Hing Hon EK-001 square wave keyboard

[TheToploaderwasher]

0:22 Guitar

0:30 Music Box

0:42 Organ?

0:52 Piano? or Flute?

1:00 Horn?

1:11 Violin?

1:16 Banjo

[wilkes85]

Oh wow! When I was a kid, I had a cassette recorder designed to look like a radio station console, and it played this exact same rendition of Greensleeves! Apparently the "insturment" at 1:16 is supposed to sound like a banjo haha... i forget what the other ones are.

[1ucasvb]

I found one of these at some woman's house here in Brazil. It's not labeled Hing Hon, but it's pretty much the same device.

This version of Greensleves with the organ sound, and the next lower tempo, below the one in this video, is easily my favorite version of the song ever. Hauntingly beautiful.

Sadly, my version of the Hing Hon is pretty wrecked. I'm gonna try to restore it somehow, but I'd really pay good money for an intact version.

[m1k30d]

Can you play your own music on this, because I have one and the keys don't work at all, just the buttons at the top...

[piper102206]

I used to have one of these but its gon now..

[earth12345]

I have one of this keyboard at my house. I bought from Mae Sai, Chiang Rai for about 8 years ago (Mae Sai is the place that sell a lot of stuff that import from China)

Too bad that the one that I have is labeled everything in Chinese.

[TheToploaderwasher]

Cam you tell me the instruments you press? :-)

[hulalo3]

I just realized that I used to play on the exact same keyboard as a kid. Guess I'll have to look in the attic if it is still here somewhere.

[Scone54]

NEATO

[overgroundpropaganda]

this is the best thing ever

[ThePollyRhythmz]

I found one in an antiques (yes, antiques) mall in ohio. I want to circuit bend it, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

[buttguy]

the only place ive ever seen one of these available NEW was at our local amusement park, it was one of the prizes in the arcade. i have one, but i got it at a thrift store. i dont think there were any stores or anything that sold them straight up, i think they were probably only available through some kind of prize distribution catalog. just a guess? in any case, the overall build quality is absolute garbage, but the sounds are incredible. i always loved mine. no idea where it is now...

[Commodorian]

Sounds more like an Atari POKEY chip.

[KaslarProductions]

@Commodorian thats because the pokey could only make noise and squarewaves

[1ucasvb]

@KaslarProductions POKEY could also do 8 bit PCM audio.

[KaslarProductions]

@1ucasvb  Cool. I didn't know that... Thank for the heads up.

[sagadiablo]

This is sick! I would so use this at band practice! xD

[frankcastle123]

Do you know where can I find one? Do you have links or something?

[vwestlife]

@frankcastle123 Sorry, I don't know. I found this one in a thrift store.

[ThePollyRhythmz]

@frankcastle123 i have one, if you want it.

[RockVoltz]

@frankcastle123 I got one if you need it

[straycatsean]

I miss this thing, Mine is broken, light doesn't work, sound won't work. The power switch works, but everything else seems to be dead. Any help, I'm no electrician.

[AburameFifox]

name of the song?

[vwestlife]

@AburameFifox "Greensleeves"

[he214ab]

i like this, it sounds beautiful.

[Lachlant1984]

I kind of like the sounds on that keyboard, they sound very basic and cheesey but that's the whole charm and character behind the keyboard. It actually reminds me more of the NES or Game Boy than the C64, but now I'm just being pedantic.

[BearorBust]

I have a broken one of these, If you hold down two instrument keys you can get a sort of glitch / circuit bent sound out of them.

[vwestlife]

That is the way they all work. It is noted in the review I have linked in the video description.

[Primiscomputers]

I had that keyboard when I was 7, I got it for my birthday, I remember that song too, and If I remember correctly, it also had a passive Mic jack on the back that allowed you to connect any other 3.5 mm jack into it (tape, Cd, ect). I believe that was 2001 - 2002.

[muckleberryblim]

anyone able to dissect that sound at 1:00?

square wave with real fast pwm?

[LittleOso64]

O_O i have that same keyboard and it just so happens to be right beside me on a table! @_@ its a small world!!!

[Tyler11440]

woo deathcore organ at 1:00 !!!

[Tyler11440]

That instrument at the end is so epic i am giving it a new name.......deathcore

[RetroSoundsDA]

I like this a lot :)

It looks like a toy but sounds awesome.

PS: In case anyone is wondering, the demo song is "Greensleeves" (Since it doesn't appear to be listed in the description)

[Tyler11440]

True dude i just got me one off ebay :)

[Lachlant1984]

I know this is a very stupid question to ask, but where was this keyboard made? I'm going to guess it was made in China, but I'll ask anyway.

[vwestlife]

Yes, it is Chinese made.

[Lachlant1984]

OK, that was a dumb question, but I was curius, I thought there may be a chance the keyboard was made in Taiwan or Hong Kong or somewhere else in Asia, but that doesn't matter, I'm just glad nobody ridiculed me for asking. Nice keyboard by the way, i believe a friend of mine had one of these back in 2002, yes you heard right, 2002.

[Tyler11440]

i got that for christmas when i was 6....memories...... i remember that exact song

[VideyoJunkei]

These come in many flavors (case styles, button colors) One version was actually a kit U put together yourself!!

[Rebelli0nUK]

The SID mainly used a Saw wave, which is a sharper, grindier, and imo slightly nicer sound.

I suppose it does sound reasonably similar to the very early days of C64 sound, pre-Rob Hubbard and beyond, but it's not that classic sid sound, which is actually quite hard to mimic.

This is closer to the YM chip systems (like the atari ST and CPC464). This keyboard may well use a similar sort of soundgenerator.

Good stuff none the less.

[crocz]

um SID uses either square with duty cycle, saw, triangle or noise. Also there are filters and modulations between the waves. Most used probably is the pulse wave with duty cycle. I haven't heard saw wave very often.

[SuperMelon1]

I had this, I wish I knew where it was. I think it was thrown away :(

[my4trackmachine]

i have one of these guys. they are awesome.

[wax83]

Awesome!

How can I get one of these little monster???

I've not found a single one yet! (ebay & alike)

Thnx!

[vwestlife]

I found mine in the toy section of a thrift store.

[Dragonrider616]

Looks like a pretty good quality machine, I have a small keyboard like that one (different brand name though). Mine, however, is a piece of shit.

[drummtb333]

aww my grandma has one of these.

[Zideeane]

What are you playing there, by the way? It sounds awfully familiar...

[vwestlife]

The demo song is "Greensleeves". The Christmas song "What Child Is This?" uses the same melody.

[cashc0w]

can i ask, how did you record this into your computer. Im trying to record it into my macbook pro using line in and its not working. I assume you just plugged it in

[vwestlife]

Yes, I connected the keyboard's audio output to the line input of my computer's sound card. Make sure the line/aux input is enabled in your computer's audio mixer. It may be muted.

[raymondleeleggs]

The Drums sound like the TR808!

I have one!

[Arkhandroid]

It sounds more like a PC Engine / MSX to me, which is awesome.

I need to gits me one o deez

[djsmithy]

that is such a cool little keyboard! great sound.

[xmare]

That device is so cool!:) I like the sound of it!