The CASIO CZ-101 - some sounds and FX

The sounds of this synthesizer are really interesting and deep, even if it's a limited device. It is also what makes its charm at the same time.
If you work a little bit, the Casio synthesis will always produce surprising and musical results.
After replacing the display with a backlit one, I created some sounds and textures. I hope you will enjoy them.
You will find some explanations if you turn on the subtitles.
Effects used: Ibanez DE7 echo/delay pedal + Zoom MS70-CDR HD reverb
You can hear and/or buy my new album:
• Compact Music vol.2
Jacques Jeangerard - Compact Music volume 2
74 minutes of ambient synthesizer music - 2020-2021
Copyright Moloski productions
www.discogs.com/fr/release/28...
jacquesjeangerard1.bandcamp.c...
www.gibert.com/stores/paris-v...
open.spotify.com/intl-fr/albu...

[@dalefortneroregon]

The CZ line is amazing in more than a few ways and you can hear real artistry achieve in this demonstration. The sounds that Jake created are as beautifully musically and/or interesting as anything I've ever heard from a CZ. Fantastic programming and presentation! Very inspiring as I reactivate my 1987 CZ-101 after 25 years of slumber. Thank you.

[@panatlantik1734]

does it still work after 25 years of slumber??

[@Krabadaque]

@@panatlantik1734 mine does, but its memory seems to have dried up. Only the factory presets work :(

[@VIDKID666]

@@Krabadaque I’m Sure a simple little battery swap will sort that. Might find it fun reprogramming it :-)

[@rachelar]

For the price

[@dalefortneroregon]

@@panatlantik1734 Actually, yes! Though I had to perform some maintenance.

[@no_talking]

best cz-101 demo, thank you for not talking

[@GL-uy3fd]

Hahahahaha i don’t get why people hate talking so much, I love hearing all sorts of details about the synths I’m researching

[@latchwork66]

This video is incredible. The textures you are getting out this synth are so dark and haunting. Really beautiful stuff.

[@callumroyal7785]

i guess Im kinda off topic but do anyone know a good place to stream newly released series online ?

[@jasonweston3769]

@Callum Royal I watch on Flixzone. Just google for it :)

[@andersonbaylor8684]

@Jason Weston Yea, I have been watching on flixzone for since april myself :)

[@callumroyal7785]

@Jason Weston thank you, signed up and it seems like they got a lot of movies there :) Appreciate it!

[@jasonweston3769]

@Callum Royal happy to help :)

[@FoxRivers778]

You could make a great movie soundtrack with just this machine. I think this is where ambient music comes from.

[@jaithevegan]

Nooooooice!!! I’m a 70s kid and grew up with these fantastical instruments 👌🏽

[@simonjefferytaylor]

It was the 80s

[@Osiris1080]

"Shine on your Casio diamond" 🤣

[@guillaumefoucart7931]

great job for the sounds you've created on this thing, that's sounding so well

[@missnoisy3034]

This is beautiful

[@GeometryDashAcamar]

This video was outstanding. Thank you for this play through.

[@KeytarKris]

Absolutely lovely

[@luca1emanuel]

wow...so awesome, seriously. i truly apreciate this video

[@davidmochen]

Superb sounds!

[@thb-music]

Amazing demo. Capturing some real depth with those patches.

[@SunnyBear]

The sound here is amazing.

[@fredwalker1733]

Did a few gigs with this keyboard in the 80s. Loved it to bits.

[@panatlantik1734]

i´m always amazed by programming (and playing) skills like yours! This kind of synth is often considered as a toy. Give a "toy" to an artist and he`ll come out with a video like yours. Thank you.

[@fatonstrujaofficial1129]

I have my CZ101 over 10 years! I'm love it°°°°

[@SUNKINGME]

Fantastic patch programming!....and I've owned mine since 1987!!

fantastic! so calm!!

[@TheDanceluver37]

Some other worldly sounds you are creating.

[@soundfilet]

Beautiful sounds

[@JanavarKan83]

This is excellent!

