BOO-cast - Synth of the Month: Casio CZ-101 

It is lovely! Honoured that you think it suits us!

I bet it sounded gorgeous!

Yes, I think I agree, it would make more sense bigger rather than smaller... Or maybe we could have both? But regarding the copycats, I've been tipped off that B are releasing a "cz1" in their tiny, sub-volca size format... I don't know it will sound, or even if I will bother to try it, but someone is doing PD again, which is something, I suppose. Just wish it was Casio realising how unique and special and loved these synths were, and are.

@@BOOelectricyes, i agree all the way, that CASIO PD really gave great results and taking it from there in a nowadays environment would be nice. imo, i could trick any blindfolded synth fanatic if comparing the sound of a juno and the one of a CZ. i dont know why i love those CZ's so much (but i'm not alone), maybe it's because of the rebel side of me, it's really affordable, and never got the credit it deserved, i'd love to see alex ball play witrh one lol. I'm an audio electronician, i build stuff for sound systems and dub producers mainly, but lately have been working on my first love, analog synths, and i have been searching to find way to achieve similar sounds, or to "phase distort" oscilators (fm that's easy) OH DAMN, and idea just poped up! it's possible to use a stage that morphs from one waveshape to another, it's like a fader pot but instead of mixing levels by fading it morphs shape on one side to the other, so if i put let's say a saw wave on one side and a sine wave ont the other, and then control taht morph with enveloppe, i should be able to achieve something similar, THANKS MAN! oh and just to say the analog synth stage i found that really brings one in PD territory is the wave folder, all this is so interesting, i can wait for the day i'll be able to produce these things in polyphony lol, might aswell make a petition. Hey maybe we should make an international "BRING BACK THE CZ" movement, and make a trolling influence hasselling operation towards Casio until they release a new 2024 PD SYNTH, and they'll nee to make a cheap bedroom version for twelve year old synth snobs like you use to be, and a heavy 61 key version for the big brothers... i'm pretty shure we could find fanatic memebers, and it's okay if we arent a bunch, historey is writen by actrive minoritys... I'm waiting to finally be ablke to legally move in my new place before is astart my new channel, but i think i'm gonna try to see if i can create the CZ riots, with crazy live demos and stuff lol..

@@baddriddimworkshop Haha! CZ riots?! That's surely he first time this concept has been voiced! Give us the heads up when you start your channel, and keep us posted on the CZ direct action force!!

@@BOOelectriclol

Always good to have friends with synths! My first encounter was in 1986, when the school music department was suddenly full of synths, just as I was leaving, and indeed the school closed the next year. I'm pretty sure the music teacher had some kind of "scheme" going!

Lovely! The 5000 is something I've secretly coveted for many years.

Thank you! There are several videos up on RU-vid of cz fixes, but some of them are way above my brain grade. I hope you can derive some joy from your cz soon!

@@BOOelectricYour tutorial should help a lot even with the funky button.

Mate had a cz230s which was a preset one of these with a built in sequencer and drums!

We had one of those too. In fact 2, if you count the one from the past. The last 4 presets are programmable via midi. Great keyboard!

Let him out!! 😊

Bad Gear Florian just did a video on it, so if you plan to grab another one, better do it quick before the prices go nuts! Thank you for your comment, this is definitely the best first use of a credit card I've ever heard!

It's lovely, isn't it?

That's great to hear! So glad the vid is helpful to you!

It's limited, but it's got a vibe.

Thank you! No, your right, I didn't mention it in the video, but we talked about it in the BOOcast after the showing of the video... Thanks for bringing it up here! A very special synth.

Wow! Congratulations! I won't ask what you were doing in your parent's closet... :)

Thanks for sharing! I'll be checking those 400-V videos out! I always wanted one when I was a kid, but it was not to be :(

@@BOOelectric There's plenty available still. Very reliable little things, but both have gone up in value 2x/3x since I bought mine.

Blimey! That was a brave move!!

The CZ series was originally designed to be “three season” instruments, suitable for use in inclement weather.

@@russ254 Wow! but only three seasons? What happens in season four, i wonder?

Happy digging sir!

Glad it helped! Thanks!

Thank you very much! Fingers crossed that Casio one day re-discover what they made!

A gorgeous sound!

Ah, thank you!

Haha! They didn't know what they were missing, the fools!! I bet it sounded great thru the pa. 😁

That's quite a history you have with this little Casio! I must try out the soft versions, everyone seems to love them!

@BOOelectric The Cz101's are all famous for sounding a bit different from each other. I think it has more to do with aging components. My 1988 cz101 was a dog. The 1998 one sounded much better. The Artuia version on my MacBook Pro sounds amazing, as far as fidelity is concerned.

Its a mystery. So unique, loved by almost everybody, yet completely abandoned.

@@BOOelectric I guess that era was peak synthesizer. Maybe there were too many players in the game to be profitable. After all around 85-87 we lost Moog, Sequential and Oberheim and almost Korg. Maybe Casio's strategy was to retreat to their familiar territory of home keyboards. Kawai did the same about a decade later (well they retreated to digital pianos and acoustic pianos).

