Casio CZ Synthesizers

got a CZ1000 off ebay for £50 , only just got it delivered today and have had a bit of a play with it. so far i'm really pleased - programming is fairly involved, and has nothing like the tweakability of analogue synthesis, but i can see myself getting lost for hours in this synth whilst programming a patch and smoking some weed. the eight stage envelopes are really cool and i reckon by using clever programming of these, the lack of hands on controls won't matter so much. anyone got any experience of the CZ range?

You might want to get a software editor for that. I don't have one, but I have friends with various CZ synths.

I just passed up a CZ-1000 for $75 USD, only because I gotta get rid of some synths before I buy another one..

i have a cz1 it stays in storage most of the time. I love the thing but it takes up lots of space and is very heavy.

having said that...the 8 stage envs are awesome. The whole thing is awesome and ive yet to hear anything really emulate it perfectly. There's an editor for it i think. I've made some of my best sounds on it. Sadly the thing had probs some years back and i fixed it,but it wiped the memory and i lost years of sounds, i think thats why its still in storage. It's not that fun to program imo. Holding down buttons forever and ever, going to the next screen, holding down a button. Maybe i'll go get it out and muck about fora while and have something cooler to say about it :) If i had it in a small module that would rule, but the thing is just so bulky! Plus it's kind of falling apart, i should take some pix it's kind of hilarious. I used it as my controller for years. I kind of miss having after touch.

i'm gonna look into a software editor for it, but at the moment, i kinda like pressing all the membrane buttons.

  On 12/8/2009 at 11:51 PM, Brandi_B said:

i have a cz1 it stays in storage most of the time. I love the thing but it takes up lots of space and is very heavy.

 

having said that...the 8 stage envs are awesome. The whole thing is awesome and ive yet to hear anything really emulate it perfectly. There's an editor for it i think. I've made some of my best sounds on it. Sadly the thing had probs some years back and i fixed it,but it wiped the memory and i lost years of sounds, i think thats why its still in storage. It's not that fun to program imo. Holding down buttons forever and ever, going to the next screen, holding down a button. Maybe i'll go get it out and muck about fora while and have something cooler to say about it :) If i had it in a small module that would rule, but the thing is just so bulky! Plus it's kind of falling apart, i should take some pix it's kind of hilarious. I used it as my controller for years. I kind of miss having after touch.

yeah, it's definitely not going to be quick to program patches, but it's all good. at the moment i'm just experimenting with applying the envelopes to simple saw or square waves or whatever....

had to sell my cz3000 last year

cz3000 = 2x cz1000 = layers and splits plus way more and bigger buttons making it pisstake huge

nothing else sounds like a cz...

1st thing you should do is put a police cloud sticker on it :)

Here's my cz1 lol

fun fact i tried to set it on fire while on lots of shrooms once. Didn't work,just smelled really bad (two keys to the left of the one that's missing)

i'm going to see if i can get the midiquest editor for it to work tonight, you've inspired me :) (if it still turns on....it should though)

  On 12/8/2009 at 11:36 PM, BCM said:

 

got a CZ1000 off ebay for £50 , only just got it delivered today and have had a bit of a play with it. so far i'm really pleased - programming is fairly involved, and has nothing like the tweakability of analogue synthesis, but i can see myself getting lost for hours in this synth whilst programming a patch and smoking some weed. the eight stage envelopes are really cool and i reckon by using clever programming of these, the lack of hands on controls won't matter so much. anyone got any experience of the CZ range?

first synth i ever got. i was 13, someone dropped one off at the keyboard shop i had lessons at. i played around on it and thought it was wicked, like the bass sounds were 'well nine inch nails'. when i quit keyboard lessons i swapped my technics keyboard for it, and at the time they couldn't believe what i was proposing. they would've gotten rid of the thing for a tenner, and i was offering a proper home keyboard with like, over 200 beats and sounds. they even threw in loads of cables and a keyboard stand out of pity, lol.

btw, i recently acquired a polivoks! i'll make a thread about it in due time. it's all pretty epic.

  On 12/9/2009 at 1:53 AM, idrn said:

  On 12/8/2009 at 11:36 PM, BCM said:

 

got a CZ1000 off ebay for £50 , only just got it delivered today and have had a bit of a play with it. so far i'm really pleased - programming is fairly involved, and has nothing like the tweakability of analogue synthesis, but i can see myself getting lost for hours in this synth whilst programming a patch and smoking some weed. the eight stage envelopes are really cool and i reckon by using clever programming of these, the lack of hands on controls won't matter so much. anyone got any experience of the CZ range?

