Casio Chaos Theory is a channel centered around music and the devices that create it. Mostly featured are CASIO Keyboards - Vintage to Modern, plus other synthesizers & electronic instruments It will also hopefully be expanded to cover other Instruments/ Music Making Equipment, Computers, Tech, Gadgets and Retro Video Games
The main philosophy is - If it makes music, makes noises, moves, uses a joypad, uses batteries or electricity... ...it may well be featured!
It seems retro is becoming more and more popular across the entire cultural sphere, not only in music but films and video games as well. Synthwave is among my favorite genres and I can hear the sound from these Casios.
Casio has just become boring now. Not making all the fun weird fun synths that they used to. Also Phil Collins "In the Air Tonight" rhythm sounds pretty similar to the Beguine rhythm on the Casiotones of the early '80s, but maybe it's just a CR78 rhythm.
I had a Casio CZ-1, it was a nice synth, I wish I had kept it as there were some nice sounds to be had from it, I did do loads of sampling of it though on my Akai S3000 and so I still have those. I did try some friends Casio keyboards with the intention of buying one but they had a lot of hiss and the tools on the Akai S3000 removed some of it but not all, I didn't want have to sample keyboard parts just to clean them up either.
8:51 I'd like to add that casio DID actually revisit sampling in the 2000's-2010's. Keyboards like the WK200 and later on the CTK-2400 allowed sampling, the former even allowing for samples to be backed up over USB.
I still have a CZ101 in the studio, along with an SK5 and, of course, the mighty VL-Tone. That CZ, btw...plus 25kW/ch on subs...has the honor of causing actual physical damage at a warehouse event from back c. 1997. Before the set, the old wired safety glass was fine. After, however, there were a bunch of spiderweb cracks in some of them. Oops... It strikes me as odd that Casio hasn't explored some of the potent computing hardware developments from the past couple of decades. As difficult as it likely was to jam the main engine of the COSMOS into a mini keyboard in the mid-80s, it makes me wonder what they could do with an FPGA-based synth platform. True, Waldorf struck first with the Kyra, but it's apparently something of a control nightmare...not too much power, mind you, but a UI that's trying too hard. The CZs worked (and still command respect) because they had clearly worked out the playability issues FIRST before dropping the 101. It's simple, basic and while you lose quite a bit of control granularity from this, that can easily be remedied these days...maybe a UI that uses both macro AND micro levels of programmability would be the thing that'd make it all gel. Plus... it's CASIO. They're past masters of minimal interface controls. If anyone could get an FPGA-based platform on the market at a decent price that was intuitive and player friendly, it would be them!
Not all casio keyboard instruments were children's toys, the cz line is very powerful using phase distortion synthesis. I had the cheaper version that was named at the home keyboard market and it was still more powerful than a poly 61
In my CT-S500, I see 16 tones in the category Classic Casio Tones. I would like it if Casio would improve the firmware of these current instruments. The MultiTrkRec and the User Songs features are not very useful, and they are very confusing.
Oh, and as a bit of trivia, the very Casio AZ-1 that you see Thomas Dolby playing in that video is now a beloved part of my keyboard collection. Sadly the metallic silver marker he used to autograph it did not get along with the type of plastic the keytar is made from so because I use it as a gigging keyboard the only part of his autograph that remains on it are "Dol" and even that gets rubbed off a little more each time I take it to a gig.
I'm personally a big fan of their Spectrum Dynamic synths, especially when modified for filter control. Casio should just slap analog filters on some of their ordinary keyboards again.
I think that in regard to reissuing some of their classic models, especially their more "toy-ish" models (VL1, SK-1, Rapman), it would be worth them looking in the direction of what stylophone have done with their reissues and capitalising on the nostalgia aspect of these instruments. Dubreq have done a really good job of this and used it as a spring board for some interesting things. It is a shame to see that Casio are still making instruments for the "educational " market and not putting in anynof the features that were available in older models in that range that would probably be a lot cheaper to implement now.
Growing up in the 80's, I loved seeing all the different variations and models of Casio and Yamaha home keyboards. I wanted all of them! I think, in general, companies are more risk-averse these days, seeking a "perfect, average" product. Quite boring.
