Casio Sampling Keyboard SK-1

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The SK-1 is pretty much useless as a tool for doing noise UNLESS it has been circuit bent (info about circuit bending is available at Reed Ghazala's anti-theory workshop site (www.anti-theory.com/soundart/) or at Dave Wright's Carrionsound site (www.carrionsound.com). The SK-1 features: 9.38 kHz sampling frequency, 8 bit sound, 1.4 seconds of sampling, holds one sample, 32 mini keys, 13 envelope shapes, portamento, vibrato, Loses all sequence and sample memory when turned off. No mod wheels, MIDI, or any other control devices...

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User Reviews of the Casio Sampling Keyboard SK-1

Submitted by less_cunning from Griffin, GA (44 points) on Oct 2, 2007
not going to belabor the awesome-ness of the SK-1. i love it uncircuitbent. i lot of toy keyboards don't have a mic-in, line-in & line out or a sampler. think of the casio SK-1 as an infinite locked groove maker, sampling-wise. however, i would not spend more than for this keyboard.
Good Points: mic. line-in. line-out. 1 second sampler. cheap. awesome. can be circuit bent & sold on ebay for way more than you bought it for.
Bad Points: its a toy keyboard.
Price Paid: US$0.00
Purchased At: goodwill
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Submitted by Ed from Bowling Green, OH (82 points) on Apr 14, 2006
Ahhh... the old classic. This has sentimental value to me because it was my first "noise" toy and it got me started on noise. Although most tote it solely as a circuit-bending project, it can stand out even without modification. Great for droning sounds or weird little samples to throw in the mix.
Good Points: Makes samples sound quite strange Lots of possibilities circuit-bending wise Harsh as fuck with a distortion pedal Cheap
Bad Points: Sample time only about 4-5 seconds Presets suck a big one Easy to break (but also easy to fix)
Price Paid: US$2.00
Purchased At: thrift store
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Submitted by series_ from Portland, OR (184 points) on Nov 9, 2005
Well the SK-1 is the original, but the sk-5 has 4 sample pads/spots. And then the Yamaha competition model, VSS-30, has a higher bit rate, and built in echo, real time reverse, control over the envelope for the built in sounds + sampled sounds. All three are essential sound toys. Endlessly fun to just sit and make noise on for hours. I've seen some really good circuit bent SK's and I've also seen some very mediocre ones. If you choose to mod yours and you intend to play out live, MAKE SURE to kill the auto-power-off mode! Other wise half way thru your set you'll realize tat your SK-1 has turned itself off. If it wasn't for the VSS-30, there would be no room for complaint on the SK-1 or 5. BUT since the VSS models allow you to apply effects and flip the sample around in real time I like it much more. On the Casio's the sound stops then you wait for a beep, then the sound can be played in reverse. Never the less. Amazingly deceptive little sound maker. Just not as good as the VSS and SK-5.
Good Points:
Bad Points:
Price Paid: US$10.00
Purchased At: goodwill
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Submitted by tapesss from Brooksville, FL (344 points) on Oct 25, 2005
these things are great for noise once they're circuit bent. the sampler function is great, run some pedals in and sample some noise, or just ground hum for a weird synth tone. with a patchbay added, you can utterly destroy and mangle the sounds that this thing makes. drones, crashing glitch sounds, weird murky skree, all kinds of fun stuff. these aren't too much generally, so pick one up and circuit bend it!
Good Points: lots of sound possibilities once bent. harshnoise, drones, feedback stuff, etc.
Bad Points: no internal memory..
Price Paid: US$30.00
Purchased At: eBay
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Submitted by tfy from Asheville, NC (6 points) on Jan 19, 2004
4-note polyphony is unusual for small toy keyboards such as this, but i like to take advantage of this by running the left & right outputs of my mixer into y-cables, running the output directly into the sk-1 and back into the same mixer, giving me the ability to grab and play back a 1-second sample. thin heavy objects can be used to hold down drone keys. the 4-bit rate decimates the audio nicely without the need for a pedal or plugin. lo-fi noise bliss. these can be circuit-bent to wonderful effect, but they're also a lot of fun without the invasiveness. i read somewhere that you can take a "violet ray" tesla coil and wave it over the keys while it's playing for all sorts of cool meltdown sounds.
Good Points: durable for the most part, fairly cheap if you look in the right places.
Bad Points: it's a toy. 'nuff said.
Price Paid: US$15.00
Purchased At: goodwill
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Submitted by m00k13 from Grand Blanc, MI (40 points) on Oct 3, 2003
Ahhh... The very first keyboard I ever got. My grandma bought this as a christmas gift for me in the mid-80's and I still own it to this day. A great toy sampler with a 1/4" output. I've also done the standard circuit bends on mine.
Good Points: 4-bits, what more can you ask for? The goofy synth section with the different envelopes can be fun.
Bad Points: the keys are small and break easy if you beat the hell out of it. The pcm sounds suck pretty hard.
Price Paid: US$0.00
Purchased At: got it for xmas.
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Submitted by johnny from Austin, TX (2 points) on Feb 19, 2003
ive found some interesting uses for my sk1 i think. sure sound quality is, eh, but putting it through some extreme fuzz is really just bliss. but i use the rhythm bank and plug it into my sampler to use as a splitter and send on to my amp the the other to the arpeggio clock in of my synth and it syncs up great when the input is high it speeds up really fast on the cymbal sounds so it simulates random patterns which is nice cause all my synth has is up down and up&down.
