Casiotone refers to a series of home electronic keyboards released by Casio Computer Co. in the early 1980s. These first keyboards used a sound synthesis technique known as Vowel-Consonant synthesis to approximate the sounds of other instruments (albeit not very accurately). Most Casiotone keyboards were small, with miniature keys designed for children's fingers, and were not intended for use by professional musicians; they usually contained a rhythm generator, with several user-selectable rhythm patterns, and often the means to automatically play accompaniments. While Casiotone keyboards were discontinued when more accurate synthesis technologies became prevalent, their cheapness and abundance resulted in their being widely used by garage bands. An electronic keyboard is a keyboard instrument which uses electricity to produce or amplify its sound. ... Casio Computer Co. ... The 1980s refers to the years of 1980 to 1989. ... The term synthesiser is also used to mean frequency synthesiser, an electronic system found in communications. ... Vowel-Consonant synthesis is a type of hybrid digital-analogue synthesis employed by the early Casiotone keyboards. ...

Casiotone keyboards came in three distinct families, separated by the method of synthesis.

Keyboards such as the CT-202 use Vowel-Consonant synthesis. The later model of this family, the MT-65, is one of the more well known and sought after models, as it also contains auto-accompaniment drum beats and bass lines. The distinctive sound of these keyboards is frequently heard in the Homestar Runner Macromedia Flash animations. Vowel-Consonant synthesis is a type of hybrid digital-analogue synthesis employed by the early Casiotone keyboards. ... It has been suggested that Teen Girl Squad and Cheat Commandos be merged into this article or section. ... // == Macromedia Flash == ==]] Using Macromedia Flash 8 (bundled in Studio 8) in Windows XP. Maintainer: Adobe Systems (formerly Macromedia) Latest release: 8 / September 30th, 2005 OS: Windows (no native Windows XP Professional x64 Edition support), Mac OS X, Linux (i386 only, via wine [1]) Use: Multimedia Content Creator License: Proprietary Website...

The famous VL-1 uses a method of sound synthesis based on the walsh function. The VL-1 was the first synthesizer of Casios VL-Tone product line, and is sometimes referred to as the VL-Tone. ... In mathematical analysis, the set of Walsh functions form an orthogonal basis of the square-integrable functions on the unit interval. ...

Some other keyboards (such as the MT-35 and MT-45) use a combination of two different binary weighted numbers (1 and 64). The larger weight bit provides the fundamental, and the smaller weight bit provides the harmonic complexity.

The later, more professional range of keyboards, the CZ series, used Phase distortion synthesis, which is mathematically almost identical to Yamaha's Frequency modulation synthesis, although implemented slightly differently to avoid patent infringement. Phase distortion: Distortion that occurs when (a) the phase-frequency characteristic is not linear over the frequency range of interest, , the phase shift introduced by a circuit or device is not directly proportional to frequency, or (b) the zero-frequency intercept of the phase-frequency characteristic is not 0 or... Yamaha may refer to: Yamaha Corporation – A manufacturer of a diverse range of musical instruments and electronics. ... Frequency modulation synthesis (or FM synthesis) is a form of audio synthesis where the timbre of a simple waveform is changed by frequency modulating it with a modulating frequency that is also in the audio range, resulting in a more complex waveform and a different-sounding tone. ...

References in Popular Culture

• In the song "Over and Over" by the electronic band Hot Chip, the word Casio is spelt out.
• The name is featured in the name of electronic band Casiotone for the Painfully Alone.
• In the song "Casiotone Nation" by the band Soul Coughing on their album Ruby Vroom, lead singer Mike Doughty repeats the line, "The 5% nation of Casiotone" along with mentioning other "5% nations" of fringe interests such as Pay-Per-View, nipple clamp, corduroy and many others.

Hot Chip are a British electro-pop band. ... Casiotone for the Painfully Alone is the musical solo-project of musician Owen Ashworth (born 1979) of San Francisco, California. ... The introduction to this article is too long. ... Ruby Vroom was Soul Coughings 1994 (see 1994 in music) debut album. ... Mike Doughty and bassist Scrap Livingston performing at the 2005 Austin City Limits Music Festival Mike Doughty (born June 10, 1970), is a singer and songwriter best known as the lead singer of Soul Coughing (generally as M. Doughty). ... Pay-per-view is the name given to a system by which television viewers can call and order events to be seen on TV and pay for the private telecast of that event to their homes later. ... Alligator clip-style adjustable nipple clamps A nipple clamp is a clamp used to stimulate the nipples by applying varying degrees of pressure. ... Corduroy is a fabric composed of twisted fibers that when woven lie parallel (similar to twill) to one another to form the cloths distinct pattern, a cord. ...

See also

• Casio CZ synthesizer