Noise FAQ: Casio SK series samplers
DZ-015
Here is the text from the EMRL Noise FAQ web page. The URL is:
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All of the things that say: [inline] are images that you would see if you
viewed it as a web page. Feel free to grab any part of this FAQ, just
prpovide a link back to the source, and if you have any knowledge or
corrections to add I would be glad to hear it. More FAQs will be
forthcoming.
Here is the text:
CASIO SK Series
Sampling Keyboard
NOISE F.A.Q.
[INLINE]
Last updated: 01 January, 1998
_________________________________________________________________
OK here goes- everything I know about the SK series:
Casio made the SK1, SK5, SK8, and the SK10. (I think there might be an
SK8- confirmation?) Radio Shack made the Concertmate 650, a clone of
the SK5. All of these keyboards have the same shell and look basically
the same. The SK keyboards are by far the most versatile and
functional of tools any noise musician can get for the money, even
when they were new and went for ~$100.
The SK1 was first. SK stands for Sampling Keyboard. The SK1 was able
to sample a monaural sound (about 1 second) and hold that sound in
memory even though the machine is turned off for as long as their are
batteries in the unit. (I just checked my SK5 and it has the samples
still in it from the last show I played with it like a year and a half
ago!). This was a phenomenal achievement for it's time (mid-80's), and
for some reason is a feature that is still not found on consumer
keyboards today. [INLINE]
[INLINE] The SK had all the typical consumer/toy level features like
rhythm selection and organ and piano-ish sounds, but it also had some
nice features like the ability to apply 13 different filter shapes to
those sounds as well as being able to sequence a track. You can also
sequence the sampled sound and add filters to it. The SK had an
onboard mic as well as a 1/4" mic level input and a 1/8" line
levelinput.
Output was via onboard speaker or 1/8" headphone jack.
The SK5 had the added ability to sample either four short samples
(about 1 second each), or two longer samples at about two seconds
each. Or you could have bands 1 and 2 holding a short sample each,
while banks 3 and 4 holding a longer sample. The SK5 also had four
nice rubbery trigger pads, one for each of the samples. [INLINE]
Also on board was the ability to reverse a sample, or to de-tune the
sample. The de-tuning ability is fairly powerful, and you can take a
sample and raise it's pitch so that it sounds like bats screeching, or
lower it to the point that it sounds like a low Godzilla rumble.
De-tunign was accomplished by changing the sampling rate either
increasing or decreasing, this also had the effect of decreasing or
increasing the time a sample lasted. With the long sample rate, you
could get samples to play like 5 seconds each.
The SK8 had the added feature of a ROM card socket. This ROM socket
accepted cards that had prepared popular music. The one I saw had a
card that played a few Beatles melodies (fairly useless). They also
had read and green LEDs above the keys that would light up as the ROM
card played it's tune. I don't think the SK8 had any sampling features
beyond what the SK5 had.
I have only seen the SK10 once for sale new in a store in Chinatown
(SF) for $60, and it appeared to only sample one sample like the SK5,
so I did not buy it.
I have heard of a magazine article in the 80's that told of a way to
hack the SK samplers to have a mid interface. This seems too wacky to
be true, but I know there are a lot of hacks out there, so I know it
could be possible... It wold be a waste of time with al the other
sampling options available, but in the 80's, this would have been the
only affordable way of getting sampling to work with midi gear so it
might have been worth the effort.
Well, that's all I can think of off the top of my head. If you have
any hints, hacks, DOCS or articles or ads or old SK boxes and want to
donate them, writing this little rant has inspired me to create an SK
fan page. I'd especially like to get a hold of SK user manual or even
a photocopy. I remember looking at on new in the store and it said
things like sampling rate and such, so it would be cool to know. If
you have anything that would help, e-mail me.
Thanks,
-Jay Truesdale dz-...@emrl.com
_________________________________________________________________
The author playing an all-SK show at a laundromat in San Francisco, CA
in the early summer of 1997 [INLINE]
Return to EMRL
[INLINE]
Web page maintained by: dz-...@emrl.com
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Kevin J. O'Conner / Tinty Music
DZ-015 wrote:
> The SK1 was first. SK stands for Sampling Keyboard. The SK1 was
> able
> to sample a monaural sound (about 1 second) and hold that sound in
> memory even though the machine is turned off for as long as their
> are
> batteries in the unit.
This is not true. Once you've turned the thing off, your sample is
gone.
--
Kevin J. O'Conner / Tinty Music
P.O. Box 85363, Seattle, WA 98145-1363 USA
tntm...@halcyon.com
http://www.halcyon.com/tntmusic/home.htm
DZ-015
You are correct!
The SK1 does *not* retain the sample when the power is switched off. The
SK5 does. I had assumed that the SK1 had the same feature but it does
not. This dramatically increases the desirability of the SK5 over the
SK1.
Thanks for the correction, I will update the FAQ.
-Jay Truesdale
dz-...@emrl.com
Kevin J. O'Conner corrected something that DZ-015 wrote:
>> The SK1 was first. SK stands for Sampling Keyboard. The SK1 was
>> able
>> to sample a monaural sound (about 1 second) and hold that sound in
>> memory even though the machine is turned off for as long as their
>> are
>> batteries in the unit.
>
>This is not true. Once you've turned the thing off, your sample is
>gone.
>
>--
>Kevin J. O'Conner / Tinty Music
>P.O. Box 85363, Seattle, WA 98145-1363 USA
>tntm...@halcyon.com
>http://www.halcyon.com/tntmusic/home.htm
>
>
MONOnanie
>The SK1 does *not* retain the sample when the power is switched off. The
>SK5 does.
so does the sk60. but dont buy that - it sucks (no output jack!)
joel
SPITE - sound tapes - email at MONO...@aol.com for info
M1stlight
>so does the sk60. but dont buy that - it sucks (no output jack!)
I Personaly own an SK-1 (the old one) It doesn't have an output jack either.
Any industrious noisemaker can unhook the internal speaker and wire in an
output jack in it's place.
Dan Morningstar
Email: M1st...@aol.com
MONOnanie
>I Personaly own an SK-1 (the old one) It doesn't have an output jack either.
my sk1 has an output jack...
M1stlight
>my sk1 has an output jack...
would that be the newer, smaller, "boxier" one? or the older, bigger, rounder
one?
Dan Morningstar
Email: M1st...@aol.com
Joshua Houk
Nice FAQ!
My question, though, is where can I find them? I'd like to get my hands on a
SK5 and/or SK1, but haven't had any luck as of yet.
joshua h
--
jh...@mindspring.com
MONOnanie
>
>My question, though, is where can I find them?
flea markets, yard sales, junk shops. "daddy's junky music" here in new
england had an sk1 with a sticker that said "antique - $50" on it... but i
wouldnt pay over $5 for one.
also, service merchandise had sk60s late last year for $50, but those suck
because there's no output jack.