The £19.99 Lidl Synthesizer Is it any good and can we make music with it?

[@fbushphone]

If it will encourage kids or anyone to play and make music it's got to be worth 20 quid. These days basic recorders are this price in proper music shops - if you're lucky enough to have one that is - this little keyboard might lead someone to a grand piano one day. Thank you for posting this video and being positive despite the budget price

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Thanks you I do like to make videos about things that are affordable to everyone

[@brusselssprouts560]

Beats melearning music on a Dolmetsch descant recorder!

[@DjDoggDad]

A lot of people dont realize the big synth sound you can achieve by putting a few fx pedals on those keyboard tones. good vid!

[@ShallRemainUnknown]

It's ceratinly as good sounding as OG Fairlight 8-bit 24kHz 16kB samples that made incredible-sounding early-'80s hits, BUT much of that relied heavily on effects, dynamics, mixing, and other post processing, mixing, etc., too.

[@berniarmstrong]

I expected a truly cheesy keyboard, but your piece at the end shows that even a cheap piece of kit like this can produce something worthy of a soundtrack for a scene in a TBV Series or Film in the right hands. Well done, mate.

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Wow thank you very much

[@ekistic]

This is exactly what makes the difference: the artist. Same with photography where you don’t need an expensive camera. It probably still has more internal memory for the recording than the computer that brought people to the moon 😂

[@joyoussound]

I expected that and that’s what I got. Nothing much new since the supermarket keyboards they sold in the early 90’s for maybe 20-30 euros? Incredible that there’s still market for these. I would love to have one. My old one stopped working two years ago after being my essential composition tool for over three decadea or so….

[@electrocat9]

​@@MatthewNorthMusichi, with 2 of these can it be done one stereo and with a double size keyboard?

[@berniarmstrong]

@@joyoussound I literally wept when my SK 01 Sampler gave up the ghost. I even took it to a technician, but he said it was beyond repair (or his skills?). Do you remember them? They were the first cheap sampler - no permanent memory, but a fun tool to use while the power was switched on. 😁

[@DanYule55]

I work at Lidl and we’ve just got these in to my store. Was really intrigued to find out how these sounded and played.

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Please tell the bosses about my video

[@HD2You]

@@MatthewNorthMusic store bosses are too small to really appreciate your video. They are just some local boss with no power outside the store.

[@techtinkerin]

Poor parents who dont realise theres no headphone socket hahaa😂

[@waynesilverman3048]

Worst -neighbours

[@Jimfowler82]

Crack open the soldering iron swap speakers for a headphone 😃

[@Jimfowler82]

Or do what he does 😂

[@lioncurlew]

You can just run a Headphone socket from the Speaker terminals. Can probably wire a power supply as well.

[@yavamaystudio8045]

Sounds more interesting than MOOG

[@duncanparsons]

I love that it's called "Sheffield" - Northern home of electronic music! The naming puts me in mind of Look Around You's Bournemouth computer.. That piece of music is lovely, and wouldn't have been out of place on many early 80s electronica albums Nice video, thank you :-)

[@Dobbersify]

I might have to get one of these, just because it's named after my home town! 😂

[@alleygh0st]

I was gonna say, but I also had the bleep scene in mind

[@raywt3237]

Thanks Duncan, Thuncan

[@olldomu5790]

Sheffield, Leeds, even Huddersfield. Then in Lancashire, Manchester, Rochdale. This is really the original home area of UK idm, techno and all the rest! BLEEEP

[@panlomito]

Last Christmas we were visited by a family from the Netherlands with a 8 yo girl. She was bored so I took her apart to my Yamaha DGX-640 and let her play with it. After one hour she was still playing (kind of). A product like this is ideal for children to start enjoy making music. If it does not work out it is no financial disaster...

[@panlomito]

@@LOKEY-Giant_Atom The joy of a dirty mind...

[@shambien]

Wonderful. I love this type of hacks... it's possible to make art with what you have; you don't need fancy/expensive stuff if you are creative! This is the first time I stumble into one of your videos... I am subscribing, I am sure you have more cool stuff. Keep up the awesome work! On a side note: LIDL (/Sheffield) never ceases to amaze: a few years ago they also had a DRUM Set .... which has really crappy internal sounds BUT it has even MIDI OUT support... so you can actually use those pads (altough they are very simple, implemented using a piezo, internally... converting the volume of the record noise into velocity...).

