friend sent me my 36-year-old synthesizer (and it works!)

[des0free]

Out of the blue I exchanged an email with an old childhood friend.  He said he wanted to send me something and asked for my address. 

Today a box arrived at my door and inside was the Casio CZ-101 keyboard synth I had bought new in 1985. I left it with my friend when I went to college.  Apparently he kept it all these years.  With trepidation I installed 6 "D cell" batteries, whispered a short prayer, and pressed the power button. It turned on and seems to play just fine.  It has 16 preset sounds (brass, strings, violin, flute, ...) and is also programmable and can make many weird sounds using programmable oscillators, filters, etc. - I may have some fun playing with this.

This was not just a toy but one of the first widely sold pro-quality programmable digital synths (see photo below) and cost ~$400 back in 1984.  Apparently there is still a market for these as "vintage" and they are selling used for ~$500-600.

According to what I found online it uses "phase distortion synthesis", said to be an improvement to what "Yamaha DX" synths used. Web says it has "two DCOs, each of which could draw upon any of seven disparate waveforms that bore little resemblance to the saws, squares and sines of traditional analogue synthesis".  It has "Three sets of 8-stage envelope sections are used to modulate your sounds extensively. The first is used to modify the DCO pitches over time. Another 8-stage envelope section in the DCW is used to modify the Phase Angle over time (like filtering). Finally the DCA amplifier also has an 8-stage envelope to modify the volume of sounds over time. For further tweaking the CZ-101 employs some surprisingly analog effects. Four types of Vibrato make up a simple LFO-type section with triangle, square, ramp up or down waveforms as well as rate, depth and delay settings. Portamento adds that classic glide effect from one note to the next. Double up on the oscillators with 4-note polyphony. Built-in noise and ring modulation. It's also MIDI equipped with 4 monophonic multitimbral parts. However, with only 32 patches (16 preset, 16 user) storage is a bit slim."

[cuthbert]

That's awesome, des! Looking forward to hearing it in one of your recordings.

I bought one of these used back in the early 90s...sadly, I traded it a few months later for an ART multi-effects rack unit or something. Wish I still had that CZ-101...

[des0free]

That's awesome, des! Looking forward to hearing it in one of your recordings.

I bought one of these used back in the early 90s...sadly, I traded it a few months later for an ART multi-effects rack unit or something. Wish I still had that CZ-101...

First test by my 10 yo son, Joplin cover: https://songcrafters.org/forum/index.php?topic=31274.0

[Jean Pierre]

I listened to the entertainer by Desofree Junior, congratulations to the young pianist it's very well played at 10 years old! it's a piece I liked to play in my guitar finguer picking period ...

I love the story of the keyboard coming home after so many years ..and it reminds me of this story of my daughter's Ukelele who went wandering around the world..and that I tell in this message :
https://songcrafters.org/forum/index.php?action=post;board=8.0

[maxit]

This version really rocks! Your son is great!

[Geir]

Wish I still had that CZ-101...

You could always use your iPad

https://web.casio.com/app/en/cz/

[Ted]

Wish I still had that CZ-101...

You could always use your iPad

https://web.casio.com/app/en/cz/

In my storage unit back in the USA, I have an old Yamaha DX100 that I hang onto simply because I expect someday I will sell it for a million dollars to some purist who won't settle for an emulation. Or maybe 500 dollars. Or less.

[StephenM]

cool story....really great you have it back too...

my first synth was a radio shack... i could make helicopter noises...lol...never did much with it, dummy me....don't even remember what I did with it...

hold onto this...it will only go up in value, especially if it's in good condition.