86+k...your meme magic is finally paying off. Any thoughts on 100k special episode? How about some more cameos like with Alex the Ball...bet you can't get Cuckoo on.
Please do a video on GarageBand! I think it’s given a lot worse reputation than it deserves by a lot of the internet, and it’s actually a pretty decent DAW for a phone app.
Casio is a very odd brand, with an approach on synthesizers like they never look outside if there is anyone else making synths as well. This results in sometimes very nice instruments, often loaded with functions no one ever wants or needs, exept when you do of course. And a very different sound. Thank you for giving this instrument the 'Bad Gear' status. It deserves it.
@@AudioPilz first (preset) synth you mean? The Casiotone series? I have the CT201, lovely instrument with a sweet tone. Or do you refer to something else?
True, but some of them are bangers, and they have multiple '80s lines that could be worth looking into; the CZ Phase distortion synths, the VZ "interactive phase distortion" synths, the FZ samplers, and of course, the HT/HZ line mentioned here (though, most of us here probably know about them, heh) Edit: Oh, and the humble SK series, for some very basic but nicely lo-fi samplers, of course
Casio is a great brand that allows many to access music with reliable and reachable instruments, ranging from "toys" that sound stable for decades to complex and unique synths offering wide space for creativity.
My parents paid around $500usd for an HT3000 one Christmas for me back in eighties, I will always be grateful to them because it was (and still is) a lot of money for a Xmas gift. The HT3000 replaced my Casio MT500, so it was a big upgrade for me at the time. A Roland E10 replaced the HT. Nice to hear the Casio again after all these years. I never lusted after another Casio synth after the HT, although the FZ1 would have been nice. Anyway, I just checked the listings where I live, and there is a mint HT3000 for sale for $665usd. Best of luck to that seller... thanks, Florian, great episode.
@Chris Loughlin £100...seems a fair price. I live in Istanbul, unfortunately (unless you get really lucky), synths and electronics in general are steeply priced here, on the flip side, whatever you buy does hold its value.
Casio is a great brand that allows many to access music with reliable and reachable instruments, ranging from "toys" to complex and unique synths offering wide space for creativity, all sounding stable for decades.
On Christmas Eve in 1987 I got a KS61-midi which is a 1:1 copy of the Casio HT-3000 just licensed by Hohner. I played it about two years until I got an Amiga and programmed my first tracks on Soundtracker where I didn't need a keyboard. Then I grew older, got into metal, grunge and rock music, had my first band etc and the KS61became a dust trap in numerous attics throughout the last 30 years. A few weeks ago my wife felt like learning the piano but all I had was midi controller keyboards, so I got this from the attic. When she turned it on I instantly got back in time hearing those pretty odd presets. I remember how tedious it was to create my own sounds using the control wheel and how they were mercilessly deleted when plugging off the keyboard (eventually I got a memory card which, unfortunately, I don't have any more). Anyway, as I watched this video, I really enjoyed what you can actually do with these sounds when you run them through proper effects, so I'm now determined to use at least one sound of this oldie on every track of our new album. Just because 😅 Thanks for uploading this, that was very much inspiring
This is my first proper synthesiser, and my favourite. Some of the tones are a bit cheesy, but some are very very nice. It has a strange lo-fi character. It makes me so happy to see it featured on your show.
FINALLY! A CASIO HT! YES, I AM SHOUTING! I have the bigger brother, the HT6000, and I love it, despite its shortcomings. Got it for £50, which also helps. As for the storage issue, you can mod the battery bay to take a power bank that can be recharged via USB, allowing you to do away with the DC adapter too. I also sample patches that I really like on my ol' EMU ESI for extra safety. There was someone trying to recreate the RA100 RAM card... but seems they gave up, sadly.
One has to keep in mind that when the Casio HT-series came out, analog synthesizers were considered obsolete. These were the times when the most desirable synthesizers were the Korg M1, Roland D-20, and Yamaha V50, and even more desirable were samplers, like Casio's own FZ-1. These were the times when an instrument had to have "digital" written on it to sell. Nobody wanted to have anything to do with analog technology at that time; consequently, the Casio HT-series were not big sellers. They were going for half the MSRP brand new from Sam Ash, Manny's Music, and the likes. Casio also had a very advanced digital synthesizer at the time called the VZ-1; however, since the VZ-1 had no build in samples, it immediately went on clearance prices, brand new for $460, even when the MSRP was $1499.
Wohoo! My first "synthesizer" I owned where a HT-3000. I was a paper-boy for a year to save up to buy it. I visited the music store several times each month dreaming of buying the synth but above the HT3000 stood the might HT-6000, costing 9600SEK (20000 USD) back in 1988... 3 Vulture Culture
The final track is the most interesting never heard in your channel 👏👏👏 i have a Casio Ht-700, another little monster of the abyss to discover.. thanks for your amazing work and videos!
