new member greeting
2015-05-03 by Alex Hurst
Hello. I am really glad to have found this group. I used to own several old bits of Casio gear, a FZ10, 1, CZ 3000, 5000 and once a 1. I loved them all but struggled with the sequencing and midi interface side of things and never progressed beyond lot of synthesis and sampling, and some basic sequencing on an Alesis MMT8. I sold what I had about 4 years ago and have hugely regretted it now that I have moved, got more space and realised what I miss. I decided to try differently this time, and to get back the gear I loved and be much more disciplined re finally mastering sequencing. It was really the computing side that got in my way and i regret that. Use of the gear, a mixer, FX units etc came naturally. Im enouraged now by all the programmes i just ddnt know existed. People have recommended a lot of sequencers, and I hope to get some tips here. Recently, I picked up some gear but i have not had a lot of luck. I had a CZ3000 delivered which suffered severe damage. Im speaking to someone about a repair (and if anyone can recommend anyone in London I would be grateful). If its not cost effective Ill get another one and pick it up. I also kept my eye out for months for an FZ and nothing appeared. I found a Hohner HS1 in Germany and had it shipped. Sadly this handsome silver machine is in dire need of help. Its noisy - which i dont really like but can live with, but has more serious issues such as it has stopped actually sampling (it did work for a few days but then stopped, although the in built synth works fine). The screen is bright and that isnt an issue. Before it stopped picking up what i tried to line in and sample i tried to format a disk and no matter what it says disk not ready. I dont know if I need to try disks from germany or what is going on, but given all the other serious problems with it that need a solution, if the disk drive doesnt work hopefully i can get round that with an editor or other programme someone else might be able to suggest. Again if anyone knows of someone anywhere who knows their way around an FZ10/HOHNER I would love to get this serviced and brought back to life. I regret badly ever parting with my FZ1 which worked like a dream. On the good news front, because i couldnt play the CZ3000, I found a VZ1 - my first, and im loving it. Amazing rich sounds, and a beautiful black synth. I have never found something i couldnt edit but with this...wow,i actually cant get edit at all - it really is as difficult as everyone says, but i am so impressed with what you can get out of it just by layering sounds, im excited to see what it can do. Im hopeing there is an editor i can use for this - which would be a first for me. I never used one with any of my former synths. Music wise, I am probably not going to mention anyone you have not all listened to to death. Im 38 now and was lucky enough to find aphex twin, warp and rephlex records when i was 16/17, and i have loved that and particularly aphex ever since. Im also a big fan of kraftwerk, bochum welt, some orb, J-M Jarre, B-O-C, Vangellis, John Carpenter. Im always interested in recommendations. I love ambient, and homemade electronic music basically. Alex