[@2.7petabytes]

Definitely makes me miss my CZ! I had one back in the late 80’s. Being a teenager at the time, I didn’t fully appreciate its beauty and complexity! You definitely do it justice!

[@Osiris1080]

All of your sounds are really nice and I like your playing style.. great work! I have several of the old yamaha PSS series toy keyboards, many of which are actually capable of some nice sounds... but man I may have to buy one of these after hearing this.

[@icecreammm2]

Great sounds!

[@aradoprojektplock-analogsoul]

I like these timbres. You made me to buy CZ synth. Really inspiring and very Vangelish sounding machine. Subscribed Your channel and Marry Christmas!

[@cowprez]

Once I found the upper and lower parameters of each register, I wrote a program to randomly pick a number and write it to the external RAM. I got some VERY weird stuff. I played some of it for Halloween and most of the kids turned away!!! Too funny!!!

[@mikeexits]

Do you have any footage or recordings of the sounds? Or maybe a way to get that program?

[@comrade_crab]

Great job - adding delay/reverb allows us to hear the sounds decay in a somewhat more refined way than just a dry sound (which is also useful, but doesn't represent what the typical end user would produce). I'm seeing the CZ series mentioned a lot these days. Thanks for the thoughtful video!

[@PaulBosMusic]

Gorgeous soundscapes! Love the vocoder-like 9:51, can totally see that in a dark meditation drone music

[@i-N-k-Primus]

Popped out randomly on YYMusic's radio of a chill mix, this is just wonderful, love what you did here

[@Jake-Balibari]

Funny to see that it appears in a chill mix!

[@33ordie]

A goldmine that CZ lineup

[@aCivilServant]

Very nice video and a good demo of the CZ's modulation and envelope capabilities. Sometimes sounds like a Mini Moog, at other times almost a Yamaha CS80.

[@MGMark6830]

Truly amazing SOUNDS , I never heard before so far heads off . I’ am thinking About to buy the Casio CZ IOS app

[@glenesis]

Wonderful programming, Jake! Nice to meet you. I'm Glenn. Cheers!

[@juxty3102]

This is just lovely. I still remember the day back in 1987 when I brought my first synthesiser which was a casio cz 101. It was the last one in the music shop and I managed to get it at a knock down price as casio had stop making them and the shop wanted to clear its inventory. These sounds bring back so many memories in learning how to program this little machine. A few years later I learnt to drive and got my first car and had to sell the cz to help pay for repairs, along with my kawai k1. Phase distortion is very underrated. Well done on the patches.

[@annother3350]

I have an Evolution EVS which does Phase Distortion and has a lot more modulation options

[@Krabadaque]

So sorry you had to sell it! I still have mine, but I use it very rarely. Perhaps for my next album?

[@andretorquato4163]

dope. I like videos like yours. It shows how good is the instrument. Now i have to buy one lol

[@jonclyne2918]

Wonderful performance. Gets me excited to repair my broken CZ1000 and run through some reverb. Thanks for sharing.

[@snyxolschmidt5183]

excellent tutorial

[@flubberghosted2472]

These textures are the greatest! Phase distortion for the win!

[@miskelproducts41]

Damn... I REALLY like that!!

[@glenesis]

This is amazing! I have my CZ-101, and I used to program it and you make me wish to set it up again. It needs a power socket repair, and I need to do that. It may be my favorite digital synth of all time.

[@GoldstromsWerkstatt]

I would never sell mine. Never.

[@dianamiino7391]

And me too, I will never sell this marvel !

[@EonPeon]

I replaced the power socket on mine. It was a relatively easy fix. I also changed the display to a blue, backlit one like the one seen here. Do it! You’ll never look back..!

[@glenesis]

@@EonPeon I have a Roland rack synth with the nifty screen upgrade, it's a game-changer! Good idea. Thanks for the tips. Will do em; have a great day!

[@die5973]

I heard the sound of the CZ-1 which is the successor to the 101 in another video, but I felt that the lower model 101 sounded better because your performance was wonderful 👍

[@Krabadaque]

The CZ - 1 is much the same as the CZ - 101, except for full size keys, perhaps velocity sensivity (someone else may fill me in here). Coupla friends of mine have CZ - 1s, I have my CZ - 101 and this video inspires me to start experimenting with it soon again!

