Bundesrepublik Casiotone
December 15, 2019 4:17 PM Subscribe
YouTube channel Keen On Keys is an (ASMR-worthy) review channel for '80s and '90s electronic toy keyboards. Specimens are introduced, touched up, and capably demonstrated by an unidentified Berlin musician in hands-only videos. The germinal Casio VL-1 gets four of its own, including an in-depth investigation into the origins of "that Casio demo song". Other delightful moments: a tour of VL-1 beats; the presenter gleefully pitch-bending low on their first keyboard (a keytar!). Keen On Keys also have a bandcamp and a soundcloud full of songs made on these instruments.
I coveted my VL-1, given to me as a Christmas gift in...gulp...1979.
I'm getting more feels just from hearing that song again but yeah that voice is very ASMR-worthy.
posted by JoeZydeco at 5:52 PM on December 15, 2019
I'm getting more feels just from hearing that song again but yeah that voice is very ASMR-worthy.
posted by JoeZydeco at 5:52 PM on December 15, 2019
Reminds me a lot of the youtube channel 8-Bit Keys. Except swap out a Texan for a German .
Even the first video is so polished, i was expecting this to be a side channel for another channel but that doesn't seem to be the case.
posted by Harpocrates at 6:10 PM on December 15, 2019
Even the first video is so polished, i was expecting this to be a side channel for another channel but that doesn't seem to be the case.
posted by Harpocrates at 6:10 PM on December 15, 2019
The VL-1 demo song has been with me a long time, so I went down the rabbit hole of researching it once, and this level of obsessive detail is fascinating. It's always been interesting to me that so many languages and cultures (at least German, English, Japanese, and per the comments, Swedish with "Vi Äro Musikanter") have used similar melodies for a "teach children instrument noises Music Man" song, but with just some small differences between songs. So many odd little decisions over perhaps hundreds of years led to the path from someone writing a German educational song for children to its Japanese adaptation to Casino building it into a mini keyboard with a mislabeled title for whatever reason to that melody becoming permanently burnt into my brain.
When I was trying to figure out what the demo song even was, I came across this extremely cringe-worthy different version of the English "I Am the Music Man," which features a kid in a blue shirt just completely rocking out.
posted by zachlipton at 6:50 PM on December 15, 2019
When I was trying to figure out what the demo song even was, I came across this extremely cringe-worthy different version of the English "I Am the Music Man," which features a kid in a blue shirt just completely rocking out.
posted by zachlipton at 6:50 PM on December 15, 2019
The modern equivalent, IMO, is the OP-1 (previously), though it's at a rather different price point.
posted by dmd at 11:16 AM on December 16, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by dmd at 11:16 AM on December 16, 2019 [1 favorite]
Man I miss my sk-5.
posted by aspersioncast at 1:15 PM on December 16, 2019
posted by aspersioncast at 1:15 PM on December 16, 2019
Oh, gods, listening to that VL-1 demo song took me right back to Christmas, 1979, when then-12-year-old-hanov3r's grandfather was given a Casio VL-1. I don't think I've heard that song in almost the whole 40 years since then but, wow, was that memory strong when it surfaced.
posted by hanov3r at 3:41 PM on December 16, 2019
posted by hanov3r at 3:41 PM on December 16, 2019
Oh wow, the Mention of the Casio demo song is like a sniper bullet of pure nostalgia exploding in my brain. Can’t wait to watch this video.
posted by ejs at 6:12 AM on December 17, 2019
posted by ejs at 6:12 AM on December 17, 2019
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