Casio DG20 guitar synth, "Synthetic Blues" by Dr. Ika

[drewsneatlife]

i love it! >[(: )]

[pickmaster]

@drewsneatlife Many thanks, I like your playing too.

Cheers

[Aardcore]

God damn, what a gangster. Just before he starts he blatantly lets people know what's up, "Blues!" And then let's it allll pour out!

Incredible talent my man, keep that shit strong!

[pickmaster]

@Aardcore

Thanks again dear Sir.

Best wishes

[jazzynet1]

This is great! I gotta find one of those Casio DG20 guitar synths!

[mugenlordftw]

Yourdoinitwrong. Needs more Electric mandalin

[1337and0]

More cowbell!

[applexore]

is it possible to bend the strings on this midi guitar and use it as a midi controller for your computer?

[Speaktrap]

@applexore As far as I know, yes, it's a fully compatible midi device

[misterfilmguy]

Tasty

[edoardomorellimusic]

Hi pickmaster, I love your vids!! Id' really like to know if you'd suggest this instrument as a midi controller for vst or external modules. Are there diferences between the tracking of internal sounds and external? I'm not interested in pitch bending or other particular controls...I'm looking only for an exact tracking device without latency ( 10ms or less...possibly).

Looling at your performance it looks like the tracking is almost immediate?!...right?

regards from italy

[Thekingofdoubles]

Sounds like something Steve Winwood would play haha Great Job!

[sonnytjuh]

where can i buy it

[sonnytjuh]

Cool! Where can i buy the guitar?

[carthagepropaganda]

This is the kind of music they will play in the year 2000 in dirty bars on the moon!

[uphoyaax]

quien dijo eso? ahhhh si lo dijiste tu concuerdo

[MrSummerOfLove]

Very good guitar player. This guitar is a toy and he plays it !

[phenihydinum]

ай, молодца!

[libertyordeaf]

Very nice work sir. All the funkiness of the B3 but with the expressiveness of jazz guitar too. Love it.

[pickmaster]

Many thanks!

Best wishes.

[sf42lax]

i cant wait for my dg 10

[ivusp]

is it possible to set the strings action? great video!! thanks for posting!

[pickmaster]

Yes, I'm using some kind of capodaster on the 20th fret.

[VGEric]

How does strumming chords sound on the instrument?

[pickmaster]

It sounds good my man.

[natn0]

@VGEric didn't you even watch the video?

[Ghostdog722]

I was thinking about selling my DG-20 but after hearing the Doc play Iam taking it out to play instead. Its a great addiction to my collection.

[pickmaster]

Don't sell it, it will give you much more pleasure then money you'll get for it.

Cheers

[sf42lax]

what is the difference between a casio dg-20 and dg-10?

-thanks

[pickmaster]

More sounds and DG 20 has a MIDI

[Japocaster1]

I usually dont leave "cliche" type responces, but THAT WAS AWESOME. Since the Flight of thr Conchords, this instrument has gained quite a bit of popularity. And these Casio DG-20's are becoming as rare and collectable as vintage guitars. Too cool.

[pickmaster]

Many thanks for listening and kind words.

Best wishes.

[KongoXIIV]

Indeed...I think they are kinda cool in a cheesy way but FOTC boosted it for me even more...now I Must have one!

Strange how trends and TV shows can make something change huh? An old cheesy (but very well made, listen to that tracking!) 80's Icon...now seen as cool and wanted once more. :-)

[40791]

Where is the source of the B3 sound? It is truly fabulous!

[Keybern]

that would be so much easier on a real organ, keyboard or synthesizer.

I mean, you don't get any benefit from playing an organ sound on a guitar.

The guitar restricts the polyphony.

[pickmaster]

Benefits are: listeners just LOVE it because it is unusual and most importantly it is very useful for non keyboard player guitarist who wants to record synth sounds.

Modern guitar controller like ZTAR does not restrict polyphony. It works exactly like keyboards.

[Nickdude6]

BLUES.

[cast390]

If you're using softsynths,or anything other then the built in sounds,how the tracking on it?

[pickmaster]

It's OK! but you can get double notes on some settings.

Ztar is perfect.

[cast390]

Ztar is overpriced

[BONGUSTHEDOG]

Hey Pick master...is that just a trigger or it has it's own soundbank?

Good Job, man!

