Lets get lo-fi - Yamaha pss-580 vs. Casio MT-68

Just for fun I thought I'd try and impovise a simple track using some of the cheapest keyboards I've found. The yamaha cost £7 and the Casio £10, both from car boot sales. The yamaha was programmed with a custom sound by me using pss-edit which is a free bit of software I found. The mini disc I used to record and monitor with cost £20 from a second hand shop. Also featuring flossy the cats interprative dance. Enjoy.

Here's a link to pss edit. Go here and to the downloads section :

http://members.chello.at/bobby100/

You can copy the string sound on a pss-480, pss-580, pss-680 or pss-780 with these settings:

Use the Ocarina preset then the settings 0 to 8 are as follows: 0:24, 1:10, 2:04, 3:04, 4:01, 5:01, 6:07, 7:76, 8:85. Then turn on sustain and vibrato. I then used pss-edit the lengthen the release times of the envelopes but its optional really.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Lo-fi
• Casiotone
• MT-68
• Yamaha
• Portatone
• pss-580
• improv
• FM
• solo
• synth
• synthesizer
• vintage
• keyboard
• lofi
• music

[matt9741399]

I still have my 580 in a cupboard somewhere. I used to love playing with that thing when I was a kid - it was the first programmable synth I ever had. Got to love the quaintness of FM.

[ChrisLody]

@matt9741399 Yeah i agree, its FM has a quaintness to its sound. Probably because it reminds me off all those great megadrive game soundtracks.

[bob4analog]

The term 'Lo-Fi' is so over used and misapplied! If it sounds good / right, it's ok.

I have a Casio MT 68 too...sounds great, and I love the way you skillfully used in your vid here...nicely done! (Interested in selling it?)

[ChrisLody]

@bob4analog Nah, i'd never sell my MT-68. Its been a source of many good musical ideas over the last few years.

[AutomaticGainsay]

Nice performance! Neither of those keyboards are actually lo-fi, though... as no sound is being reproduced in low "fidelity."

[ChrisLody]

@AutomaticGainsay Yeah, i know the title isn't technically accurate but i wanted something snappy and short. The idea is just to make whatever i can from a bunch of second hand stuff i find on carboot sales just to do something outside of a computer studio. Glad you like the performance though. Cheers.

[IStehSHIT]

try 240 nicer sound

[bob4analog]

@ChrisLody

Cool, I can appreciate that. When ya got sumth'n that works, ya hang on to it. Cheers to the MT-68! Keep on Rock'n!

[Uberlaser]

Little black pussycat likes the music too :-)

[ChrisLody]

@adamglock They're great aren't they? The 480/580 became one of my favourite little keyboards after i found it, i'm planning to write a collection of tracks with nothing more than the 580, 780 and a sequencer. They're more than up to it. The MT-68 is well worth tracking down, the envelope switches and the sustain/reverb switch give just enough sound sculpting for me, I almost consider it a synth.