[@trumjohannsmancave]

Beautiful🎶😍

[@blacktempo77]

I had on back in the day, did not know what I had😔....... Thanks for sharing!!!!!

[@guillaumefoucart7931]

Wowww, fabulous presets! I need one

[@lsliewhite]

Amazing

[@maxmatson1578]

The "CZ-3000" was my very first synthesizer back in 2001, I think?😅 I have no clue at all what I was doing and wanted something with knobs, but instead I got this. Not knowing what I was doing. I'd fiddle around all the time blindly! Once in a while, I managed to coax out some very interesting sounds out of it. I would call it "Electronic fireworks".🎹🎧💫😵 I miss that synthesizer. I'd love to get it back someday?

[@gabrielgabidu13]

Mon premier clavier ❤

[@moogmoog5222]

You really know how to programme patches.

[@goalexey]

This entire demo sounds like one fantastic ambient composition - way better than overrated Brian Eno albums and the ones alike. Listened through entire video without skipping and tremendously enjoyed it!

[@Jake-Balibari]

Thank you for your very positive comment, really a pleasure to read it! If you like my music, you can listen to it here jacquesjeangerard1.bandcamp.com/music

[@alfie7002]

lovely stuff, around 2 minutes reminds me of a game called celestes soundtrack :)

[@s3nsec0rruptr80]

This sounds amazing! I'm sitting here debating whether this is *mostly* stuff I can do with a volca fm or if I need to spend some cash on one of these...but I definitely know I need some of these sounds in my arsenal!

[@Jake-Balibari]

With the Volca FM, the sounds will be sometimes similar and programming patches on it are certainly easy (I don't know this synth). You have to start from zero to program sounds on a CASIO because all presets are awful. Phase distorsion synthesis is not really hard to learn, but needs patience.

[@hotfirecaster]

Vraiment magnifique !

[@josemosteiro7072]

Suena muy bien!!!!

[@thesupersoundoftrieste]

Casio Kommander! Today I buy the CZ 5000

[@erikwissinghansen2958]

Wow! It sounds awesome. I own a CZ-101 and a CZ-1 myself. I´m still using them. These Casios have almost unlimited possibilities. Great tone work man! .

[@_baalshamin]

Wich one of the two do you prefer? Thinking of getting one of the them as my first synth.

[@erikwissinghansen2958]

@@_baalshamin I prefer the Casio CZ-1. It has full size keyboard, modulation wheel, velocity, aftertouch, MIDI,in, out and through and more memory. Besides it has 8-16 notes polyphony.

[@_baalshamin]

@@erikwissinghansen2958 thanks a lot man, these features really put the CZ1 in another level

[@annother3350]

@@erikwissinghansen2958 what can you do with the modulation wheel??

[@erikwissinghansen2958]

@@annother3350 The modulation wheel can only control the vibrato depth. In multi channel mode the modulation wheel can only control the vibrato of the basic channels tone. Not as fancy as newer synthesizers.

[@1mespud]

I have two of them as part of my vintage midi gear. One is mainly used as a midi controller.

[@Jota.Barrakero]

What a fucking travel! Ita sound very powerfull!! Very nice sound and play! You are in Sync with the keyboard, very very beautifull!:O

[@Tazmanian_Ninja]

I really REALLY wish Casio would do a Reface DX kinda rerun of these, like Yamaha did with the DX7 in the Reface DX.

[@Jake-Balibari]

Yes, it would be great.If they do so, they have to simplify the sound programming. Not that it's particulary complex, but it's much more easy to produce bad sounds than good ones.

[@hectorpina682]

I sent Casio a design for a CZ revival synth based on an SA-46, With 100 CZ patches and 50 drum beats based on RZ1 samples and they ignored me.

[@Tazmanian_Ninja]

@@hectorpina682 That's sad 😔 Why oh why are some music gear manufacturers so damn dense and narrow-minded? No finger on the pulse of the market.

