Rich Formidoni joins Casio

phattbuzz · Post by **phattbuzz** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 2:03 am

No longer working for Korg. I'll miss his insight into the Kronos and other Korg products and hope that Casio can stay innovative enough to keep him busy.

Post by **karmathanever** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 10:52 am

Wow!!
I'm hearing rumours about Casio and perhaps they may become a force to be reckoned with….

Hmmmmm….
Will miss Rich though….

Post by **Sharp** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 12:02 pm

Both happy and sad about this. Happy for Rich and I wish well. This is a loss for KORG though.

Regards
Sharp.

tarek · Post by **tarek** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 1:13 pm

Casio will never be something when it comes to real synth or arrangers, better for them to keepon developing their fx calculators

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 2:11 pm

That would be wishful thinking on your side. They're really shaping up, PX5S is a very well thought out board packing a lot of stuff for comparative peanuts.

We'll be hearing from them quite some in the future, I'm certain. They have Mike Martin, who used to work for Kurzweil, too.

Joe Gerardi · Post by **Joe Gerardi** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 3:05 pm

tarek wrote:Casio will never be something when it comes to real synth or arrangers, better for them to keepon developing their fx calculators

If they clean up the S&S side, get rid of the aliasing in the lower octaves, add a faster processor, and glue on a better keyboard, the XW-P1 would indeed be a synth that could make inroads to the pro music world.

And we know they can do this- the keyboard on the old CZ-1, VZ-1 synths was fantastic. Processors? They got that covered easily enough; and cleaning up the sounds is just devoting enough time to do it.

It's already been proven that the pros will play their instruments- just look at the number using the PX5S already. They just need to make the commitment to creating a higher quality instrument, and - because of their diverse catalogue - they can offer them at a price that really makes the established synth companies wince.

..Joe

Bachus · Post by **Bachus** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 3:53 pm

tarek wrote:Casio will never be something when it comes to real synth or arrangers, better for them to keepon developing their fx calculators

With top of the line instruments becoming easier and cheaper to create... Casio just seems like the most likely player to push out some serious instruments at an affordable price..

The PX-5S is proof of that. So are both XW synths, they sound great at budget prices.

Also having another Pro next to Mike Martin shows they mean serious buiseness when it comes to producing serious insrtuments.

With the Privia range being outfitted with an intuiitive touchscreen interface, and Casio having learned a lot from the PX-5S, and how pro players would like to see it improved.. they might really surprise us at NAMM 2015

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 7:31 pm

I'm thinking Casio is really getting prepared for battle. Snagging of such talent from Kurzweil and Korg (probably from elsewhere as well)... I'd say very interesting times are ahead. We might get another big player eventually.

Kevin Nolan · Post by **Kevin Nolan** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 7:41 pm

My first keyboard was a Casio CT1000P

Still have, and still love it. Through DDL and Reverb it sounds excellent.

And - it has about the most innovative arpeggiator / sequencer you're ever likely to come across.

I described it in detail on the OASYS forum some years back in the hope that it could be emulated as a new Karma GE, but never got round to it despite excellent pointers from Stephen Kay.

The reason it is so good is that you type in number patterns using its 0-9 buttons (note: number pattern, not 'note' pattern), and then, no matter what notes you hold, it runs through the entire number pattern before repeating . So - if you type in 1,2,3,4 and hold just 'C1' it -plays C1 - C4, if you hold down C1,D1 you get C1,D1,C2,D2, while if you play C,D,E,F it will play those notes in that order - and if you hold C,F,E,D that's the pattern it plays,...

So - it's ALWAYS in time, never cuts short, and offers all the note pattern options you'd ever want in real time. And - number patterns can be as short as 1 number or as long as 128 numbers. Want a 7/8 sequence - just type in 7 numbers! Want a 128/8 sequence - just type in 128 numbers!

It has never been implemented in quite the same way elsewhere.

Alas it's not MIDI - but - I hope to hook it up to Logic Pro very soon, use it as a realtime sequencer, and then use an audio to MIDI converter tool so the sequence of notes can be then applied to any plugin! So still totally relevant, and unique, to this day!!

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 8:09 pm

That's a pretty cool method of arpeggiating, I must say.

What happens if you have an odd number pattern, but play an even number of notes?

Kevin Nolan · Post by **Kevin Nolan** » Sun Jul 12, 2015 12:11 am

I'll have to get back to you on that - it's been several months since i powered it on. I'll check it out and get back to you.

If memory serves - if you hold less notes than the sequence length it repeats the last note(s) an octave (or more up) - as in the extreme example I gave when holding only C1 and for a 4 number pattern hearing C1 - C4.

What's also excellent about the CT1000P is that it offered precisely 1000 sounds - and all of them are tight / smart sounds, mostly not 'organ' like but more like very simple / dressed down DX7 like sounds, and when sequenced and put through DDL, it sounds incredible - like a PPG or something being sequenced. I'm not exaggerating on that.

And - to add to the flexibility of it - its early digital circuits offered bags of aliasing in the upper octaves, so then sequencing notes in the higher register you get all of these metallic overtones that give it a great richness. As a kid I didn't know what was going on - other than that it made it sound sophisticated!

I know the basics of MAX and Reaktor and keep meaning to try to implement this in one of those environments. I never have the time. I should write out a proper spec (in english), and find some whiz-kid who'd implement it in either MAX or Reactor and make it available to everyone as a free plugin arpeggiator / sequencer on the NI Reaktor forum.

I haven't looked into the latest Logic Pro Arpeggiator but suspect it'll get you quite a way there; and if memory serves from Stephen Kay's advice, it might be possible to implement something similar in Karma (by developing your own GE). I never managed to get a comprehensive enough understanding of the GE types and how to create them, so alas that too went by the way-side.

Will get back to you on your question as soon as I get a chance to fire it up again.

Cheers,
Kevin.

Bald Eagle · Post by **Bald Eagle** » Sun Jul 12, 2015 12:16 am

tarek wrote:Casio will never be something when it comes to real synth or arrangers, better for them to keepon developing their fx calculators :lol

You never know ... They seem to be attracting some good talent and starting to show some real commitment.

Bachus wrote:With top of the line instruments becoming easier and cheaper to create...

I don't know if it's easier or cheaper. Certainly easier with highly skilled people on board.

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Sun Jul 12, 2015 9:13 am

Kevin Nolan wrote:If memory serves - if you hold less notes than the sequence length it repeats the last note(s) an octave (or more up) - as in the extreme example I gave when holding only C1 and for a 4 number pattern hearing C1 - C4.

Right, got that. I wonder how would it work with a 10 (or 20) note pattern if you hold a single note! I bet it wouldn't just keep transposing upwards for 20 octaves then!

Anyways that is a very cool method of arpeggiation, it intrigued me, I might make it into a Kontakt script...

Ksynth · Post by **Ksynth** » Sun Jul 12, 2015 1:34 pm

I have an old WK 1600 bought 12 years ago. Still runs without any issues.

I use it as a midi controller to play the 73 keys into Omnisphere and even into my Kronos 61 to extend the range for some Combis.

Love the fact that when I switch it on its available instantly. And the sounds are very nice - great for just quick noodling.

For about $300 its been an excellent buy. And the synth action keys are terrific.

olliesps · Post by **olliesps** » Sun Jul 12, 2015 10:04 pm

Have had 3 Casio keyboards(plus many other non music products). Not a pro and not having deep pockets, Casio is a great brand for people lke me!