The DS-250 was an

electronic keyboard An electronic keyboard, portable keyboard, or digital keyboard is an electronic musical instrument, an electronic derivative of keyboard instruments. Electronic keyboards include synthesizers, digital pianos, stage pianos, electronic organs an ...

manufactured in 1985 by

Seiko , commonly known as Seiko ( , ), is a Japanese maker of watches, clocks, electronic devices, semiconductors, jewelry, and optical products. Founded in 1881 by Kintarō Hattori in Tokyo, Seiko introduced one of the first quartz watches and the ...

and was considered a commercial failure. It was capable of generating both digital and additive sounds. It is expandable with two expander units DS-310 and DS-320.

Features

The unit used

additive synthesis Additive synthesis is a sound synthesis technique that creates timbre by adding sine waves together. The timbre of musical instruments can be considered in the light of Fourier series, Fourier theory to consist of multiple harmonic or inharmoni ...

for sound generation, chorus and ports included

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 ...

In, Out and Through, RCA outputs (stereo), Headphones and level controls for both channels. It also has on board speakers. It is capable of running either a single sound or two sounds at once, either layered or split, and each of these can be used on its own

channel (there are small dials on the end of the keyboard to set each channel). There are 16 preset sounds and these are all editable within a very limited context of volume, sustain (3 levels) and a variable vibrato (with vibrato delay switch). You can change the detune and pitch intervals between the two layered sounds.

DS1000 sequencer

1000 note sequencer called the DS1000 was also produced for use with the DS-250 (and other MIDI devices) in 1986. It had four buttons Record, play, stop and pause, a tempo slider.

Famous Users

Jean-Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age genres, and is known for organising outdoor spectacles featuring his music, accompanie ...

First Rendez-vous and Last Rendez-vous (Ron's piece) from the album Rendez-Vous.

Sounds

Mostly known for its pad and bell type sounds.

References

{{Seiko Electric and electronic keyboard instruments Seiko Polyphonic synthesizers