[@mikeexits]

@@Jake-Balibari That's exactly what turned me off of this synth when I first got it. Plus all the default presets were some janky wacky kinda sounds, and they were all the same. And the pitch bend wheel was maxed and it always jumped like crazy when it was all the way up and all the way down. But today I found your video as well as RetroSound's videos and they both inspired me to buy it and helped give me the *drive* to figure this thing out. As I type this the recommended video next to this comment has "DRIVE" in big letters in the thumbnail and the title. What a synchronicity.

[@ArchitectEnterprises]

@@Tazmanian_Ninja Not a lot of companies listen to their customers, probably the reason why is that most of them give bad ideas, that's what exactly what happened to me when i'm developing some game, none of them fit

[@synthwinds7365]

Nice !

[@GL-uy3fd]

Nice work on the backlit display, didn’t know the original wasn’t backlit also. Guess it would be too much to ask in the 80s for under 500 bucks hahaha

[@kadj1016]

Love it.. Glad I bought a 101 after i toasted my cz-1000 by leaving the batteries in it.. I don't put batteries in my 101 at all. Great sounds! Good job!

[@kadj1016]

@Ian Whetstone I feel your pain Ian! I hate it when that happens.

[@NeuronalAxon]

You still got the damaged CZs?

[@kadj1016]

@@NeuronalAxon Sorry to take so long to get back to you NeuronalAxon. I advertised the old CZ on craigslist and had no takers. I pretty much forgot about it, and one day this old boy got ahold of me and asked if I still had it (Like a year later).. I said "Yes I do".. He came and bought it. Said he was going to rebuild it, but that would require replacing most of the boards that were fried inside.. So, it is sold and gone.

[@Urfinchannel]

@@NeuronalAxon you can have mine,same issue with forgotten batteries

[@lukeimontv7086]

The first part of this video sounds like the intro of "Everything You Do Is A Balloon" by Boards of Canada

[@The_Invisible_Man]

Love to see you sell these patches on gumroad. Great work

[@VIDKID666]

Damn. That title kinda made it seem like these are the fx built into the cz101. I loved the sound so much I spent almost £300 on one today… then saw in the description you’re using external fx. Sucks haha

[@Jake-Balibari]

Woww. I'm sorry ! There are cheap good multieffects pedals noadays. Chorus + reverb fits perfectly the cz

[@voice_from_pizza]

Your CZ engine sounds better than mine, I have a 5000 and it’s s noisy! Very nice reverb and delay you’ve got going on, I should get to patching some better stuff, I do love the 8 stage envelope!

[@Jake-Balibari]

Try to switch off the chorus and to use an external FX or pedal

[@voice_from_pizza]

@@Jake-Balibari true.

[@urwholefamilydied]

Yeah, the cool thing about having prosumer stuff today from the 80's (or even straight up cheap consumer synths) is you can throw some reverb/delay on them and they sound straight up pro. You couldn't just add reverb to your cz101 in 1985... you could but a nice reverb unit was probably the price of the synth itself and super clunky.

[@Jake-Balibari]

Yes, the only affordable reverb in 1985 was the Midiverb 1 : less than 5000frs (750€). Its sound was awful, noisy and metallic. The best idea was to add 1 or 2 echo machines.

[@jorellana2007]

good video, you can make one with the different types of drum effects

[@hardcorehouse]

I first owned a 101 when they came out mid 80s. This is the only video I've heard so far where the programming actually makes it sound pretty good. It's a shame they never built a standalone programmer to use with the multi stage envelopes; would've been much easier. Still find the sound a little sterile and lacking in comparison with korg and yamaha of same vintage

[@evankeal]

I got some End of the World sounds out of this, had no clue what the button titles meant. That feature that pulsed like a sequencer was awfuly fun.

[@poshskiffle]

It looks like you are running off the cartridge for the first sounds...are these factory sounds? Very enjoyable demo...Thanks!

[@diegovillalba2488]

Subscribed!!!! It mean all.

[@ElectroIllusion]

Best CZ-101 video! And the external effects make it sound incredible!

