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Digital Dynamite | |
Article from Electronic Soundmaker & Computer Music, January 1985 |
The CZ101 is the spearhead of Casio's first serious onslaught on the pro-synth market. We check out this contender for the DX's digital synthesis crown.
Casio's digital, portable, pricebusting synth the CZ101 could turn the synthesiser market upside down as the company forge further into the pro market. Chris Jenkins investigates.
The launch of the CZ-101, however, sees Casio making decisions which indicate that the state of the keyboard market will never be the same again. Just a run-down of the main features is enough to make the mouth water, and with a price-tag under £400 the CZ101 looks set to be a breakthrough instrument, like the MiniMoog which made synthesis practical, or the Fairlight which made it limitless.
The CZ-101 is a true MIDI Polysynth, using a sound generation system, "phase distortion", which bears some resemblence to Yamaha's FM, used in the DX7. The four-octave (49-note) miniature keyboard is perfectly playable to anyone but the most pedantic "pianist", and in fact allows very quick runs to be fingered easily. The size of the keyboard makes the CZ-101 eminently portable — it has strap studs and is powered by eight D-size batteries, plus three AA cells for memory protection. A mains adaptor can of course be used instead.
To continue, the memory selection buttons come next. There are eight buttons and four selectors, giving access to 16 preset sounds, 16 user-programmable, and sixteen cartridge sounds. Cartridges go into a slot on the side, though Casio can't yet say how much they will cost.
Next up is the poly/mono/key transpose section, then the data entry section. The waveforms used on the CZ-101 comprise sawtooth, square, pulse, double sine, saw pulse, and resonance 1, 2 and 3. The first five can be mixed in various combinations giving a total of 33 waveforms. The LCD panel in the centre of the the CZ shows all the programming parameters, which are altered by the Cursor and Value keys beneath it.
There are three envelope generators, for amplitude, wave and pitch, and keyboard followers for amplitude and wave. The implication of this is the CZ should be capable of whangy digital noises similar to the Wave 2 system, where the effect is achieved by altering the waveshape as the note decays. There's a detuning function which makes it easier to achieve warmth and depth on more conventional analogue-type settings, and ring modulation and white noise are available to supplement the oscillator waveshapes. Thus, not to put a too fine point on it, the CZ can go WHOOOSH! as well as KERRAAANNNGGG, achieving timpani effects as easily as it does electric guitars. One particularly amazing setting demonstrated at the press launch was a guitar sound which introduced "feedback" as the note was sustained — it could put Jimmy Page out of business.
The back of the CZ holds line, headphone and MIDI sockets, and Master Tune is on the top right of the keyboard — A = 442 +/- 50 cents. It's impossible to say at this stage what form the MIDI implementation takes, since the CZ hasn't been available long enough for full testing.
How can I summarize what can only be thought of as a gigantic breakthrough in the electronic music field? The CZ-101 offers digital synthesis at a price which most analogue synths can't match. It has MIDI and is portable, so it could be used as a stage synth or a studio module. It looks good, although Casio might have been well advised, if they have designs on the pro market, to go for a new product series name. Most importantly it's laughably cheap — the only conceivable reason for not buying one would be to wait for the next model.
Plans apparently include a four-octave full-size keyboard version, followed by a five-octave model. Speculation is that one or both of these will have touch-sensitivity, and an increase in the number of available memories would be a fair assumption. After that, only time will tell — obviously the competitors will have to move fast. Expect price cuts and Japanese businessmen plummeting from skyscrapers soon when they hear the ES&CM tape.
It's frightening to speculate on what Casio might do eventually — a polyphonic sound-sampling keyboard under £500? Digital drum machines or polyphonic sequencers at pocket-money prices? Now that Casio have made up their minds to conquer the market, there's just no limit.
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Review by Chris Jenkins
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