CZ-101 owner here. After the TB-303, I'm not sure there are many other small form-factor synths that have had such an outside impact on electronic music
From early Chicago House using the "HiString" preset here, and used all OVER loads of electro https://youtu.be/m78Nx3de6wg?si=1Ya5Q3I967xOGUuu
Two Bad Mice "Bomb Scare" with the CZ organ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQVv40_9NSo
then the "Reese Bass" that powered much of jungle and drum and bass after Kevin "Reese" Saunderson, one of the Detroit Pioneers who came up with it for a techno track https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjduK8Ip0Ls&t=55s
The CZ synths were really underrated, I think because the presets IMHO are a bit rubbish.
I still love them though. Phase distortion can make some really great noises with a bit of coaxing.
I have the bigger CZ-5000 with the built in sequencer I bought used in the 90s and still play. I think it was probably used most famously by Drexciya but the Kevin Saunderson "Reece Bass" sound was everywhere in early jungle.
I like this CZP-1 soft synth. It's pretty nice once you flip the flow from left to right to top to bottom.
Agreed. I was lucky and found both a CZ-1 and a VZ-10m at low cost in the late 90s/early 2000s. I'm happy to see people exploring their synthesis mechanism in a form with a better UI.
Those harmonies and timbres instantly transported me back to 2001, when I had a dev gig with a music software company. Initially, I shared an office with another dev. Months later I was displaced by a new hire; they moved me to a modular Wenger practice room. This enraged me until I realized I now had total control over lighting (brought in a floor lamp) and music-listening without disturbing officemates. I looped In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country, Music Has the Right to Children, and Geogaddi nonstop while implementing crude copy protection for their flagship product.
>A Casio CZ-101 can be seen on one picture of their live performance, positioned on the drum stands in front of Michael Sandison. The Casio CZ-101 is visibly linked to other equipment solely through a MIDI cable, indicating its probable role as a MIDI keyboard within this live setup. Strikingly, the synth's audio output remains unutilized during the performance.
I have CZ-101 and CZ-5000, I tried many emulations and wrote some myself but I also read technical manuals and what goes on analog side, after DAC, oh boy. The synth is is digital at the core but the sound is very much shaped by the rest of the synth.
Yamaha’s piano presets are perfectly fine for the intended use case. Have a jam with it, sit it in the mix, you’ll see .. of course it’s not going to be their concert grand ..
[delayed]
CZ-101 owner here. After the TB-303, I'm not sure there are many other small form-factor synths that have had such an outside impact on electronic music From early Chicago House using the "HiString" preset here, and used all OVER loads of electro https://youtu.be/m78Nx3de6wg?si=1Ya5Q3I967xOGUuu Two Bad Mice "Bomb Scare" with the CZ organ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQVv40_9NSo then the "Reese Bass" that powered much of jungle and drum and bass after Kevin "Reese" Saunderson, one of the Detroit Pioneers who came up with it for a techno track https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjduK8Ip0Ls&t=55s
I see your "HiString" and raise you a "Lately Bass": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXBssta3eD4
I submit for consideration the Korg M1 "Organ 2"
https://youtu.be/Ps2Jc28tQrw?is=tXq9sAaeK_OurFqR
That's a strong contender.
Teenage Engineerings OP-1 is a newish small form synth, expensive but regularly seems to appear on Craigslist at a reasonable price.
It’s a popular synth, but I wouldn’t say it had much of an impact of electronic music.
The original author of the patches (oliveoil22) is on the KeyOsc forum, if you're interested: https://forum.keyosc.com/topic/2293-casio-cz-101-the-90s-key...
Disclaimer: I'm an admin there.
The CZ synths were really underrated, I think because the presets IMHO are a bit rubbish.
I still love them though. Phase distortion can make some really great noises with a bit of coaxing.
I have the bigger CZ-5000 with the built in sequencer I bought used in the 90s and still play. I think it was probably used most famously by Drexciya but the Kevin Saunderson "Reece Bass" sound was everywhere in early jungle.
I like this CZP-1 soft synth. It's pretty nice once you flip the flow from left to right to top to bottom.
I you have CZ-5000 you’re probably aware of Satoshi & Makoto who are making music using only CZ-5000 with its 8-track sequencer.
https://www.satoshiandmakoto.com/
Oh! No I wasn't, thank you.
Agreed. I was lucky and found both a CZ-1 and a VZ-10m at low cost in the late 90s/early 2000s. I'm happy to see people exploring their synthesis mechanism in a form with a better UI.
BoC mentioned on the HN frontpage is a nice surprise :)
Those harmonies and timbres instantly transported me back to 2001, when I had a dev gig with a music software company. Initially, I shared an office with another dev. Months later I was displaced by a new hire; they moved me to a modular Wenger practice room. This enraged me until I realized I now had total control over lighting (brought in a floor lamp) and music-listening without disturbing officemates. I looped In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country, Music Has the Right to Children, and Geogaddi nonstop while implementing crude copy protection for their flagship product.
BoC AND Casio CZ mentioned both in same article? I’m sold.
>A Casio CZ-101 can be seen on one picture of their live performance, positioned on the drum stands in front of Michael Sandison. The Casio CZ-101 is visibly linked to other equipment solely through a MIDI cable, indicating its probable role as a MIDI keyboard within this live setup. Strikingly, the synth's audio output remains unutilized during the performance.
https://bocpages.org/wiki/Equipment#CZ-101
Quite an apropos username for a post praising BoC :)
CZ sounds is somehow special.
I have CZ-101 and CZ-5000, I tried many emulations and wrote some myself but I also read technical manuals and what goes on analog side, after DAC, oh boy. The synth is is digital at the core but the sound is very much shaped by the rest of the synth.
I love that machine.
I was obsessed with Boards of Canada as a high school kid. Music Has the Right to Children and Geogaddi are must listens
I was hoping this was a play on Boards of Canada and I was not disappointed.
I was just listening this week after not having listened in some time, as it's the 30th anniversary of Hi Scores.
Why is it so difficult to buy N-octave mini keyboards, for various N>2, with a good built-in set of samples?
Its not? Yamaha Reface.
But they don't have an acoustic piano built in (yes, I know, the CP has an acoustic piano as an easter egg, but that doesn't count).
Playing acoustic piano patches on my reface wasn’t a good experience. Seems all those light actions have hyper sensitive black keys.
Yamaha’s piano presets are perfectly fine for the intended use case. Have a jam with it, sit it in the mix, you’ll see .. of course it’s not going to be their concert grand ..
It's not a ROMpler, but Hydrasynth Explorer.
I don't know who posted this but I also watched the original video and wished I could access those patches so thank you
For old-school vintage synth patch wizardry with retro videos, Jexus is a favorite: https://youtube.com/@jexus?si=PkJuiLJaUpj3yjZl