[@Semper_fi_777]

I have the CZ-101 I bought in the '80s (Second Synth I owned. First was the Roland JX8P). For fun, I was just looking around for the latest info on this ancient artifact and stumbled on this. Lol. Very nice work. 35-year-old synth. Amazing. Glad I kept it. I am now going to dust it off and see what I can do with it. Considering I have an arsenal of modern gear. I think I will hook up a Digitech 'Supernatural' Pedal and see how that goes. Haha. Anyway....very nice/creative Demo. Thanks, for inspiring me back to my CZ. :-)

[@GaitaPonto]

4:49 sounds very CS-80 to my ears. Nice sound design dude.

[@danielkalamaras7252]

Wow!Very cool sounds indeed!Is this the original sounds of this synth?I quess not.Is it difficult to program sounds on the CZ-101?Its a very interesting synth,i was thinking of buying it!

[@johnnydekock]

Love it! Awesome sounds. Where did you get the display from? Is it easy to replace?

[@Jake-Balibari]

I bought the display on ebay for 5€. If you are familiar with soldering circuits, the operation is not too hard. If not, you can find ready to install units for 60€.

[@johnnydekock]

Thank you for the response. I’m not good at soldering. But thanks anyway. Looks really cool.

[@nathanlane8707]

Nice! How you getting those bitcrushed sounds towards the end, is it to do with pitch envelope and ring mod ?

[@GuyFromNet]

I tried to recreate this on my cz-101, but didn't succeed. Can you explain please how 2:07 patch works?

[@j.lietka9406]

I already posted a comment on two other similar videos. A hobby of mine is looking for electronics in dumpsters and curbside stuff. Found the CZ 101 this weekend in a pile of curbside stuff (and an Asus monitor). Not sure if it works as i didn't find the charger. Does it require an amplifier and speakers? Thank you 🤓 hopefully tomorrow i can go to Sam Ash for a charger and a test. The sound samples you are recording are incredible!! Oh, is there an internal battery, like a PCs BIOS battery that may need to be replaced? The cover for the "D" or " C" cell batteries (for teavel) is missing but that's ok!

[@danconway7128]

Hi @Jake! This is a lovely video. And really nice programming (and playing) work here. I have a question (if you get this message). What is the reverb you're using - coz it's stunning. Thanks again eh? :)

[@Jake-Balibari]

Thank you very much Dan. I used the Zoom MS70 CDR pedal with the HD reverb preset.

[@danconway7128]

@@Jake-Balibari Rocking. Thanks!

[@synthmalicious7541]

God this is going to be hard to find for less than 300 in the next few months

[@Jake-Balibari]

I hope you are wrong. There are lot of CZ in attics.

[@synthmalicious7541]

Jake Yeah they probably won’t be listed as CZs though, just ‘old keyboards’, but in the Reverb/synth market though?

[@regularpeople3302]

hermoso

[@RelationshipStrategy]

Great album. All tunes are great. Where can I buy your Casio patchces? Thnx a lot

[@Jake-Balibari]

Thank you. About the patches, unfortunately I don't have this Casio anymore. I only have a CZ-1 bank with similar sounds. But problem : they are stored on a Yamaha MDF2 device. There is maybe a way to get them on a software via MIDI and convert them for a CZ-101/1000, but I didn't search more

[@Mark761966]

Was the first one inspired by the Krel machine sequence from Forbidden Planet?

[@kadj1016]

Spacial J, make another one of these, if you have any more sounds that you came up with. I am requesting and encore performance please.

[@The_Invisible_Man]

+1

[@Jake-Balibari]

Thank you KADJ, I will try.

[@volkmarmohs4200]

can you tell me the name of the patch at app. 8:30? And perhaps the sound data? I search for a long time for a sound like in the first 15 seconds in MotiSpecials „spirit of extasy“. Perhaps I can build it starting from your sound. Thanks -also to all other followers: Does anybody knows the sound in original? what kind of synth was it and what’s the patch name?