My prayers have been answered. I've been asking about this one! Such a weird and funky "groove box". Definitely the last affordable vintage synth. Love the sound of this thing more than the similar Korg Poly 800
@@trebleboost7 I’ve always wanted the HT-700, and it’s actually the synth I’ve most requested he review! Considering this synth is similar, I take this as a win. Was super stoked he did a chill wave jam here because that’s exactly why I like the 700/3000. It’s icy cool, sounds great for that sound in particular where as the poly 800 is just kinda bleh. This thing sounds like a budget Akai AX-60 to me. How has it been owning one?
@@JJohnkkttran It has been a lot of fun, but I need to tap into my music creativity much more. It is my go to immediate synth though when I want to try something out. For instance, I tried Midi2Guitar to play it from a guitar, and for Christmas I got the TC Helicon two channel Go! interface and recorded a quick loop into my iPhone (GB) and then tried a mono in with the piano through a fuzz pedal. Plus it is just fun to just sit down and play. We used it once at church for a song that had a very raw sawtooth patch and it nailed it. I had considered selling it to fund other bigger boys back in the day but nah -it's just fun. I too, got a little tired of the Korg, although it had some warm brassy 4-note stacked osc sounds I liked and even some very simple string pads that stacked OK.
Really glad you featured this little gem. Great vid as always and I think you summed it up perfectly. For anyone who's interested the Casio HT-700 has the same synth engine but in a smaller mini key package. It also won't take up as much precious studio real estate.
Confirmed. I had the HT-700 and the HT-3000. I threw the 700 away when I got my DW-8000 and traded the HT-3000 away years later for a crappy guitar. I miss them both now. :(
@@kenzieprice6745 It responds to note events for sure - I used Midi2Guitar to play it from my axe, but I think perhaps you are talking about pitch events?
@@trebleboost7 I should have clarified. It does not a have a modwheel or respond to modulation(vibrato)/mod wheel change over midi. A very unfortunate limitation as that is a big part of how I make the most of my sounds with the HT-3000. It would be so nice to have the HT-3000 in a smaller package but Casio wanted it as an upgrade I guess? With the HT 3000, you have to engage a "mod on button" to use it. Maybe that can be added to the HT-700 by modding it.
Wow, I just stumbled across the Casio HT6000 yesterday, and then this video comes out about the 3000. The 6000 is a full featured analog polysynth disguised as just another bulky workstation.
The HT6000 is in my opinion a very special synth. And because it is velocity sensitive (with the parameters for that adjusted) it sounds quitte different from the HT3000. It sits in the corner of early digital synths like Microwave or Prophet VS, but without all the movement in the sounds. But more than that it sounds like a Casio, which means it sits in the realm of leftfield synthesizers. I never really got it what drives Casio, they are so original and at the same time out of line with what is happening in the rest of synthesizerland. For me that makes them special, I just love their sounds. Though not for tasks of course.
Something about that percussion is really nostalgic. For reasons I just can't explain though, the first jam reminds me of the incidental music from the original Total Recall movie. I think it might be the chord pad in the background. Final jam is really nice!
Nostalgia spasm. Grew up with a Casio Porta sound in the 80's as a kid. Never modded it but would record to an old Sharp dual tape deck, and kept over dubbing, slowing the tape deck down with my finger (the front panel of the left tape deck had fallen off) to get microtones, and adding Dolby noise reduction and bass-boosts etc. Those drums are an instant childhood memory trigger. Might be time for a Casio ebay spree... and ofcoirse thanks a million for another absolitely brilliant vid!!!
This is a gem of a synth. Totally weird but it would be really fun to run threw pedals. Never seen it before but I can hear the potential. Reverb sellers just increased the price after viewing this video lol PS: that filter mod is essential 👊🏼
I am in heaven! You crushed it!! And managed to gratify my 3 years of lobbying for the HT-700 without even exposing it! Or the Hohners. Plenty of 80's gems may still find their way to yard sales 🙏👍👍💯💯
@@trebleboost7 That's amazing! Glad it found the right home. Reminds me of a time I went to a pawn shop where they had a whole bin of SK-1's for $6 each (...stupid me only bought ONE) 🤦♂️
Wow, I had this synth as a kid in the 80's. This was the synth that I 'upgraded' to when I outgrew my fist keyboard which was a Casio MT-800. I must admit that I truly loved them both back in the day. Thank you for this trip down memory lane
I remember 8 Bit Guy covered this a few years back. Great to hear your take on it! Edit: The keyboard that 8 Bit Guy covered is a 700, not a 3000. Still in the same range tho.