Good Points: sample looper and portamento
Bad Points: low sample quality and no internal memory bank
Price Paid: US$15.00
Purchased At: goodwill
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Submitted by nic from Madison, WI (4 points) on Dec 31, 2002
i have two of these at home. the low sampling rate makes for some pretty decimated sounds. but like the initiail review said, it is not too usful for noise. mainly because it can only sample for a second. but there are other casio "sk" (sampling keyboard) models out there. the sk1 is the first sk casio built (yup . . .). each model after that (there are two or three i believe) has cooler functions. the sk8, for example has four banks to sample, a pad for each sample bank, the ability to change the length of each sample, reverse the sample, and apply an envelope. it also keeps the samples when its shut off. but i agree that these keyboards take a little moding before they are useful in a noise rig. but moding is fun!
Good Points: nice gritty sample rate. they are thrift stores and flee markets near you for about 5 to 10 bucks. portamento is kind of cool i guess.
Bad Points: crap sample length. only one sample bank. no way to alter sample beyond playing it at different pitches. sample is lost on shut down.
Price Paid: US$5.00
Purchased At: thrift store
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Submitted by Ben from United States (250 points) on Dec 15, 2002
Great lo-fi sampling feature, which can be manipulated using the pitch-bend capabilities of the keyboard and the weird effect of the portamento. Pretty easy to circuit bend to get odd sounds -- circuit bend equipment isn't really my thing though. I use this mainly as a junk sampler.
Good Points: Cheap option for a lo-fi sampler. Easy to circuit bend.
Bad Points: none
Price Paid: US$17.00
Purchased At: ebay
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Submitted by spit + smudge from Savannah, GA (214 points) on Sep 15, 2002
Fairly neat cheap keyboard. Has a lot of potential to be modified. Has great strange cutup looping mods, to crazy filtering mods. Definately worth using as a sound source(especially using one of the looping mods so you dont have to keep holding the key). I suggest purchashing one for yourself and modifying it on your own. Too many people charge way too much for these modified.
Good Points: Great as a sound source, loads of filtering mods.
Bad Points: Cheap, overpriced due to demand from benders and casio collectors. Poor sampling rate(which can be good in some cases) Yamaha VSS-30 is much better (even the mods)
Price Paid: US$15.00
Purchased At: yahoo auctions
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Submitted by D/A A/D from Halifax (410 points) on Sep 9, 2002
Ok I am not going to repeat everything everything everyone already has said... It rocks, and it is good for noise... Just follow these instructions... 1. Put on portamento 2. sample a sound 3. press a key and hold it then the loop button (or vise versa) You will get the crazyst pitch modulations ever... like 8 octives.... sweeping up, or sweeping down. Fiddle around to get your best sound.... oh ya...
Good Points: read above....
Bad Points: None... well there are gettin kinda pricey...
Price Paid: US$10.00
Purchased At: Cash Converters... (in 97)
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Submitted by Harm from Mechanicsville, VA (86 points) on Jan 19, 2002
The Casio SK-1 is very fun to play with. I've had fun sampling things with it but it is over rated. It has become extremely trendy. I've only seen one band/artist do any justice with it in a live situation (EB/SK) from Washington, DC. I prefer the Yamaha VSS-30... it has a better quality sampler and tones of effects built in that blow away the sk-1. I think the sk-1 is more famous for its casio beats than its sampler. The sampler is just a bonus.
Good Points: It can be circuit bent easily but i don't know if the Yamaha VSS-30 has been circuit bent.
Bad Points: It's pretty minimal in its features and over rated.
Price Paid: US$5.00
Purchased At: Thrift Store
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Submitted by K. from Sealy, TX (528 points) on Dec 11, 2001
I purchased a used SK-1 a few years ago and did the circuit bending routine, and although the whole process was particulary fun, the results were less than satisfying. True, you can coax intense storms of noise out of the thing, but most sounds are still identifiable as a cheesy Casio synth. The sampler is O.K., but of low quality. Biggest prob w/ a circuit bent SK-1 is when you get crazy flipping too many switches, the board will go dead, usually when you're getting some interesting sounds. Still, it is a lot of fun when you aren't concerned w/ making "serious" noise.
Good Points: Easily modified, battery operated so you can entertain at family functions
Bad Points: Cheap Casio sound
Price Paid: US$20.00
Purchased At: pawn shop
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Submitted by dustin from Columbia, MO (16 points) on Aug 17, 2001
Id have to strongly disagree with the statement that the sk1 is useless for noise without bending. The built in sampler works great for processing feedback from live shows, either using the built in mic, or the line in. The samples can be looped, and you can change the pitch of the sample. The best thing about this keyboard though is that it can be modified very easily, allowing for an endless amount of glitches, and other noise. Although a great toy, it has become trendy the last few yrs, causing the price to inflate. This keyboard is not the only keyboard that is easily bent/rewired. Many other great boards are overlooked, most can be found in thrift shops and dumpsters.
Good Points: easily modified cheap(sometimes) good for lo fi noises
Bad Points: increasing price
Price Paid: US$0.00
Purchased At:
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