Just check out the official Casio youtube group, there are 8 tutorial videos there explaining how to opperate the advanced feutures like style creation on the instrument

Or this one.... Easy sampling...

Thanks for posting.

Contrary to his promise Ralph goes a long way in fiddling with the buttons, but NO demo of the variety of onboard STYLES or SOUNDS.
If you check the Styles Demo ( for lack of another specification) you can read my reply to his junvenile fiddling about with the buttons and keys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0mFx1ew0VQ

regards
John

Casio is way behind korg, Yamaha, Roland and ketron with their styles that's why we don't hear any demo of the styles.

Thats why you can use all Yamaha styles on this keyboard...

Yes after hours tweaking each style. Well if that's your hobby.

Did you try this out?

Tweaking takes times no matter which brand keyboard. I personally spent my time playing and practicing not tweaking styles.

[quote=FransN]Tweaking takes times no matter which brand keyboard. I personally spent my time playing and practicing not tweaking styles. [/quo



Casio USA has no idea how to market this keyboard. If all they produce is dance and techno stuff, the price will be reduced ( Casio pattern) to $700.00 for the MZ-X by Oct.1st.

Casio has also taken a huge gamble on the new Celviano Hyrbid.
In the USA, they want to market this piano in Piano Stores. Piano Stores in the USA have been declining for years.

The US is not the main market for CAsio....

The main market is Asia..
And young people

And if you look at the content of Ralph Matens video's its very clear who they are targetting..
And thats not you, or any other typical oldfashioned arranger player
They are targettign teh youth, and people that want to create new things of their own... and probably not people that want to replay the same old songs of old..


Seems not showing off the typicall style performance of build in styles might be part of that marketing strategy.. They dont need you and me criticing a keyboard based on our standards that are not representative for their target audience..Also the Casio PX560 is selling like hotcakes overhere in europe.. so they are doing something good.


And the hybrid of Casio is a top end contender, both in realisme as in sound quallity at a very nice price (espescially if you compare it to competition like the Yamaha avantgarde which is hugely more exspensive) They are targetting piano players with that high end instrument, where else would you sell such a thing then at piano dealers? (local or online)


Casio Piano's are allready very very well respected by many musicians all around trhe world... thats because they offer a lot for the money.. I have seen several PX-5s on stages around Holland allready...


Back on the MZ-X500, seems their marketting campaign is only just starting.. we will have to see where it leads this arranger/synthworkstation hybrid.. Its quite obvious many of the old time arranger players dont understand the concept.. but again thats not a bad thing.. BEcause this arranger is not meant for them..

It seems Casio's aim may not be the same as yours..

They might be looking for customers interested in tweaking and customizing.. actually being creative.. not just pressing the play button and changing chords. Have you thought about this?

In case you missed the review from Squeak, the MZX has all the typical bread and butter styles you find on Yamaha and Korg... (Ballroom, jazz, bigband, rock, ballads, world, blues etc) the Casio videos just dont demo them.

Why is there so much criticism on the Casio brand and the product they have released? It's a very respectable product.. They are being innovative. so what?

Nick

Quote: Its quite obvious many of the old time arranger players dont understand the concept.. but again thats not a bad thing.. BEcause this arranger is not meant for them.."

I doubt very much that Casio concurs with this statement. I am sure they meant it to be as inclusive as possible.

Well, they are not marketing it that way... Because despite them having heared our call for an extensive demo of these styles and sounds and prommises to demo them, they have not delivered....


However, you are probably right, their initial intentions might be to aim all and everyone thats only slightly interested in arrangers...

In the next few weeks i will try and get my hands on one so i can judge for myself... But untill now, we have no real idea how well the MZ-X sounds as a traditionall arranger.

I would love to see a comparisson between the mz-x500 and the PSR s770 doing traditionall styles both internall Casio as well as converted Yamaha and compare them to the psr-s770 ... As well as the most used typicall arranger sounds (brass, woods, winds, accordeons, violins etc etc...).


The only thing i know is that i think the interface and options of this instrument are like the fresh wind much needed in the arranger world if we want to attract younger people to this kind of instruments... Its an arranger/synth workstation hybrid.... How good the arranger part currntly is? Only time will tell... Casio definately deserves my attention for trying...

My old friend Dikki used to say that the main thing that sells arranger keyboards is styles and sounds. Other features , whilst important are not essential.

So far Casio have focused on features with their marketing .....

I wish them luck with that strategy.

I think all the typicall keyboard sounds (piano/dp/organ/synths/strings/pads) are top knotch... And thats where Casio has been concentrating its efforts from a stage piano kind of view..

Styles? Well, it plays yamaha styles, so there is a huge colleection to sattisfy everyone.

But indeed they have been concentrating on features... In their marketing... Probably because they think thats what sells arranger/workstations hybrids...