I think this shows that with a decent composition and playing and a minimum of basic FX any synth can make decent music. I would however like more information about Battcoin.
Casio should take what is best about this and repackage it but make the interface easier to use. It really is a gem. It sounds great in your video as well. It's got Fizmo vibes to me. The low bit drum machine sounds so good. It also looks quite good. It's quite quirky like a lot of their stuff. That bass also sounds great. They should rebuild this synth, put some knobs on it, give it 8 track multitimbrality and put a sequencer in it and give us thousands of drum patterns and fills. Keep the sounds the same. I reckon so many people could do some new cool tracks with a synth like this. They need to build on their heritage. I've got an HT700. I play around with it so much as it is so immediate. Their previous synths ( the PX and GW ) were confusing to sequence. They need to unlock what it is in this synth and make it easy to make music on for a new generation. Come on Casio - you can do it!
I’ve got the smaller mini-key version of this, and I love it! There’s some uniquely evolving waveforms in it, and I just love the engine in it, sounds full but nasty, oddly thick but clearly digital!
I should also add that I’m a bit of a sucker for these accompaniment keyboards, I have a Roland E-30 in my otherwise ‘legit’ vintage digital setup, which is the household version of the D50, gives me all the classic (though uneditable) presets!
I used to have the HT-700, and interestingly on these synths, even though there's no internal battery, if you changed the batteries fast enough, like within a minute or two, it will save the internal patches. At least mine would. Overall the HTs make some pretty cool and unique tones.
I'm really impressed by the music in this video coming from this truly bad keyboard. Wonderful job. I can understand the folks who had one back in the day and look back fondly, but it truly is bad gear. I almost like the episodes with actual bad gear the most. It's always interesting to hear what can be done with the bottom of the barrel. And it shows that creativity is more important than gear.
@8:08 even if your jams were so-so, your reviews would still be terrific...but the jams are awesome! 🙀😤😎...such a combination of humor, pure technical prowess and musical creativity...such an underrated channel 👍🏻
The CZ series were really interesting synths. Much different (and more versatile and better sounding) engine than the HZ/HT series. The CZ-1 was the one everyone lusted after 'cause the keyboard was velocity sensitive with aftertouch.
I might have compounded the price rise of these years ago, having bought 2 under £40, modified and then sold them on eBay for over £180 🤣 I still have its beige cousin the Hohner KS61 (which amazingly came with the RAM card!), its just such a weird synth I don't think I'll ever part with it!
i have a Casio HT-700 stored away here, it's a very similar synth, crazy sounds and 3 parts accessible via MIDI!! i'll have to get it out and have a muck around, i love the flowery meow sounds it makes!!!
I've had a CZ-101 since 1990, when they were really uncool. I got it really cheap. It can actually make some great sounds, when you run it through good effects. Tweaking from the panel using buttons is surprisingly effective in realtime, if you peck at them. Never messed with this.
I have an HT-700 and I've gotten a lot of use out of it. the keys are kind of crappy and the big dial is kind of tedious but I've gotten into the practice of writing out all my patches on index cards and it feels really cool to keep them handy like that. the built in organ sound is great too, I use it all the time
Great video 👍. That clap is so nice. Lots of usable sounds. Something has to sit back and let other synths be the stars - you can't have every patch in a mix waking the neighbours!
I’ve got the cheaper and smaller Ht700. It’s not pleasant to program but I actually love the sounds I can get out of it. I run it into a Phase 90 pedal and add some reverb as well…sounds really good. Honestly these Casio’s are capable of “lush” sounds if you don’t mind some grittiness. Personally it’s a sound I find a lot more interesting than more polished sounding higher end gear. These units are sleepers cause the speakers make them look like generic keyboards limited to some presets but there are actual filters on these manchines!
Damn some of my favorite jams on the channel coming from a $200 Casio lol. Found your channel a few months ago and already almost caught up on all of the videos - probably replayed the M:S witch house beat a dozen times! Hoping to see one with a Korg Prologue before I sell mine (had some serious buyers remorse since picking up) or the Synthstrom Deluge (which has become the eternal centerpiece of my dawless setup - that I will probably never sell lol). Looking forward to more!!
@ 1:01 The Casio CZ-5000. My first synthesizer. And for a digital synthesizer very easy to program & to create your own sounds. @ 4:28 Same drum sounds as in the Casio SK-8. And probably in the other SK-keyboards as well.
An impressive sound from such an obscure home keyboard some reminiscent of the CZ range and could be worth exploring in depth Great video Ronald Reagan and a pen and paper impressive..👍☢️😊
Feels like an original, old school Bad Gear episode, cheap and tasty. Well done, as usual.🙂 Regarding the synth, I can testify to its "professionalism", about ten years ago I used the HT-700 for a television commercial, the customer was very satisfied, they even asked me where the sounds came from, which they rarely do.