[pickmaster]

Thanks for listening.

it has it's own limited soundbank and I play them throgh guitar processor Digitech RP 80.

[XxSTICH666xX]

It's own soundbank.

[TheRadarMonkey]

I didn't know Christopher Walken could play guitar.

[xarealpersonx]

Lol, he DOES look like Christopher Walken!

And this is pretty awesome.

[ShimmySystem]

Now if these guitar synths were used for guitar hero, then Guitar Hero would truly be cool.

[tarnatalia]

OK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[iloveevoli]

Great job!

I really need to get myself one of these.

[AnchoriteProductions]

Cool guitar.  Made back in the 1980s? -Derek

[pickmaster]

Yes maestro,

Love your guitar playing.

[utacctcs]

I have a couple of Casio DG jams posted

If you want to take a listen

[iamskillxD]

that was one mighty slab of cool

i totally want one of these

[adamdonovan88]

I own one, and trust me, he makes it look way easier than it is

[trauma15]

wait why? is it not like physically playing a regular guitar or somewhat similar?

[adamdonovan88]

The sound you here is not the sound of the string vibrating. The sound is just a sustaining note that rings until you release your finger from the fret board. this makes it really hard to make the notes flow.

It is also not difficult to pluck the string and not get any sound. If you don't do it right, the chip won't realize that you have played a string.

[beeflin]

yay! Jimmy Smith on guitar! great organ playing, somehow :-)

[marhomist]

original!amazing!awesome!

Bravo Dr.Ika!Bravo!

[chesshirecat2]

LOL this is BA my man. and YES it has to be christopher walken jammin out

[yamex5]

Maybe a cross between Christoper Walken and Brent Spiner ... ?

[ksharber]

christopher walken?!?!?!?!

[Quack4Zac]

badass

[translinguistic]

Sweet sound and instrument. Slick playing too.

[templarseries]

Errrrm - could it be because the BLUES are being played????????

Still not got hold of one of these - still stuck with the Dg10...

[fillfullfoulapendure]

how does that thing work, does it actually have strings?

[dearrmoundblues]

how much for a synth thing like that. sounds awesome. I am a big fan of your older brother Christopher. (referring to older comment)

[pickmaster]

It was £80 on Ebay about two years ago.

Regards from Christo :-)

[epikfai1]

is there any chance you could tab out this song, it's truly amazing and i really want to learn it.

[pickmaster]

I'll try one day. Unfortunately it is very time consuming for me. I'm a gigging muzo and mainly out all the time but best I can do I can upload backing track on my site and give you a link. You can improvise over it.

Cheers.

[WobblingBaby]

Correct me if I'm totally confused but can't what you play go directly into the computer and be displayed in midi format -ie it writes tab as you play- Yes?/ No?

[pickmaster]

Hi Baby,

I never thought about it, great idea! Problem is that on this and other videos I'm not using MIDI. Sounds are on board patches and I'm adding little chorus and echo from Digitech RP80.

Also I don't have a program which converts midi to notation or tab. No time to download and learn them too. Sorrrry!

[RELISIX]

god what a request, figure the song out for yourself lazy bones

[PanekPL]

google "Casio DG-20" you stupid fuck

[Onesickclown]

I put a reply to some one a said it would be hard to make a sheet music not that this video is impossible. so chill.

[qloey]

Sounds super, guy! You really roll. Sell me your Casio, btw! lol

[amirmuaythai]

chill

[VaselineOnToast]

holy shit! this guy rocks at guitar hero! doesnt even need to look at the screen!

[whatusernameisavai]

It's not GH it's a Casio DG 20 Synth guitar.

[VaselineOnToast]

DURRRRR

[djjiles]

LOL at the guy who thought it was GH

[Gugnums]

Sarcasm is a lost art

[djjiles]

indeed it is ;)

does anyone else think this guy looks like Christopher Walken??

[ChocloManx]

He does xD

[pickmaster]

Well, I'm Christopher's younger brother! Lol.

[joerothuk]

nah you look a lot more like richard lewis from curb your enthusiasm.

[MoritzxD]

wow

i really liked this

[mustard87]

PLAY FREEBIRRRRRRRRRD!!!

[tibiafinger]

Doc.I do believe I need to take my dg20 outta da closet.Dust dat badd boy off and start using it again.I never relize how cool it sound.usually I'd just sit aroun the house playing 'tl my mother saids "turn that Organ off.

