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Casio SK-1

SK-1
Casio SK-1.jpg
Casio SK-1
Manufacturer Casio
Dates 1985–?
Technical specifications
Polyphony 4
Timbrality Monotimbral
Synthesis type Sampling, additive
Attenuator ADSR, 13 preset envelopes
Storage memory 5 preset PCM tones
3 preset additive tones
1 user additive tone
1 sample
400-step sequencer
Effects Portamento
Vibrato
Sample looping
Input/output
Keyboard 32 mini-keys
Left-hand control none
External control none

The Casio SK-1 is a small sampling keyboard made by Casio in 1985. It has 32 small sized piano keys, four-note polyphony, with a sampling bit depth of 8 bit PCM and a sample rate of 9.38 kHz, a built-in microphone and line level input for sampling, and an internal speaker. It also features a small number of four-note polyphonic preset analog and digital instrument voices, and a simple additive voice.

All voices may be shaped by 13 preset envelopes, portamento, and vibrato. It also includes a rudimentary sequence recorder, preset rhythms and chord accompaniment. The SK-1 was thus an unusually full-featured synth in the sub-$US100 home keyboard market of the time.

The SK-1 includes one pre-arranged piece of music, the Toy Symphony, which is played when the "Demo" button is pressed.

The Radio Shack version of the Casio SK-1 is called the Realistic Concertmate 500.

The SK line continued throughout the late 1980s, including the SK-2, SK-5, SK-8 and 8A, SK-10, SK-60, SK-100, SK-200, and SK-2100.

The SK-1 has been used by a few major recording artists for its simplicity and lo-fi sound. It became very popular in the late 1990s among the circuit bending crowd after the first guide to bending it was published by Reed Ghazala in Experimental Musical Instruments magazine, though the SK-1 was being modified as early as 1987 when Keyboard Magazine published an article on adding MIDI support.


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