Great Video. Thank you I own 2 FZ1 (one for spare parts) and would love to see a FZ1 with a better UI and an improved input amplifying stage (with a limiter) so the converter doesn't produce digital clipping.
One of the things I wish both Casio and Yamaha did is to bring back the DX7 and the CZ synthesizers with new implementations like MIDI 2, MPE and USB connectivity. I coveted these synths for years.
CZs had MIDI of course but a relatively primitive implementation (acute with patch saving and loading as I found when writing my patch editor VZV CZ). Most significantly they could update the engine so that parameters can be changed on the fly and add some global LFOs.
My very first keyboard was a Casio CA 401 and my second keyboard was a Casio CT 670. Casio has such a strong legacy introducing people to music. Love the cz and ht series. They must release new versions before someone else (Uli)...
The very first keyboard I had as a child was the Casio PT-87 with the infamoud "World Songs" rom card. Then in early 1997 we were loaned a Casio MT-210 that belonged to my Aunt but in summer 2004 we gave it back because my Dad bought me a Casio LK-35 which was being sold off. In August 2001 someone brought in a Casio CT-700 and at the time I remember really wanting that particular keyboard which was one of the last Casio CTs but it uses PCM samples of actual instruments which were respectable samples in a home keyboard of that time, maybe if I had said something at the time I could have had a Casio CT-700 back in 2001 but I finally decided to buy a CT-700 in late 2020 as I no longer wanted the Casio LK-35 ( better late than never for the CT-700 I suppose ). In December 2009 I finally bought a Casio SA-10 after kicking myself for not buying an SA1 way back in summer 2005. Last year in October I decided to buy a Casio MT-500 as it was very similar to the MT-210 I had many years ago ( same control panel arrangement with mechanical buttons for the tons and rhythms and sliders for most other functions ) and most recently in summer of this year I bought a Casio CZ-101 but going back to MT-210 that was is interesting because even though it was the first Casiotone keyboard to feature lofi PCM drum samples the hihats were still analog synthesized so it was kind of cool to have a mix of PCM drums with analog hihats. I think today Casio are stuck in the 2003-2009 era.
There's another keyboard, contemporary to the XW series, that still doesn't have a successor: The Privia PX-5S, and somewhat the PX-560. They were sold mainly as digital pianos, but they have hex layer synth engine exposed and a lot of features. The PX-5S despite some quirks, like the absence of the expression pedal and the noisy input lines, it's an interesting stage piano and master keyboard. The flagship Casio digital piano the PX-S7000 is sold in the 2000 euro ballpark the same of the Kawai MP11SE, Dexibell VIVO S7 and Viscount Legend 70. You could still find the PX-5S as new, but seems to me that they are NOS products that were in the warehouses of the sellers, but not anymore in the official Casio pages, except for support. Seems to me that Casio is trying to sell their product more on the educational area, both on digital pianos for piano students and with keyboards for kids, rather than to the professional or prosumer market. Personally I think that if they are going to make a stagepiano/master keyboard with a phase distortion engine and decent controls, they could easily get back on the pro market.
Typical Casio to drop a product direction like hot potatoes if it doesn't sell immediately: witness the entire pro instrument division post SD synths (HT3000/6000, HZ600 the latter I've never seen )
Maybe modern Japanese buyers aren't as eccentric or quirky as before: hence the staid and conservative new models, plus good quality pianos for schools and home practice
Please, make a series of videos about PW P1 synthetizer. It still sold today and is an affordable power instrument. A deep analysis of its operation would be greatly appreciated.
...and what happened to the MZ X500, and MZ X300? By the time I made up my mind I wanted one, after watching the demo videos online, both were in very short supply, and have since virtually disappeared! I do own both XWs in fact I have 2 of each because I used them primarily with a mainly covers-playing band, and made setting up a breeze for leaping from one genre to another, from folk to classic rock to experimental... It was your mention of the XWs that brought me here.
After a 6 years of not having Casio VA-10 due to the irresponsible selling decision i've managed to find it out one more time, and for only about 25$ in a state "i don't know if its working", and after arrival it was clear that it is 100% good! Btw there are similarities in the effect section between Casio VA-10 and Casio CTK 1000, but sadly this big keyboard effect section is much more limited. It lacks most interesting features from VA-10 like feedback and "vocoder" which is in real more like breath controller.