[@sauermusicDE]

Ich antworte jetzt einfach mal in englischer Sprache. The album is from 1985. Back in the days Cretu used stuff like Yamaha DX7 / TX816, PPG 2.3, Roland MKS-80, the E-mu Emulator II sampler and - according to a story he once told himself - a very expensive Lexicon reverb unit...which must have been the 224XL (since the 480L wasn't on the market yet, it was released one year later in 1986). The main "shimmering pad" kind of sound in "Sprit of ecstasy" is most probably a Yamaha DX7 (Patch no. 22 "Sitar" >> ROM 1-B "KEYBOARD AND PLUCKED SOUNDS GROUP", played in a "strumming" way in the lower octaves) in combination with a lot of reverb from a Lexicon 224XL. >> kzbin.info/www/bejne/l6XUkHqgbNd_m8U >> The patch played at the 3 minutes and 15 seconds mark // The fretless bass is probably played by Thissy Thiers himself on a real electric bass guitar (since he was a bass player anyway). A cheap way to imitate all this would be a Korg M1 combined with a Strymon Big Sky.

[@philippezsiga1125]

If Vangelis had used it on Blade Runner with these sounds , it will vost more than a car now!!!! Incredible awesome beautiful sounds . Any chance to share them or sale them ( you should it better than many “”” professional “” sound designers ; congratulations. ( i own a cz1 and vz1 and will never sell them…)

[@vintagepearlguitars]

How would you describe the sound difference between VZ-1 and CZ-1?

[@dianamiino7391]

Wow, very beautiful sounds ! I have a 101 too. Please, what kind of delay are you using?

[@Jake-Balibari]

Thanks ! I use a ZOOM MS-70CDR pedal with stereo delay + HD reverb

[@dianamiino7391]

Thanks a lot ! ❤

[@Emil-Antonowsky]

Please do more CZ stuff. Particularly the CZ-1.... Please. X

[@giuseppmetallic8872]

hey how did u get the blue display ???

[@Jake-Balibari]

on ebay, it cost around 5€. With a bit of solder, it's moderately difficult to install. Otherwise, you can get one ready to install for 60€ on ebay too.

[@j_c_93]

What were the settings like on your pedals?

[@Jake-Balibari]

Ibanez DE7 with long " tape" echo + ZOOM MS70 with HD Reverb. That's all folks I think.

[@littlebritain64]

Hi, I have, as a Cz-1 owner, a question: they say that the CZ 101 sounds better than its bigger brothers having different, maybe cleaner or something, waveforms and electronic circuits ( better output or converters?). Did you try the CZ-1? Thanks a lot!

[@Jake-Balibari]

Hello, I have never tried the CZ-1. I wonder why a more recent and higher level synth would sound lower. It would be interesting to try. The only parameter that could affect sound quality is the Stereo chorus which is apparently not very good, and certainly noisy.

[@littlebritain64]

@@Jake-Balibari Yes, me wondering too. Thanks a lot for answering!

[@Bananskuden]

How did you add the backlight?

[@Jake-Balibari]

Bought on ebay. It's cheap (10€) A bit touchy to install, but not toot hard.

[@j.lietka9406]

Have you ever tried making (DIY) a memory cartridge? Thank you & great effects! The blue LCD/LED screen is cool! 🤓

[@Jake-Balibari]

No, I never tried. Maybe one day someone will make one. But the CASIO CZ owners market is really small.

[@j.lietka9406]

@@Jake-Balibari even used cartridges are kind of high $$!

[@anonymous_friend]

Have you found any memory card solutions?

[@j.lietka9406]

@@anonymous_friend no not really, besides buying a used one!

[@j.lietka9406]

Reverb has some but still kind of $$$!

[@sinalov]

Great sound making. Is there anyway to share presets ? Especially preset 3:36 and 6:37 🙏

[@chinossynthesizer705]

I can't really compare fm synthesis with this because i haven't played a casio synth.

[@carlosgarciasandoval9993]

Blade Runner!

[@N0Camping4U]

Is there an adapter so you don't need batteries? Can this plug into a guitar amp?

[@Jake-Balibari]

Yes and yes !

[@N0Camping4U]

@@Jake-Balibari Thx dude. I need to pick one of these up then!

[@flubberghosted2472]

❤️❤️😭😭❤️❤️😭😭