 

first synth i ever got. i was 13, someone dropped one off at the keyboard shop i had lessons at. i played around on it and thought it was wicked, like the bass sounds were 'well nine inch nails'. when i quit keyboard lessons i swapped my technics keyboard for it, and at the time they couldn't believe what i was proposing. they would've gotten rid of the thing for a tenner, and i was offering a proper home keyboard with like, over 200 beats and sounds. they even threw in loads of cables and a keyboard stand out of pity, lol.

 

btw, i recently acquired a polivoks! i'll make a thread about it in due time. it's all pretty epic.

yeah the bass is surprisingly massive in these things. can get some good subby stuff.

*shakes fist at polivoks* that's quite awesome. congrats. I'm well into russian synths fore some reason.

I've played around with the cz-101 quite a bit. They're quite fun.

I have a polivoks filter. It if the synth is even half as cool, I HATE you.

ha! it still works. I messed around for about an hour. If I get time tomorrow i'm going to hook it up to the editor, which I have never actually done.

Here's about 5 mins of some of the more interesting sounds. I need to replace the battery in it, since i'm guessing that's why it initializes every time i turn it on. I suppose it is 23 years old.

http://soundcloud.com/katiekilobyte/casio-cz1-messing-around

I have a CZ-100, but I fear it will never work again. I left it in storage for a year WITH BATTERIES IN. (dont do that) They leaked out and corroded some of the board. I've got some experience with circuits but I think I need a voltage meter to see which traces are shot...

But when I first got it it was kinda wonky even then.. keys not sounding and two adjacent keys playing the same sound. IT was however really fun and sounded oh so synthie.

If your new keyb acts wacky, say something to the seller because the problems will only get worse.

  On 12/9/2009 at 5:47 AM, Brandi_B said:

ha! it still works. I messed around for about an hour. If I get time tomorrow i'm going to hook it up to the editor, which I have never actually done.

 

Here's about 5 mins of some of the more interesting sounds. I need to replace the battery in it, since i'm guessing that's why it initializes every time i turn it on. I suppose it is 23 years old.

 

http://soundcloud.com/katiekilobyte/casio-cz1-messing-around

nice sounds!

the best sounds you can get out of a cz are if you leave it in a cupboard for a couple of years and let the internal battery run down. you get all these random sounds, and when you try to access the parameter, instead of numbers you get all these weird heiroglyphs. you can't recreate the sounds without some careful programming, but they're positively weird and definitely wonderful.

i love the 101.

so you're saying that, like a good bottle of wine, I should lay this down for a few years to mature and let the flavours develop? I'll need to build some kind of synth cellar...

the cellar effect can be simulated by slowly lowering the synth into a vat of tea. just go real slow, like an inch an hour, and keep the tape running. guaranteed

edit: while i'm here -- friend of mine swears by these synths, i heard they might be giants uses 'em, but i found the programming annoying when i played with his CZ1000 or whatever and went for his TR505 instead

most famous CZ track

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9V3n9uhE1Q

also

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thah5ZkDTBI

also also

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQthcAK9kAg

idiron how much did you pay for your "nonnbokc" ?

  On 12/9/2009 at 2:06 PM, LUDD said:

idiron how much did you pay for your "nonnbokc" ?

£400. shit you not, it came in a sack. a sack sewed shut. a sack covered in wax customs seals. a sack with my address painted in giant cursive lettering.

the guy selling it had also said "do not worry, i pack safe and good!"; apparently this involved lots of small chunks of salvaged polystyrene thrown loosely into the sack. it took me 40 minutes to hoover up all the polystyrene 'dust'. there is still a shit load of it inside and stuck in the crevices of the Поливокс, but i wouldn't be able to get it out without taking the entire thing apart (which i can't be fucked to do until i get round to installing a CV mod).

the middle C is jammed, the lower D unresponsive, quite a few pots are knackered and yet still worth absolutely every penny; the best purchase i've ever made. like i said, i will make a proper thread about it soon an (maybe with a video).

i bought one a few months ago and LOVE IT... if you put the time into it you can create some really complex and warm sounds...

a few weeks ago i got the cartridge to store my patches... i think the cartridge is a MUST...

just the other day it started running out of power and started making these totally awesome freaky sounds... i sampled everything of course... some of the best sounds ive gotten out of it!!!!

does anybody know of compatible ac adapters for it???!?!!?

ive had a hell of a time finding one... casio doesnt sell one anymore...

can anybody link me to one?????

thanks