Still early but i do believe in the end this instrument might archieve cult status for its innovative features among people that want to create their own sounds...

Creative? All I have seen in these demos is pushing buttons and play some chords that,s all. Compare it to the demo's of Korg or Yamaha now that' s creative.

then you are either blind or suffer from "selective vision"

What is so creative then? Playing 2 chord edm?

Another video of creativity.

Creativity is creating something of your own... instead of replaying what someone else created... and to create your very unique own performances, the MZ-x500 has quite a lot of tools under its belt...

As Ralph Maten shows in his video's.... the sounds under those buttons he created himself... if he uses styles, they all have his own signature...

Bachus I don't need a lesson of what creativity is because I know what it mean.

Korg PA 600 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QzZ-WuFJqg

This is an arranger keyboard demo. Just My Opinion.

edited ... please see below

I have to admit that I enjoyed that Demo.....Maybe not in the "World of Arrangers" that we all know but there was some "Arranging" going on.

I do not think that the Big Three can do this type of genre/music easily ( not saying it cannot be done ).

There is a market for this.

Well, your previous comments made me think you needed an explanation...

Bachus always the last word

Thanks Bachus,
Great to see someone doing a demo on styles. Not my type of music, but interesting.
First saw a Casio back in the early 90's and if memory serves me correctly , style editing / creating was a notch above the more expensive arrangers at the time. I think it may have had midifile to style function even back then.All I can remember is it had a function that the far more expensive arrangers didn't. I think the only thing that put me off buying one was
1. EMC style conversion program didn't support Casio ( converting styles was my hobby)
2. I was used to the better quality of sound of the far more expensive arrangers, Had I only been able to afford a low or mid end arranger at the time, I probably would have gone for the Casio as the quality of sound would have been similar, but the style editing functions would have been better on the Casio.

Hi ,
I having just previously mentioned, not my type of music, I take it back, I thought that was brilliant.
Far more likely to get the grand kids interested in arranger keyboards than the styles I like to play on my korg.
He made it look like FUN!!

Thanks Frans.

Maby you will like this Casio Rikki if converting styles is your hobby. It can read Yamaha styles and midifiles if I am correct.

Of course there is a form of creativity involved here.
But this music is not only not my personal taste, but I have a bad feeling about what such music does to the human psyche.
To quote from late Wayne Dyer:
"Become conscious of the music you listeng to. Harsh, pounding, musical vibrations with repetitive, loud sounds lower your energy level and weaken you (...)" - Don't worry, I don't take Wayne Dyer word by word, but still, I have a bad feeling about all this fragmented stuff with bits of samples, actually it's a piece of shit. Sorry to say it that clearly.

+1 I couldn't say it better. Now where are the real demo's.

Exhibit A right there of why the world needs to change...

I am 32 years of age. my favorite music genre is Dance music, electro, trance and techno music.

And guess what? I tolerate and respect ALL music... Yet others who are musically educated and talented and are older and "Wiser" cannot? very sad to see...

Nick

+1 I couldn't say it better.

Hi Frans,
Actually had a quick look at the manual. As far as the Yamaha styles go, I think some might require a bit of editing especially with the drums. I can't see XG mapping for drums in the manual , only Gm or unless the Casio converts them to suit.
It can cause some drums to play back incorrectly. Doesn't sound good when you're expecting to hear a brush swish, and you get a handclap instead.

That's the problem I used to encounter when I used to convert my old PSR styles from a midifile across to the pa800. I had to transpose the incorrect drums to suit the korg drum mapping.
I was ever so thankful when korg added the XG mapped drumkits on the pa3x. Made doing the conversions so much quicker.

Hi Nick,
Well said. Had no idea you were so young, you seem to have been round forever.

Truth of the matter is, it's not my type of music, because I wouldn't know how to play it. If it's not written in a fake book, I 'm lost.
Got all those great dance style in the korg, but never use them, for the reason above.

Every type of music has its moments....

Where EDM shines is the mass psyche of the beat.. In general the base of dance music takes you back to our primitive ancestors ... Its far from my favourite music, however i have been to some parties and the massive beats and some booze can really get you into a kind of trance... Even people like me nearing their 50's...

Music is about emotions and about moments...



And as Ricky says, my little nefews would love this key for sure and toy with it all day... Even tough they also love playing piano and arranger,mthisnwill get them much more involved with music creation...

The funny thing is - Dance music, techno, trance, House and electro music has been around since the early 90s...

Only recently in the past 2-3 years has the new buzz word "EDM" evolved from thin air.

Guess what EDM stands for? "Electronic Dance Music"... WOW I didn't know electronic Dance Music was such a new thing? LOL

Most if not all Arranger keyboards have had a section called "DANCE" since the dawn of time... and in this Dance category there has always lived a style called "techno", or "House" or "Dance" or "Euro Dance" etc and they all had a typical doof doof type kick bass line at around 140bpm with pads, hand claps and drum rolls... they may be quite generic and not as specific but still technically "EDM"...

and the problem with this traditionally is if all you have is 1 or 2 Dance styles your music becomes very repetitive and somewhat lacking of any creativity or imagination.