[@TheDevilBoySound]

That was awesome! With the simple addition of an output jack, you transformed it from a toy into an actual tool :)

[@Mephysto65]

Really Impressive! Art Of Noise would have saved a lot of money in equipment at that time. Lol

[@tomarmstrong1281]

As someone with little knowledge of electronics or DAWs, I salute your skill, knowledge and ability.

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Thank you very much that's very kind of you.

[@tomarmstrong1281]

@@MatthewNorthMusic You're welcome. If you have any recomenations of a step by step series of video tutorials on Garage band it would be appreciated.

[@tigmil8116]

Dude. This is awesome. So many commenters get this is a 30 dollar keyboard apparently and expect way too much from it and you. This is designed for kids and beginners, and because of the it wont be made of metal, have midi ins and out, and the features youd find in something that cost ten of these. Anything can be made to be usuable if youre creative enough. Every sound as a place. You can add effects or other things once you add an output. Which i have done on a ton of cheap kids keyboards and childrens toys. I have analog, digital synths, and samplers but if i want something a little different and unique these kinds of things with some minor tweaks can be good sounding instruments. I believe anyone can get a sound they like out of something if they spend enough time with a piece of gear. Price doesnt matter. If it sounds a little flat you can always add things and fx. Its basic. Its features are also basic. I feel these people complaining are either insanely spoiled or entitled. Maybe even lack the creativity to get a good sound out of something like this. With sound almost nothing is impossible. If youre musical and brain activity is limited then yeah you will probably hate it. I hate my one and only volca (an fm) but ive managed to use it in all sorts of stuff and tweak it to my liking. Literally anything that puts out sound can be used productively and sound good if you put the effort in. I get the feeling some of the "musicians" dont like effort. Best things in life is the reward you get struggling.

[@KoolKookyKreatures]

Absolute genius Matthew! A thoroughly engaging video with the piece at the end being the icing on the synthy cake. Fabulous! Also - “the Clangers”!

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Thank you x

[@stevenlagoe7808]

What an interesting video! And your composition at the end was amazing! I actually picked up one of these keyboards the other day in my local Lidl. I gave the box a once over and put it back with a sneer. For £19.99 I reckoned it would sound like a Stylophone. Shame on me!

[@siriusmicromaniac]

Like others below my first, maybe only requirement for something which calls itself a 'synthesiser' is that it should allow the user to create new sounds either by directly working with the oscillators, VCF, VCA and ADSR envelope shaping, or at least by mixing several base sounds (samples and / or waveforms) together in a controlled way to make new sounds - what Roland used to call 'Linear Additive' synthesis. Since this has none of those I think it would be more correct to call it a 'Keyboard'. Thanks for the comprehensive review, but having seen it I would suggest that anyone considering spending £20 on one of these should instead put it towards the purchase of an old Yamaha PSS-795 - although essentially also just a a 'keyboard' that has full MIDI / multitimbral capability plus a built in multitrack recorder, the ability to blend 4 of its normal sounds together via its 'Vector sound' joystick and a pretty hefty sampled drumkit as well. I bought one for exactly the price of this LIDL keyboard a few years back. Of course the difference is that you can just go around the corner and buy one of these (while stocks last?) and you may have to wait a while to find a reasonably priced PSS-795.

[@LarthVolos]

Agree. OT: If you are building sound studio or kind of, you might use function generators instead of synthz.

[@geordieghoulette7142]

Maybe something lost in translation if it started in the German market? I agree though.

[@phillipbailey70]

Best thing I've watched on KZbin for a long time - hooked from the beginning from the end, and as the music came together I was cracking the biggest smile! Very Art of Noise - liked and subscribed - thank you Matthew

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Thank you very much I do try my best

[@phillipbailey70]

@@Chris_Sheridan You are not wrong 😁

[@SpookyLuvCookie]

The way you toss the instructions to one side (2:45) earned you a sub. :)

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

As Derek Trotter would say Instructions are for whimps. :)

[@naturalroidrage350]

Your Song at the End really touched my heart, you are the magic Lidl-Composer🤩❣

[@wacholder5690]

I'm impressed. Even though it needs some mods for proper "work" - and a multitrack recorder. But the sounding is absolutely nice. Thanks for sharing !

