CASIO HT6000 Synthesizer

[8bitsurrender]

can you create your own patches like on the yamaha dx7?

[stellarartwars07]

I used to have one of these, but swapped it for a TG55 module- at the time I just wanted instant gratification that you get from sampled sounds. Though it's easier to program than a DX, it still involves a lot of button pressing as there's only the single knob. I found the keyboard noisy, which was a shame. You can get a free VST called Plastique which emulates the HT3000 fairly well.

[hXcKitteh]

@bastler1001:

There are late 80's Yamaha PSS models with the blue drum pads under the keys.

I have the Casio HT-700 and it just has the little drum icons under the keys. It says Pulse Code Modulation on it but that only applies to the drum samples so far as I know. The synth section is analog. It sounds really good.

I love these machines and want a 3000 and 6000 too.

[1986uno45s]

@hXcKitteh The HT 3000 is really just a full sized HT 700 with an added modulation wheel so not really worth getting if you already have the 700. Unless you particularly need the full sized keys! The HT 6000 meanwhile is a very different beast. It has four oscillators compared with the lesser HT models (they only have a single oscillator), plus the 6000 has a lot of extra features (rhythms, drums, patches etc.). I have a 700 and a 6000, yet weirdly the 700 sounds more analogue!

[hXcKitteh]

@1986uno45s

KInda want a 3000 for collecting and so I can play two at once. But the 6000 seems like def the way to get. Really love the 700 sound

[WhenDinosaursWereDjs]

b-e-a-utiful pads! :)

[HolyKatana]

Looks like we have the same MIDI controller (Axiom 25).

[bastler1001]

what's the name of that vintage PCM casio keyboard with blue drum pads underneath the keys? that keyboard model was probably produced between 1986 and 1991. the housing was slanted and the keys were probably dynamic keys. as far as i remember it had 49 or 61 keys. do you know which model it was?

[1986uno45s]

@bastler1001 Your description sounds more like one of the Yamaha PSS series keyboards (PSS 680 perhaps?) rather than a Casio. Casio did the MT 520 model but that had yellow hexagonal drum pads on the upper facia.

[bastler1001]

@1986uno45s i'm sure it was a casio pcm keyboard because i tried it myself. as far as i remember it also had a small lcd display. perhaps there were no pads underneath the keys -- i don't remember that detail anymore, there could just have been drum icons down there, and you could play the drum samples using the keys. and it sounded really good, like real music -- no dry yamaha waves.

[1986uno45s]

@bastler1001 If it was just drum icons below the keys rather than blue pads then it was most probably the Casio HT 700 (and also its bigger brothers HT 3000 & 6000 - the video above shows an HT 6000 & 700). These had small drum icons below the keys on the first half of the keyboard and could be played manually or programmed into two measures plus a fill in. The HT 700 I have has a small LCD display too, and like all the HT series the melody tone is pure analogue so can sound really nice :-)

[nykilla99]

nice keyboard

[gary909]

@raszal2

It's a synth not a piano.

[1986uno45s]

@raszal2 There is a big difference between a pianist and a synthesist. You don't need to be a pianist to be able to get good stuff out of a synthesiser. Brian Eno is a good example of this, as is Nick Rhodes. When I see a synth demo I want to see and hear what the synth is capable of doing, not how good a pianist the operator is. Kudos to gary909 for showing what this underrated Casio is capable of though I'd like see a lot more!

[beemerduck]

@raszal2 - shut the fuck up dickhead! leave him alone, at least he has the balls to put a vid on here...

[Synthesized13]

wow, that thing is great!

[numanuma20]

How do you change the sounds on the pads for upper and lower?

[gary909]

@numanuma20

I think there are buttons for upper & lower???

[numanuma20]

@gary909 can you give me a demo on that?

[numanuma20]

@gary909 iThe pad on the right of the synth.

[Compastral]

Jeez, these are monster ambient synth tapestry masters :D

[YoungMalcomX1]

what is ambient

[bountytubes]

Both my albums "Senseless Songs" and "Emergency On Planet Earth" were recorded in their entirety with this lovely machine - you can download them for free at 4shared[dot]com or bountyland[dot]de!

[ObeeLektro]

I purchased the Casio HT-6000 from England. The editing of sounds is great, but the drum accompaniment sounds were awful. The drum kit was created all ready by newer technology which in the end sucked. If they have use their old retro drum sound like the sound used on the older vintage line of CT-401 series that I owned this would be the hottest retro Keyboard work station to own. I also owned couple of cards for memory storage of sounds and drum patterns. But than I gave up on it. I got tired

[dvamateur]

I used to have HT-6000 back in the 80's. Unfortunatelly, I sold it. Stupid me. Anyway, I think that the HT-6000 could have been better marketted as a pro synth. If they removed the speakers and autorhythms, it could go head-to-head with Roland D-50. The sound architecture of HT-6000 is quite deep, it has a lot of editable parameters. Oh well, these were good old days. The HT-3000 was a simpler model without keyboard velociyt, I suppose. The HT-6000 definitely had velocity keyboard

[revolverfive]

has anyone heard the ht3000?

[wendlinka]

I've just bought it, will receive it in a few days. After that I will put some exaples on YT.

[TheModCon]

Is the HT 3000 good? Do you think it's worth buying?

[wendlinka]

Now I think it's not. It's a very simple and poor sounding machine. I sent it back immediately:)

[scott93257]

I heard about these synths but never seen one....Nice post man...Thanks

[juanchow56]

I had one!!!

[mikedanous]

I own HT-700 (smaller one on the right of HT-6000). Unfortunately i bought it without ram card so i can save my patches writing parameters on piece of paper.

[sasarasa88]

You can also keep your patches if you save them on the internal memory AND either keep the power adapter plugged in when the unit is turned off or keep the unit with fresh batteries.

[mikedanous]

Nice. And its working. Thanks.

[juantomato]

That first patch appears to be a layer of a piano and something else. But the piano part is not the true HT-6000 piano patch, it is much better than the HT-6000 piano if I recall. Do you have another sound generator in the mix over MIDI?

[gary909]

All the sounds are from the HT6000! I might have changed whatever the first parameter is though - I think it alters oscillator, which adds or subtracts extra harmonics...

[sauermusicDE]

Finally someone posted a video about the HT-6000. Thanks for uploading! Maybe you should do a second video in which the drums can be heard.