[pickmaster]

It is really cool my man, non guitar sounds are very inspiring.

[nwLohmann]

that guitar is so cool. They use in HBO flight of the conchords

[mightybooshed]

"I think i need a 1983 Casio DG-20 electric guitar, set to electric mandolin with some drums......" Flight of the Conchords is the business

[XYtoTheDoubleG]

really diggin the blues

[liulei5215]

cool man`~~

[abergreg]

I remember reading an article about you in guitarist years ago, youre a medical doctor too arent you? i think it was neville martin who liked your playing and if i remember correctly you were in cardiff at the time? it was 15 years ago so i could have some of the details wrong

[pickmaster]

abergreg,

Yes, you are correct, I was a neurosurgeon (neurophysiologist), working at the Cardiff University. I was in guitarist mag. too featured by Tim Slater (not Neville).

My custom speaker cabinets (world's best !!! lol) were also featured in Guitarist several times by Nick Guppy -- see the December's issue 297.

And if you are lucky you can get our cab for free from 2008 guitarist mag. competition.

Best wishes

Doc.

[dalung]

hey how can i find out more about ur cabs?

also just a query, ya know this casio thing, what happens if a string breaks? or doesn't that happen?

[tibiafinger]

dalung/ my son snap one on mine,I replaced it with a two and ahalf piece of fishing line...tibiafinger

[dalung]

Hah wow i'm surprised that would work!

[tibiafinger]

yeah mon,the stings are made of nylon so if one snaps,just go to your local bait and tackle and buy a life time worth of strings.

I've been thinking of replacing mine with lime green.

[dalung]

Hah that is interesting. I don't have one of these I was just interested to find out about them.

[dalung]

Hah wow i'm surprised that would work!

[RoyClowserIII]

wow this is really cool!

[p0mp3]

sweet, is the Casio DG20 tighter than Axons AX 100 MKII ?

[cky283]

keep it up man :)

[brainztain]

awsome possom!

[PICANOQWERTY]

I LOVE THIS MAN AND HIS INSTRUMENT

[pickmaster]

Hi everyone,

Sorry I was out for some time and I would like to answer some of your questions.

[Dogmatix2]

pretty good,

so you are basically using this thing as a midi controller in this clip right? Or is it actually creating those sounds?

[pickmaster]

Dogmatix2

I'm not using this as a controller, all sounds are on board via Digitech RP-80 processor.

[pyramidparagon]

Can this guitar also be plugged into stompboxes via 1/4 inch cables or does it rely exclusively on its built-in speaker for output?

[pickmaster]

pyramidparagon Yes! One can use its TWO outputs -- LINE OUT and PHONES OUT (I'm using this one, disconnects inside speaker as well and it is more powerful). For the FX I'm using DIGITECH RP80 -- flinger for the Hammond sound and loads of reverb and delay for the flute and trumpet sound.

[Grimspoon]

I don't think so, you can see him initiating the beat by touching that box behind him at the start of the vid, and then stop the beat when hes done. If it was the casio, he'd be starting and stopping the beat by touching the top of the guitar's body, where the controls are.

[Grimspoon]

This guys got style to spare! Really like your axe too, that thing's got one hell of a sound. What are you using in the background there for your beats?

[t0rment2004]

That's probably just one of the beats it comes with out of the box. It IS a Casio after all.

I have a couple of questions about this thing. Number one, how responsive is it to bends? Number two, are the black nylon strings replacable and where would you find them?

[pickmaster]

t0rment2004 Bits are coming from the mini disc recorder end are created with the old Roland DR 5 sequencer.  No bends! Unfortunately . Black nylon strings can be replaced by any fishing or grass trimmer nylon threads of the similar diameter.

[pickmaster]

Grimspoon Thanks for the nice words, as I sad I'm using a mini disc player and creating bits with the PC or Roland DR 5 drum sequencer.

[killiktwilight]

flight of the conchords guitar

[jackstriker]

Nice play , I love it.

[chippytooth]

what kind of guitar is that???

[Buzzbang6234]

you are joking right???

[barnalad]

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha !!!!

[daveweckl1]

i love the way u play its very tight and funky

[sonnetg]

nice :)

[pickmaster]

Hey Tony thanks!

If no keyboard player around, I'll play for you my friend :)

[ynotguitar]

Nice playing my friend ! TJ