[@HaywardMusic]

That was really impressive. Thank you so much for your efforts, showing the potential of this tiny mighty giant from Lidl's.

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Thank you very much

[@BiserAngelov1]

Definitely worth the price. Although the headphone upgrade is almost mandatory, to access its full potential. It is a hit-and-miss, but the good ones are really cool indeed. Would have killed to have something like this as a kid. I received my first Casio CTK-200 keyboard at my 13th birthday. It was 1994.

[@SpeccyMan]

My first was a (totally crap sounding) Bontempi Reed Organ back in 1972. One tone and it was fan powered and the fan was loud.

[@YtuserSumone-rl6sw]

If LIDL decides to manufacture this keyboard with direct computer connectivity or midi outlet and sell it in a similar price region they'll have a hit.

[@michael5089]

​@@SpeccyManThere's a comment on here from someone called Bontempi!❤❤😂

[@LarthVolos]

My kid found bontempi memoplay from fleamarket by 10 euros. @@SpeccyMan

[@OscarInAsia]

You know you're still just starting on your musical journey when you realize a random person on KZbin can make a better song in a $30 grocery store keyboard than I can on on my $800 Yamaha MX61. 😢

[@enrique5167]

Whatever you do, there's always some random dude on youtube doing it better than you 🤣

[@wolfgangwiesinger9502]

The piece is nice and has potential. Reverb helps here, as it does always.

[@Case_]

@@enrique5167 (And that knowledge can take a lot of joy out of doing stuff :( It's not that you think you're the best, it's just the crushing realization of how far from even "pretty good" you actually are...or ever will be.)

[@MettleHurlant]

Exactly why, as a middle aged hobbyist, I refuse to throw a lot of money into it. I just bought an EWI and a cheap midi controller and want to get started but feeling intimidated by the process of learning how to put it all together.

[@djjava303]

I’d say that is the ache that you feel before a burst of learning. A true beginner just assumes that all their stuff is great. The further along you get, the more critical and nuanced you’ll likely be towards how you assess your music.

[@NickT6630]

What a bargain! The sounds are really quite decent. Perfect for 80's pop, rock, and electro, hiphop, house and reggae :)

[@thesongwritersdropin2565]

It's a great video ,Matthew. Yes .I'm of the thinking too that you can make anything out of anything ,and this keyboard proves just that. Also there is this philosophy that there is no such thing as a bad sound when its used in a certain context. what I mean is that a sound may sound bad on its own, but when its used in an arrangement and a recording alongside orher stuff ,then its sounds really different and works. keep up the good work

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Thank you so much means a lot.

[@KarateWerewolf]

Would be cool to make a sample pack out of it. Some of the sounds are pretty cool. Nice job on the song too, amazing what you got out of it.

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Thank you

[@andyg1957]

Bought one for my 1 year old grandson. At some point he might upgrade to the large Roland organ I play! It's got some good sounds for £20!

[@DarkSideofSynth]

Very nice surprise. Quite a few usable or even good sounds, esp. once you add effects. Even if you don't modify it for jack output, place a pair of mics over the speakers, and you can even have some more 'character' out of it ;)

[@ronanmcconnell7664]

This randomly was recommended to me KZbin is pushing your video through the algorithm and so it should be a very refreshing review I hope you keep this content going

[@squizza28]

Great that he's been able to modify it using a few sockets and plugs. His composition at the end has a quality you would get from a fairlight CMI. Really good!

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Thank you very much indeed

[@PocketOperatorGuy]

I like the lo-fi sounds this little machine produces. The neat thing is, it reminds me of some of those sounds you hear from early 90s Tracker software. Some of those strings and pads, especially the brass instruments sound synthetic. I think it would make a potential synth if it was patched through a few effects pedals. The drum machine isn't too bad either. Very 80's sounding. Not a bad sounding little toy for what it is. It's definitely a mass produced chassis. Kinda like the Yamaha PSS series, or the Meledi model keyboards you see on the market. Nice review.