Your ability to get something that sounds good out of the old Casio HT3000 is pretty impressive. I had one of these when I was a kid, but never knew about like a quarter of these features cause I didn't have the manual. It was what introduced me to synthesizers, though!
I absolutely love the fact that you showed Eugene H. Krabs in this video. I seem to remember him in one of your earlier videos. I could never work for him though.
Habe hier in meiner Synth Sammlung Sammlung den großen Casio HT6000 stehen, den ich im Top Zustand zum Trinkgeld Preis von 50€ erstanden habe! Habe von Casio noch CZ101 mit SZ1 Sequenzer, FZ10 Sampler, den VZ1 in der silbernen Hohner Version HS2 und die beiden Casios XWP1 und XWG1! Alles tolle Synthesizer für Kenner, wenn man sich damit beschäftigt und selbst Hand anlegt!
Absolutely! there's still picking to be had out there! About three weeks ago I picked one those heavier picking up at 22Kg. The Kurzweil SP2X from the deeper picking parts of Lower Austria. An impress full size keyboard, nice piano, Rhodes emulation and I do particularly like the Voice Synth too. Doubling up as a midi keyboard/controller for my Minilogue XD when I'm not practising those scales. It has 4 midi channels that can have the levels controlled. Then sequenced via the Circuit Rhythm including the built in drum samples.
I remember when I had a HT6000 back in the day, some of the keys had sensor issues that would play louder than others at times even when playing softly.
I picked up an HT-700 at a garage sale by my home for $15. It is just so amazingly fun and immediate. When I bought it I didn't know anything about it and didn't know they hybrid nature of it. Very cool.
@@keyhoarder Probably about 5 or 6 years ago. At that time they seemed to be even more valuable. Have tried to find the RAM card but that seems quite difficult. Same with finding a 20,000 note sequencer expander for an ESQ-1. Plenty of SQX10's out there. BTW I still took a little mild heat from the missus for the Casio haha.
The main takeaway from this video is that a hell of a lot of things are called HT3000! And also that Casio at that point seems to be using the same buttons from the Yamaha PSR series (at least the green and purple ones!) Another awesome video sir! :) Auf Weidersehen!
An interesting use of this synth was with the group "HOR bihaćkih djevojaka i mujaga Dedić" which some of their songs are entirely done with the accompaniment and guitar on their tape
At end of 80ties this synth was my target - the most advanced in casio price range. Waiting too long to buy made it unavailable and prices of other brands were down So I forgotten about HT3000 but I now with this demonstration I see that it was valuable
man your tracks are always the bomb, always feeling up the synth and seeing where it can perform strongly, it's amazing how you can find a positive in anything and can work it in a practical way. most of the bad gear episodes are at least half-praises (this one is one of the weaker synths ones though), that's how optimistic you are about their usability, and you always manage to deliver something tasteful, gotta love it. some people may nitpick on how the wet signal through pedals kind of is cheating and can make anything sound good, not untrue, but i don't see the problem it's a perfectly great showcase of how they can be used in a real live setup, and there's nothing wrong with finding ways to make something sound gud, right? :D besides, i think a lot people underestimate how well proper envelope settings can work from even the most basic bitch synths with just 1 oscillator, especially if you can ride that decay and release with an analog slider or knob on the ADSR to emulate reverb and delays chip-tune style, if the synth lets you ride ADSR next to the filter, you're pretty golden already just the simple filter circuitbend on this bitch makes it sooo much more versatile too
My first synth. I bought it second hand in the late 80's. I found the sound so bad that for a while I thought it might have been damaged. This video proves my synth is fine. Thanks for that. I'm amazed that you managed to get usable sounds for your jams. I don't recall I ever managed to trigger the drum sounds via MIDI. You forget to add that the keyboard is not velocity sensitive. Oh, I have a RAM card. Maybe unusable now as these things are battery operated (it's RAM remember).
I still have my old Casio MT520 (with the yellow drum pads built in) that I had since I was 8 years old. I also still have my Concertmate 400, which is my very first keyboard and the one I started on. They both still work too. The MT520 is missing a couple of keys but it still works. They're both sitting in the closet right now. One of these days, I plan on bringing them out and sampling them into my MPC to experiment with their sounds in an entirely new way. Hopefully, they will still work by the time I decide to do that.
Another bad gear episode to help confirm my need to stop buying more stuff I don’t need. It would be awesome if you make another channel for eurorack modules that get left behind or forgotten due to the new module coming out every 5 seconds.
I used to have the Casio HZ600, which is basically the same synth engine, with the same presets, but without drums or accompaniment function. This video has brought back some good memories.
