Posts Tagged: sampling

Many people have the opinion that digital pianos do not sound like original pianos, while some people say about the upright piano that they take too much space in a room. You will find this kind of conflict about electric pianos and upright pianos very off and on. This conflict is a never-ending one and will also never be solved.

People have their personal preferences. Some like the older style and old quality of the music in pianos while some love the new technologies used in the modern day digital piano. The electric piano is not a very old innovation. It has been around for about 20 years now. But they are the most widely used musical instruments today.

When the digital piano was first introduced, it was like a blunder. The keys used on the keyboard were extremely light and spongy and the quality of the piano as well as the music was nowhere near the real piano. The sound of these early pianos was too bright and the sampling was quite awful. All these points were working against this new revolution.

These early pianos did not feel right at all. The sweetness as well as the sharpness of the original piano was missing out somewhere. The manufacturers of the digital piano had to work really hard to bring it to a stage when it could be something like an original piano.
The look of these pianos was also not a good one. It had quite an ugly look. The cases looked liked cheap plastic and it was very difficult to match it with any other furniture in the home. But today digital pianos have become a sensation. Today new models of electric pianos are coming out every two to three years. Today there are many advantages of a digital piano over an upright piano. They have a lot more features and they are portable so they can be easily moved and of course, they sound fantastic.

Casio SK-1 SK-10 SA-60 Sampling Synth Synthesizer Electronic Keyboard

This little sampling keyboard has a lot to offer. It has 8-bit sampling and synthesizer functions. Samples can be looped with a variable loop point / lenght. Forwards / backwards or both possible. If you want, you can overdub the sample – there is no overdub limit – make your own mellotron choirs! .
It has an ADSR envelope for volume like a synthesizer. LFO and TREMOLO speed is variable. FUZZ and ECHO effects. It has 12 different “arpeggio styles”. The samples and the 12 synth sounds can be tweaked as well. It has a little sequencer, which records what you play.

The VSS-30 is the competitor of the famous Casio SK-1, but the VSS has more to offer and the sampling engine sounds better to my ears. Indeed, you can use it for recording, if you like great lofi sounds – which the VSS-30 can deliver. I like the sound, because it sounds less trashier than a Casio.
Also a great advantage is the absence of the “automatic power off” of the Casios. The VSS-30 remains powered on as long as you want.

This one is in original state – not circuit bent.

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• 61 piano-style keys
• Touch Response (2 sensitivity levels, off)
• 48-note polyphony (maximum)
• 570 high-quality tones including stereo grand piano tones
• 180 rhythms including 74 ethnic rhythms and 20 patterns for piano play

Product Description
The Casio CTK4000 is a Touch Sensitive General MIDI Keyboard that allows you to freely express all of your performances. And it’s loaded with features like a USB port to connect to your computer, plus 48-note polyphony so you are always in control. Want to sound like you are playing in a large concert hall? Consider it done with the on-board Digital Effects which will add another dimension to your playing. In addition, the CTK4000 keyboard features a 61-key full… More >>

Casio CTK-4000 ersonal Keyboard, 61-Key, with MP3 Connection, 10 Second Sampling, and Digital Effects

funny vintage gear demo by RetroSound

“Happy Easter wishes RetroSound.de”

The Yamaha VSS-200 is a rare low-cost Sampling Keyboard from the year 1988.

4 voices, 8-bit sampling, 100 FM tones, 9 DSP effects: loop, u-turn, reverse, FM, AM, fuzz, echo, level and pitch

+ EHX Small Stone phase shifter

more info: http://www.retrosound.de and
http://www.myspace.com/retrosound72

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