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

When I was a kid around 1981 I remember the Yamaha portasound keyboards coming out they were revolutionary

[@DamianMellor]

Great video and very inspiring for anyone who thinks they need expensive plugins or synths to make music. Thank you for sharing :)

[@CassetteComeback]

Great vid. I think having access to an almost unlimited amount of sounds nowadays, through VSTs etc, has killed creativity. Sometimes limitations fuel invention...keeping it simple makes you concentrate more on the music, than on the sounds alone.

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Your absolutely right Tony I got plugins coming out of my ears but this is much more satisfying

[@WesleyWattley-xy4fg]

How much will you charge for an output redo??​@@MatthewNorthMusic

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

I don't I do this for fun / experimentation

[@alexandershendi7428]

Terrific! Thanks, mate! Now I somehow want "Promenade" from "Pictures at an Exhibition" done with the "t52" setting. ❤❤❤

[@midinotes]

Was hoping to see the underside of the pcb and see if it was just a blob chip. Plenty of options here with arduino midi control, beat sync and faux stereo! Great to see what is achievable for under 20 squid.... less than a VL1 back in the early 80s.

[@SpeccyMan]

Almost certain to be a blob based device.

[@RebeccaTurner-ny1xx]

My VL-Tone was, I think, £35 from Dixons in 1979 which is £165 today. I even played it onstage in a local band.

[@wiegraf9009]

What is a blob chip?

[@midinotes]

@@wiegraf9009 Usually an integrated circuit is packaged in a square or rectangular black slab of hard plastic material with pins emerging in an ordered pattern either side or around the package. This allows the package to then be soldered on to a circuit board. A blob chip saves money and space by eliminating the packaging and literally bonding the silicon chip (which is just mm in size) to the circuit board. Extremely fine 'bond wires' then connect the chip to the copper tracks on the printed circuit board, then a 'blob' of epoxy resin or similar is placed over the entire chip and bond wires to protect it from damage. Hence the term 'blob chip'. It makes replacing or even connecting to the chip impossible and there's no identification or marking as to what the device is.

[@wiegraf9009]

@@midinotes Thanks I had a general idea but didn't know in detail.

[@suznet]

don't know why this popped up on my feed, but glad it did, shame it didn't have a headphone jack & power option as standard or I would try 1 out.Thanks Matthew.

[@ricardod123]

Been following you for ages! Glad to see these numbers on your vid!

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Thank you very much

[@BenjWarrant]

Love the way you use your new composition as the outro!!

[@voiceovervandeen]

Fugazi T-shirt, Sisters mouse mat, Dennis the Menace jumper, had to hit the like even before the tune 🙂 Deffo a nice price for something to noodle about on without the distractions of loading up a DAW & VST's

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Thank you very much ! I got a new Dennis jumper yesterday!

[@krollpeter]

28:27 Serious? Serious! I am surprised, too. Some of the sounds are really cool. I'd pay a few $ more to get the same with: - DC Input - external Loudspeakers out - recording out Thank you Matthew!

[@chinnyvision]

I am loving the Paul Daniels and lovely Debbie McGee signed photo!

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Its one of the best gifts I ever received! :)

[@chinnyvision]

@@MatthewNorthMusic I was booked to see them in action and then it was cancelled at the last moment. A few months later Paul passed away. People I know who saw his small theatre tour said it was very good.

[@Jodoi1]

Wow, fancy seeing you here chinnyvision, (long time subscriber). I just clicked on a random algorithm recommended video that looked interesting. And indeed it was Matthew

[@chinnyvision]

@@Jodoi1 Paul Daniels, cheap synth and what looks like a Model B on the desk? I'm all over this!

[@Jodoi1]

@@chinnyvision 😂

[@manofthewest67]

Thanks for that i really enjoyed it, a mate and i recorded with whatever we had in the early 80's, we used buckets and water containers for drums on our tascam 4 track, before we got that we used 2 old reel to reel recorders in a basic bounce back between the 2, if you have not got the funds but the know how its surprising what you can achieve.