You might well be right there. It's obviously a boardroom decision, rather than a creative/engineering decision. A cz nowadays would be ⚡

OOps!!! Sorry!

Thank you very much! I haven't heard the Cizzle yet, but I'm sure it'll show up at Superbooth. If I can get my hands on one I'll try to post something.

Thank you! Yes, the digitalness can sometimes be a bit sharp, but more so on the FM synths, in my opinion. It's possible there's some aliasing or something that your ears are more sensitive to than mine... I'm basically deaf above 3k! I suppose you could put it thru a filter to cut the highs off a bit, or even some eq might soften it. They're not as warm out of the box as some, but it's all horses for courses!

@@BOOelectric yeah, it wouldn’t make a difference on an actual track because you’d want to put a wide band-pass around its main characteristics anyway. I am very sensitive to high end aliasing sounds 😅 some of the Prophet VS waves put me on edge too. But at least that has a real filter built in so I don’t mind listening to them being played.

@@BOOelectric just realised I didn’t make clear, the core tone is not particularly “sharp” at all! It definitely emulates an analogue filter better than any common DX FM tricks. It’s just that top top end 😣

That's very kind of you, but I don't own one... And yes, it is possible to emulate resonant filter stuff with FM, but it's quite involved, and results can vary with the experience levels of the programmer... I, for one, am rubbish at it!

It's not actually split across the keyboard... One line has a short attack and short-ish release, while the other has a slow attack and long release... The effect being that if you play quick notes, the sound you hear is mostly line one, with a quick envelope, but when you hold the notes down, line two comes into play, with a longer release. Hope that helps!

Yep, that's very true.

Would rather use a casio synth or a dx7 exactly.

Sure there may be better synths for the money but it’s not just about better all the time. With the stable I have here I find a TON of enjoyment with all of them but nothing beats a DAWless jam with the older synths and their unique quirks. Even more fun is tossing in a few TE Pocket Operators and doing some really wild sh*t. Granted I could reproduce that whole thing on my MODX7+ alone but that just sucks the damned fun out of it.

@@rjakiel73 Here here!! Well said.

Sometimes just the sound/vibe out ways features/bells/whistles

Yes, and now that Behringer and ALM Busy Circuits are dipping their toes in PD, hopefully someone at Casio will realise what they've left behind, and build something new!

Have you tried giving it a cuddle?

the cold metal cuddle vs the warm plasticey hug

No I hadn't, thanks for the heads up... Seems synchronicitous, if that is, indeed, a word. Good to see that Behringer's "soon to be released" CZ 1 is not going to be the only new PD item this year.

@@BOOelectric Oh, let me tell you about “timing..” I’ve just dug out the CZ101, got it speaking with an iOS app, found some patch banks for download, and am feeding it into my Modular Synth.. Then this new module appeared in my feeds..😧 (I doubt I’ll be buying one..😬)

@@outaspaceman Me neither! Love your channel btw, superb stuff.

@@outaspaceman Cizzle sounds amazing. I'll be getting one even though I have a CZ, CHEERS.

Yes, I've had several instances of memory scrambled audio happen since I've had the cz... It can be quite amazing the things that come out of it!

@@BOOelectric even a 9v wired into the battery bay keeps user progs intact

@@dr.feelicks2051 Yes, I literally just saw a video demonstrating that... I think I may indulge!

You can do this with software on a computer, no need to risk battery leakage.....

Yes, it's factory sounds at the start, and I'm pretty sure there are librarian apps that can store your sounds, though I haven't used one before...

@@BOOelectric Virtual CZ works both as a softsynth and librarian. Old CZ:s had a bit limited midi implementation and little CPU power so one needs to be carefull. I've hoped for years that someone would remake CZ like synth. Sound generation was unique and the Envelopes were most versatile I have ever seen. No other syth (that I know of) can give multiple stages after Sustain point. Allmost all synths are with 'analog' ADSR:s that are extremely limiting at sound design. Of course some improvements to User interface, mod-matrix and couple LFO:s would be nice bonus.

@@DIYTAO Thank you , I'll check it out today! Yes, I agree, a new CZ, prefferably by Casio, with a modern cpu and more friendly interface would be great. I wonder if we should all email Casio?

@@BOOelectric Note that I have not had real CZ for decades so I have not tested Virtual CZ sysex-functionality myself, but based on what I have read it should be quite good. Emailing Casio? Somehow I doubt there's anyone that cares at all. But with the E-bay prices I have seen lately (working 101 is 400€ and CZ1 over 800€) they *should* care, since there definitely are people interest having real synth and not just 3rd party VST-emulation.

@@DIYTAO ALM/Busy Circuits and Behringer have PD synths coming out this year too, though I haven't heard either, but maybe this will be a klaxon for Casio along with the second hand prices. The amount of love for these things shouldn't be ignored, but yeah, I guess trying to get through to a big corporation and influence their decision making is a bit pie-in-the sky... I live in hope!