific model.

Edited May 25, 2022 by Chas

[giano]

@Chas

Thanks for the info and the tips. Yes, it seems the HTs are getting crazy in the low range, no idea what it is going on down there

With regards to my RA100, I can format it and save sounds but it does not retain them once I remove the card or switch off the keyboard, and keeps showing "E" on the display.

 

At the same time, normal batteries work good for me; they are cheap, last long and give 20 slots for user sounds, just like the RA100 does on the HTs. I think these RAM cards may be more interesting for HZ600 users since they apparently offer up to 120 sound slots.

Edited May 26, 2022 by giano

[CYBERYOGI =CO=Windler]

On 5/26/2022 at 9:58 PM, giano said:

@Chas

Thanks for the info and the tips. Yes, it seems the HTs are getting crazy in the low range, no idea what it is going on down there

 

May be the note frequencies are in a lookup table that doesn't go low enough to render bass notes. I had toy-grade keyboards those wrap around octaves, i.e. the lowest octave repeats a higher one or highest a medium one. AFAIK also Yamaha SHS-10 did strange things when transposing all way up.

 

Cheap fully digital 1980/90th keyboards AFAIK lacked pitchbend or only transposed note by note because they had not enough rom space to store the pitch lookup table for every note in every pitch wheel position.

 

 

Edited June 9, 2022 by CYBERYOGI =CO=Windler

[pianokeyjoe]

The first gen Casio Tonebank keyboards from 1988 had that issue of not transposing low enough and just wrapping around to the lowest octave on the keyboard again even if used as a midi tone module, etc. Examples are:MT240,MT540. These only have 49 keys, and as such you can not transpose lower than the 49 keys and also did not respond to velocity from an external midi keyboard or digital piano(in my case).

Edited June 9, 2022 by pianokeyjoe
misspelling

[countrymetalman]

Hi, I own Hohner KS61 and KS610TR with RAM Cards. They are the same as Casio HT3000 and HT6000 but in vintage white color, look better 😉 I play keyboards and synthesizers over 40 years long and I love their sound more than from all other digital keyboards (Korg PA, Yamaha SY, PSR, Genos, Roland BK...) Pure vintage analog sound will never be replaced with digital imitations. Highly reccommended!

 

[giano]

Hi @countrymetalman

Agree, they really sound good and the KS’s look very nice in their white color. I personally have a weak spot for the HT3000; I have tried to put it aside so many times in favor of more capable instruments but it always find its way back to my table! Even right now I am experimenting with something else and the HT is patiently waiting on the side for its next comeback  

[giano]

Hi dear CMF, 

here an example of real-time modulation of the filter cutoff on the HT3000, by means of the programming wheel.

Admittedly I got a bit carried away...

 

Freely inspired by the masterpiece I Feel Love by G. Moroder. Sorry Mr. Moroder...

Bass and Drums are from the HT3000 accompaniment. Thanks for listening!

 

https://youtu.be/5JMt8DyA2BQ

 

[CYBERYOGI =CO=Windler]

On 7/28/2022 at 10:34 PM, countrymetalman said:

Hi, I own Hohner KS61 and KS610TR with RAM Cards. They are the same as Casio HT3000 and HT6000 but in vintage white color, look better 😉 I play keyboards and synthesizers over 40 years long and I love their sound more than from all other digital keyboards (Korg PA, Yamaha SY, PSR, Genos, Roland BK...) Pure vintage analog sound will never be replaced with digital imitations. Highly reccommended!

 

 

HT-3000 is not analogue at all beside the VCF. It uses layered morphing stairwaves (consonant-vowel variant) as oscillators.

[giano]

As far as I know chorus is analog too, and the VCOs are not sample based, which possibly adds nice artifacts to the sounds.

Regardless of technology, to my ear the warmth of the HT6000 is unique

[pianokeyjoe]

Correct, the HT series is NOT sample based for the MELODY and auto bass chord system which uses the same synth engine. It is gloriously synthetic digital synthesis, the likes of which you sadly do not get today with Casio as even the XW/XP use sampled bits for the sound source. Sure they SOUND synthetic but are snippets of sampled waves formed into patches as we understand them today. Only the classic 80s keyboards had the goods to make you cry with joy, play with passion and tear up with emotion.. Seriously.. Now the Rhythm section IS sample based "PCM RHYTHMS". This was common with Both Casiotone and Yamaha in the mid to late 80s. I still need an HT30000 guts.. mine suffered battery acid damage..

[CYBERYOGI =CO=Windler]

The stairwave engines (Consonant-Vowel and variants) sound cleaner than samples because it uses a very high internal mixing frequency (500 kHz or such) that prevents glassy sounding DAC aliasing noise. In opposite, the sample based/PCM engine softsynth DAC output frequency is much lower (like a CD, afaik with older Casios even less) and so overtones of similar frequency can intermodulate with it and cause aliasing noise. This also affects modern "synthetic" sounds of the softsynth, those are technically not samples.

Edited September 13, 2022 by CYBERYOGI =CO=Windler

[giano]

The Casio HT3000 is a paraphonic instrument, with a single VCF shared by all of its 8 voices; the VCF envelope gets re-triggered with every key stroke.

I guess this can be seen as a limitation, at the same time I really enjoy this feature, because it adds nice artifacts to the sounds and makes them a bit unpredictable!

In this patch, the combined settings of the DCA and VCF envelopes generate a sort of "delay"-like effect when played over a regular bass line.

Hope you like it and thanks for listening!

 

 

[pianokeyjoe]

On 10/15/2022 at 12:17 PM, giano said:

The Casio HT3000 is a paraphonic instrument, with a single VCF shared by all of its 8 voices; the VCF envelope gets re-triggered with every key stroke.

I guess this can be seen as a limitation, at the same time I really enjoy this feature, because it adds nice artifacts to the sounds and makes them a bit unpredictable!

In this patch, the combined settings of the DCA and VCF envelopes generate a sort of "delay"-like effect when played over a regular bass line.

Hope you like it and thanks for listening!

 

 

That retriggering of some of the sounds is what I like most about the HT series synths. I noticed the CZ does not do that unless you really make an effort to make sounds that will do that. The whaawhaah sound really is my fav and I am surprised it is a limitation and not a feature lol! wow. Casio.. where miracles really do, never cease!