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

I did reel to reel bouncing before I got my sansui 6 track cassette circa 1990!

[@manofthewest67]

@@MatthewNorthMusic the teac A3340, I had one with the mixing desk as an extra, i bought it from a music shop in kingston, the mixer and VU'S from wallington surrey, i used to bump into Francis Rossi now and then scouring music equipment locally, nice fella.

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

I have one of those Teac Machines it will come up as a restoration video at some point this year. @@manofthewest67

[@alexandershendi7428]

Thanks!

[@santelder]

I saw this keyboard before Xmas in my local supermkt .wondered about buying it ,i was put off by the cheap price, as i play guitar and dont like any cheap sound jobs . I was pleasantly suprised at the good sounds you found on there .Loved it .I am not handy with wiring or puting jacks in though ..Im still looking for a keyboard as ive always wanted to play piano .So this is the year i will do .Thank you for the Video Mathew .

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Thank you my pleasure

[@Stevie_evie]

"you really can make anything out of anything if you really want to" (and you're incredibly talented). You missed one caveat there :) I could make the best quality equipment in the world sound like muck which is why I don't own any keyboard... Anyway, I've no idea why youtube's algorith suggested this video but I'm glad it did, it was hugely enjoyable

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Well thank you very much. Most Appreciated.

[@damefawndenier]

Brilliant video, the first one of yours that I have watched. I'll definitely check out the others.

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Thank you

[@QSDigitalVideo]

Never seen any of your videos before but totally loved the Lidl keyboard video. Have now subscribed. Brilliant track! Inspirational. I've recently bought NI64 midi controller and am very slowly learning it.

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Good luck with it

[@juhokoski6618]

Nice song! This again proves that pro is a pro no matter the equipment

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Thank you

[@IainiaI]

This is giving me an almost identical vibe to Super Nintendo game soundtracks, especially Japanese RPGs, when in a dungeon.❤

[@theimp67]

That's actually quite a lot of keyboard for a penny under £20. I still can't imagine Mark Kelly adding this to his touring rig. Also, Fugazi, cracking album, and one of my all time favourites.

[@jazztheglass6139]

I remember The Human League record Open your Heart. A casio VL Tone was used, it cost £35 in 1981

[@Stoney3K]

Those sounds are like the standard collection of General MIDI patches. They probably have one of those cheap ROMpler wavetable chips in there, so if you're lucky you can break into the board and feed the chip MIDI directly. Slap some outboard FX on it and you can probably get some decent music out of it.

[@blackdanter]

There's an old saying Matt "All the gear, no idea" and you pretty much highlight that here. It's not about the kit, it's about the individuals creativity. I love that this thing is called the Sheffield, one of those places where so much great music was made on a zero budget in the late 70's/80's (Cabaret Voltaire etc.).

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

That is a fantastic saying.

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

@@PGHEngineer The film 'Made in Sheffield' is highly recommended.

[@geordieghoulette7142]

I started piano lessons so that I wouldn't be one of those people who only used the white keys on my synths 😂

[@anorganlover6281]

I think the composition at the end sounds like the background for THE X FILES TV THEME !

[@johneem]

enjoyed that ! Twin Peaks'esque tune at the end :)

[@Swenglish]

These are some pretty standard sounds to find in a toy-grade rompler keyboard these days, but that's a pretty good price for one and most don't have the rec/play feature.

[@eightcoins4401]

The thing is you can get 90s romplers with more features less money to free. They do take up more space though

[@Swenglish]

​@@eightcoins4401 Well, it depends what you're trying to set up. If you're just looking for a rompler to maybe modify and and use with a looper in a suitcase or something, you're not gonna want a full sized keyboard or a rack module or anything. Sometimes being compact is half the point of the thing. Hell, sometimes crappy sounds are the other half.

[@journeys877]

Wonderful video. Makes me happy that there are blokes like you out there doing this. Reminds me of growing up in Mossley, Ashton Under Lyne etc... I am looking forward and recording the voices of now and wondering where it all went wrong.

