The Casio SK-1 is a small sampling keyboard made by

Casio is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturing corporation headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Its products include calculators, mobile phones, digital cameras, electronic musical instruments, and analogue and digital watches. It ...

in 1985. It has 32 small sized piano keys, four-note

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...

, with a sampling bit depth of 8 bit PCM and a

sample rate In signal processing, sampling is the reduction of a continuous-time signal to a discrete-time signal. A common example is the conversion of a sound wave to a sequence of "samples". A sample is a value of the signal at a point in time and/or sp ...

of 9.38

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...

for 1.4 seconds, a built-in microphone and

line level Line level is the specified strength of an audio signal used to transmit analog audio between components such as CD and DVD players, television sets, audio amplifiers, and mixing consoles. Line level sits between other levels of audio signals. ...

and microphone inputs for sampling, and an internal speaker and line out. It also features a small number of four-note

polyphonic Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...

preset

analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

and

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals **Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...

instrument voices, and a simple

additive Additive may refer to: Mathematics * Additive function, a function in number theory * Additive map, a function that preserves the addition operation * Additive set-functionn see Sigma additivity * Additive category, a preadditive category with f ...

voice. All voices may be shaped by 13 preset

envelope An envelope is a common packaging item, usually made of thin, flat material. It is designed to contain a flat object, such as a letter or card. Traditional envelopes are made from sheets of paper cut to one of three shapes: a rhombus, a shor ...

portamento In music, portamento (plural: ''portamenti'', from old it, portamento, meaning "carriage" or "carrying") is a pitch sliding from one note to another. The term originated from the Italian expression "''portamento della voce''" ("carriage of the v ...

, and

vibrato Vibrato (Italian language, Italian, from past participle of "wikt:vibrare, vibrare", to vibrate) is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch (music), pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. ...

. It also includes a rudimentary sequence recorder, preset rhythms and chord accompaniment. The SK-1 was thus an unusually full-featured synth in the sub-US$100 (equivalent to $ today) home keyboard market of the time. The SK-1 includes one pre-arranged piece of music, the Toy Symphony, which is played when the "Demo" button is pressed. Casio SK-1 Sampling Synthesizer

The

Radio Shack RadioShack, formerly RadioShack Corporation, is an American retailer founded in 1921. At its peak in 1999, RadioShack operated over 8,000 worldwide stores named RadioShack or Tandy Electronics in the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, Austra ...

version of the Casio SK-1 is called the Realistic Concertmate 500. The SK line continued throughout the late 1980s, including the SK-2, SK-5, SK-8 and 8A, SK-10, SK-60, SK-100, SK-200, and SK-2100.

Use in recorded music

The SK-1 has been used by a few major recording artists for its simplicity and

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...

sound. It became very popular in the late 1990s among the

circuit bending Circuit bending is the creative, chance-based customization of the circuits within electronic devices such as low-voltage, battery-powered guitar effects, children's toys and digital synthesizers to create new musical or visual instruments and ...

crowd after the first guide to bending it was published by

Reed Ghazala Qubais Reed Ghazala (born 1953), an American author, photographer, composer, musician and experimental instrument builder, is recognized as the "father of circuit bending," having discovered the technique in 1966, pioneered it, named it, and taug ...

in ''

Experimental Musical Instruments ''Experimental Musical Instruments'' was a periodical edited and published by Bart Hopkin, an instrument builder and writer about 20th century experimental music design and custom made instrument construction. Though no longer in print, back iss ...

'' magazine, though the SK-1 was being modified as early as 1987 when ''

Keyboard Magazine ''Keyboard'' is a magazine that originally covered electronic keyboard instruments and keyboardists, though with the advent of computer-based recording and audio technology, they have added digital music technology to their regular coverage, inc ...

'' published an article on adding

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...

support. The synthesizer was one of the first pieces of equipment that

Autechre Autechre () is an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are among the best known acts signed to UK electronic label Warp Records, through which all of Au ...

had when they began recording music. Musician and score composer Michael Andrews featured a circuit bent SK-1 heavily in the ''

Me and You and Everyone We Know ''Me and You and Everyone We Know'' is a 2005 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Miranda July. She also acts in the starring role, opposite John Hawkes. The film was the first major studio production for July, who had b ...

'' musical score. The "Realistic Concertmate" version of the SK-1 is the primary synth used in the no wave / industrial band Special Interest. It was used by notable

jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅ ...

artist

DJ Hype Kevin Ford (born 1968), better known as DJ Hype, is a British jungle and drum and bass producer and DJ. Biography Hype first became involved in music as a teenager in 1982, assisting PJ and Smiley with their sound system Heatwave in East Lo ...

for his seminal productions, and rapper and producer

Large Professor William Paul Mitchell (born March 21, 1972), better known by the stage name of Large Professor (also Extra P. and Large Pro), is an American rapper and record producer. Based in New York City, he is known as a founding member of the underground ...

used it in his early years of beat-making. Australian band Turnstyle used the keyboard's sample function on various songs as both repetitive motifs (Happier Than Metallica) and melodic passages (Sad Rambo). Owen Ashworth used and recorded with one for

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone Casiotone for the Painfully Alone (CFTPA) was the musical solo-project of musician Owen Ashworth (born April 22, 1977) of Redwood City, California. CFTPA was active from 1997 to 2010, and released five studio albums, alongside numerous other re ...

's second live album ''In Sydney''.

Mount Eerie Mount Eerie is the musical project of American songwriter and producer Phil Elverum. Elverum (also of The Microphones) is the principal member of the band, but has collaborated with many other musicians on his records and in live performances. ...

's '' Eleven Old Songs of Mount Eerie'' consisted solely of

Phil Elverum Philip Whitman Elverum (; born May 23, 1978) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and visual artist, best known for his musical projects The Microphones and Mount Eerie. Based in Anacortes, Washington, in the mid-2000s he began ...

's vocals and an SK-1, making use of its various effects and built-in rhythm machine. It is also featured on the cover of the Soccer Mommy album "Collection". Composer

Samuel Andreyev Samuel Andreyev (born Samuel Curnoe Andreeff; 15 April 1981) is a Canadian composer, singer-songwriter, poet and educator who has resided in France since 2003. As of 2021, he had completed about 30 works, nearly all of which have been recorded co ...

has written demanding parts for the SK-1 in several of his chamber compositions, including Vérifications, Iridescent Notation and Sextet in Two Parts.Samuel Andreyev, Music with no Edges, Kairos Records 2018 Audio Posse used the SK-1 in their single "My Rhymes Show Maturity" which drew universal acclaim in the Oakland underground hip-hop scene. X-Prezs and Q-Ball recorded the titular sample themselves, while DJ Auxiliary inserted it into the beat he created using a drum machine and a Yamaha DX-21 keyboard.

Use in recorded music

References

External links