[@bolder2009]

I've been using this Lidl keyboard for quite a few years for some of my compositions. This might be a newer model but it looks like the same one.🤔 I've written some of my best music with it, so I'm pleased with it.

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

It probably is its been around a while.

[@bolder2009]

@@MatthewNorthMusic I think I got mine in 2016, or there abouts. It served me well.

[@acerbt]

That is one of the many random chinese made toy keyboards that takes samples from roland sound canvice devices, among others. There's no telling what exact model this is since there are no identifiers on most of them and sometimes there are many very slightly different versions, including the same exact system in another case with a different button layout sometimes. This particular one isn't all sound Canvice based but it does follow the gm or gs sound mapping for the preset order though.

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Wow where did you learn this ?

[@acerbt]

​@@MatthewNorthMusic It's taken many years, an interest in midi, and early exposure to the sounds in chinese made drum machine and keyboard toys from years ago. INitially when I herd the sounds on my first pc I thought that was where they came from and that the toys that use them somehow integrate windows synth stuff, but come to find out, that sound set that I first herd which I know so well was licenced directly from roland to microsoft and apple for their computers, and toy manufacturers and those who make lower end keyboards in China tend to steal them, sometimes getting the atributes such as attack, release, loop point offset, etc correct, and sometimes not. Even some higher end keyboards have a few thrown in there but by that point they've usually used other sounds. Also notorius is the fact that the manufacturer called Holtek who makes different multi purpose chips puts a Yamaha xg compatable sound bank on their midi chips that has low quality, sometimes cut down versions of the real Yamaha sounds that predate the current xglight sounds featured on Yamaha's current home keyboards. They even use the xg layout for the drum kit which is pretty unusual, since most keyboards where the full drum kit can be accessed use a gm/ gs sound set so that layout is used. Many keyboards have also used these chips as well. I could go on, but this kind of thing is very common today, with many of the keyboards you can get a brand name on for cheep either using roland sounds, yamaha sounds, or a combination of sounds from several sources, though like I said about the small differences between units that sometimes exist, you could have a keyboard that looks pretty much the same as another but has a totally different IC and data rom that it could have totally different sounds, demo songs, rhythm/ accompanying patterns, and features.

[@Broadercasting]

Without taking away anything from your excellent video, you could attenuate the output to the jack socket with a couple of resistors to bring the output down to line or headphone level.

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

When I do some mods to it I will do, this was just a quick experiment.

[@sirrobinofloxley7156]

Woke up this morning expecting WW3 in the feed, got a £20 Lidl synth with a Sisters of Mercy drumbeat built. Very suave, mucho appreciado nuevo amigo 👍

[@kitty-alicefrench1199]

The finished product sounded so good! It reminded me of Pink Floyd!

[@JulianJLW]

Thanks, Matthew, really interesting, and really helpful to see that it isn't too hard to fit a headphone socket etc.

[@BLUEHORIZON-g2b]

This was a quite brilliant vid mate, thx for it.Very informative.

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Thank you.

[@richardschild1640]

Halfway the vid i was about to toss the towel and declare it factory made E-waste... but scanning the comments i got curious about the end of the video. Still i cant see anyone doin a live gig with it but as a component synth keyboard to make a multitrack record that did pleasantly surprise me. Well done!

[@andrewholdsworth4421]

Love this video absolutely love recording music the mod give me loads of ideas 👍🏻 cheers for this .

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Thank you.

[@ServingMyJesus]

I just hope that no 'bigwigs' from Lidl is watching this and re-market this keyboard with a jack output and raise the price £100

[@georgeyreynolds]

Probably add mult instruments as well but charge £39.99

[@SuperLittleTyke]

Not a hundred quid!! No one would buy it. But for thirty quid, probably. But it would have to have a MIDI interface as well as a speaker jack.

[@georgeyreynolds]

@o.b.7217 yes I imagine the convo goes like this Lidl : "Hey supplier can you make us some more of those keyboards, but with midi out and blab blah blah" Supplier: "Yes"

[@georgeyreynolds]

@o.b.7217 Uh huh but I'm sure there is another supplier. I imagine it's pretty modular kit with different insides made in China?

[@pauljs75]

I guess inexpensive commodity chips pretty much can handle the Creative Labs (Audigy?) soundfont? (The samples sound familiar.) In the 90's you could do this on a budget with one of the Sound Blaster audio cards in a PC handling some MIDI input. But this comes down to less than a 10th of that, and that fraction is likely somewhat smaller if you consider inflation.

[@chrisshipman6253]

Thanks for taking the trouble to do this. The sounds feel very 80s to me - reminds me of late classic Doctor Who music!

[@rickriccled6034]

Nice video,reminded me of my old Casio Mt keyboard in the early 90s,also my first Yamaha PSR one,I think it was the PSR 4000, certainly good value for just twenty quid!

[@trevorberridge6079]

I've dabbled with composing original tunes and re-creating favourite hits over the years. I love finding sounds and using them as a springboard to make something. I had a Commodore Amiga and that was so good in the 80s/90s for sound synthesizing and track building that people were using it to make records and get charted. You can now do everything 90s computers could do on a £30 single board computer and more. Even then I am impressed with what this £20 keyboard can do. It wasn't that long ago that a keyboard for that price would only be suitable for five year-olds to muck about on. This thing is actually useful. Yes it works better as a tool when plugged into music editing software, but even at the highest level of music making that's what you do anyway. It's just a difference of scale and cost. Surprisingly nice bit of kit. Reminds me that I must make time to flex my atrophied music muscles again this year.

[@DanReVanced]

Well this was enjoyable whilst on my treadmill, cheers!

[@gerryking4346]

Great video. It would be interesting to see a demo video of how a beginner might use this as a keyboard learning tool, out of the box without any modifications. I’m sure the people at Lidl would share and promote that over this video of how to take apart and modify.

[@Lumibear.]

Hey, thanks for showing us this, it’s not bad for the price eh? I think with a bit of creative effects work some decent lo-fi hip hop or synth-wave could be squeezed out of it. Great starter kit for any aspiring bedroom artist, nice one Aldi.

[@highdownmartin]

Lidl Richard will want one.

[@nedflanders4699]

Al Di Meola already has one👍

[@johncarlo7395]

It is really good to hear someone taking a breath between sentences, and talking at a pace we can absorb and understand what they are saying, rather than these loud mouth Yanks, that just gabble on and on, these keyboard's appeared in the middle of LIDL just before Christmas, and for £20 you can give it to a charity shop when the kids are fed up with it.

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

I try my best I don't like fast talkers either I just can't take it in

[@felix154ever]

sounds class, plenty of atmosphere

[@drainspotter4751]

The track you made ,reminds me of dead can dance , well done sir.

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

I love DCD

[@PRE-Type-beats]

best shirt ive seen on this platform you now what good music is

[@PaulMc-qn7iv]

Witchcraft ! , could be a sound track to one of those Danish noir films ! 273 thumbs down....? Bonkers....! Bravo sir !

[@richardlanchester249]

The Eurhythmics built their first home recirding studio with a lot of very basic or secondhand equipment on a tight budget, and recorded their famous first album on it. Lots of quirky fun sounds from cheap equipment like this, as well as excellent songs. Much more interesting stuff than their later albums with high production values and made using top pro studio gear.

[@domfjbrown75]

REALLY!?? 'In the garden' sounds really good musically and sonically! You learn summat new every day :)

[@MrSketchydave69]

Remarkable for the price! Some of those sounds are pretty good! I recently got the Yamaha PSS-A50 for £80. I think some of the sounds with this Lidl keyboard are more varied and interesting. The Yamaha does have Midi though and a few more features. Still, £20!!

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

You cant go wrong for £20 thats for sure !!

[@virtuafighter3]

Me too. I have that PSS A50 and they cropped the array of midi sounds to 40 or so. This has more - pah.

[@cyberyogicowindler2448]

​@@virtuafighter3 The PSS-A50 chip has limited ROM space, so to fit several velocity levels, they had to reduce the number of sounds. The 2 other models of that series (I own them) have more preset sounds but definitely sound worse by employing rather short looped samples.

[@virtuafighter3]

@@cyberyogicowindler2448 ahhh ... good insights here. Thanks.

[@carguyuk7525]

Only 19.99 plus £1000+ pc, software, and 20 years experience! Great video.

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Actually my pc was £250 secondhand and cakewalk is now free

[@andymccabe6712]

​@@MatthewNorthMusicdon't you just LOVE putting down a smug, condescending smart-ass......!?!?! .... Makes it worth getting up in the mornings.......

[@AndrewMolyneux]

Love that composition 🙂 Next challenge is to get another 7, add a microcontroller with a MIDI interface and make an 8-part multitimbral sound module 🤪

[@Straitjacket808]

Great tune. Love the Marillion t-shirt.

[@-______-______-]

Love the pics in your workshop. I once saw an absolute to die for picture in a pub in brighton. It was Nik Nak and Scaramanga as a magic duo. Can't even find that image online.

[@video99couk]

Yes a bit of LIDL modification. I did that recently on my channel, I bought a £20 DAB radio and modified it to be a hi-fi component. This synth has loads of potential. Pity they didn't do the audio output and power inputs, that would have added so little to the cost.

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Hello greetings from another part of Plymouth !! I got this in Plympton should you want to find one !!!

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Ps I did see your video on that

[@grimlyghost]

its perfect for 8bit lofi dungeon synth.

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

It definitely has that 8-bit vibe like the sounds from my music 5000 for the BBC micro

[@stu-j]

All over Facebook marketplace for a fiver! Great to get them early sisters "doctor' sounds for the win!

[@geordieghoulette7142]

Oh even better!!

[@mikeharrison6997]

Brilliant demo. Many thanks. Mike

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

My pleasure

[@doggerproductions]

Lovin the Freddie kruger jumper 😄

[@chrisperyagh]

Dennis the Menace jumper - the Beano one, not the lamearse American one.

[@camselldowning8948]

Great video Matthew!

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Thank you.

[@jameshodgson1609]

Great sound for the price a take away curry ! Thank you for going through all the sounds they were fun. I see from your T shirt and vids you are a Marrilion fan for that alone you have my sub !

[@martinheath5947]

I love it! Last week I bought a Joyo AC TONE (Vox AC30 emulator) pedal in Cash Converters for £21.99. These two would make a fantastic pairing for under forty five quid, especially with the beefy AC30 amp sim drive cranked!

[@TheLokiBiz]

I guess technically a "synthesizer" is anything that electronically produces sound for music - But I tend to assume "synthesizer" means you can alter the timbre of your instrument via filters, envelopes, FM etc. - and would just call this a "keyboard" instead. Either way, it was cool to see the sounds you got outta it.

[@andy70d35]

Exactly this is just a kid's toy, it is NOT a synthesizer, this guy is an idiot.

[@frankweiser3895]

The difference to an actual synthesizer is 2 zeros in the price. What we're hearing here is a keyboard from a toy store.

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Thank you for your superior knowledge and support your kindness is overwhelming. . . . . .

[@TheLokiBiz]

@@frankweiser3895 Eh, even just adding one zero to the price could at least get you one of the cheaper Behringer clones. It's all semantics anyway.

[@brad42948]

Polyphony, rather than multi-timbrality. Great demo at the end... basic 'GM on a chip' sounds. Nice channel, subbed!

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Yes Freudian slip not saying polyphony but hey nobody's perfect

[@tronlady1]

LOVE yourT-shirt ❤

[@jarrahdrum]

excellent, fun and learning, thank you, subscribed

[@secretlifeist]

Matthew one of the best and simplest demonstration I have ever watched and the pice you recorded at the end proved your opinion right ; thank you for sharing 👏👏👏

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Thank you very much you are most kind.

[@sauermusicDE]

Great video. No doubt. 👍But I always recommend to find an instrument which already HAS a built-in headphone output and a connector for an external power supply. The second-hand market is FULL of great stuff from the 80's and 90's which can be bought for around 50 EUR (and sometimes even with MIDI).

[@guardsdepot]

You've proved it to be fantastic value for money...................great analysis.............

[@MrChopemup]

It’s a clifton slm-37 ,,, 10 years old , rebranded for lidl.

[@MatthewNorthMusic]

Thanks good info thanks