In order to make comprehensive, creative and unique electronic dance music you need tools such as arpeggiaters, knobs, buttons, switches, assignable pads, hard drum beats, deep bases. All that Casio is doing here is making these tools available. and guess what - they even included all the original bread and butter Arranger stuff... nothing has been left out.

If this is not your thing then its quite easy actually... don't buy the machine !! And Stop criticizing something you haven't even SEEN or HEARD in real life !!

Hi Rikki!
yess I have been here for a while :-) waving the flag for Sydney haha

Nick there is dance music and dance music. I also am a great fan of dance music but not the stuff in these demos. I like for example snapp, dj bobo, brothers on the 4 floor etc. yes more the dance music from the 90's. I don,t criticize this Casio actually I really like it I only don,t like the demo's sofar.

Yes Rikki you are right that's why I told Bachus it take hours to tweak every style. You need to remap the drums as well to make it compatable with the Yamaha styles especialy the newer ones.

How many Yamaha styles do you have convert for the PA3x?

Maybe this is more like what you folk want to hear from these new Casio models. It's the MZ-X300 being demoed but AFAIK it contains the same styles and same basic PCM sounds as the MZ-X500. (It's missing the Hex Layer synth stuff.)



Rich also did a demo on the MZ-X500 for Kraft Music but THAT one concentrates on the synth and EDM side.

Hi Frans,
I don't really have all that many, mainly because they used to take me hours to do.
I didn't like using EMC for the conversion , because sometimes it got the drum mapping wrong, it took tempo increases/decreases out of intro's /endings , so I really only used it if given no other choice. My yammie styles I did from an actual midifile of the style. The older ones were easy enough , except for remapping the drums for the pa800, with the pa3x and the XG drum maps, the job became easier. I
Idid some biab conversions, a couple of ketron's including drum samples for the live drums. Some I did for experimentational purposes, ( over at korg forum we were trying to work out if biab could be used as a source of styles for the pa800, there weren't that many 3rd party styles available at the time) , a few I did as requests. The odd one I did for myself.

Sorry for going off topic, guys.

Happy to give you a copy, but whether or not there would be anything of use to you is another matter. I mainly play ballads , jazz/swing.

Hi Rikki,

No I don't need a copy I was just curious

Another video from Ralph Maten

Here is a guy using his PSR S-770 for EDM

We allready discussed that video, as it was put online, it was okay, but does not show greatness.... I think my nefews 10 year old G70 sounds better as an arranger (package of styles and sounds), so do Korg PA600 and Yamaha PSR-S970.. But it does not sound bad at all...

This is probably the reason we havent seen many more demo's of this part of the instrument...

But then i am convinced that this typical arranger type of use is not what will make this instrument a cult item... Its a Workstation with added arranger styles.

so what is the final verdict on the Casio MZ x500?

Not worth 1000 euro. Bad as an arranger, good as a workstation but again for that money you can also buy a Yamaha moxf, korg Krome or Roland Fa 06 when you are looking for a workstation.

Fran thanx for the assessment,...
I figured as much. Good try by Casio maybe next time? But I bet they still sell a ton of these to hobbiests who play at home. Althou an interesting design its Not a pro category at all.

Owners are not complaining about the performance of the key action.

A post from Facebook : I've found the non-weighted Casio keys to be notoriously inconsistent. Sometimes you get one that's quiet...sometimes it's noisy. The culprit is inconsistent application of the grease they use to lubricate the keys. That grease keeps the plastic pieces from clicking when they, inevitably, touch. You see, the entire key mechanism has no springs, and the keys are manufactured in strips (rather than individually). The only thing keeping keys in place are plastic slots they fit into. This is very different from the standard Fatar keyboard that keeps each key individually placed with a spring and, often, felt. Casio's keys are cheap to manufacture and, consequently, are one of the things that keep their costs down....which is entirely appropriate for their consumer-grade keyboards but, as you point out, NOT the greatest decision for their pro gear.

I own a ctk 7200 and owned a xw p1 and find the keys on both really good. Not noisy at all. It feel better then the korg pa 600 I also owned. Maby this user had a faulty one

Well, that surfaced some time after my initial remark... And so far is the only complaint... But definately not good...

Keep in mind that Casio's 88 key action is of a very different kind and liked by many many pro players... I hoped this keybed would be of the same quallity.... Only time will tell

If it was in this thread I must have missed it; my apologies. If it was in another thread then I say "non-sequitur".

yes it was posted only 8 posts back..

I wonder if I'm not seeing every post for some reason. I honestly don't see that one. Can you provide a post number?

#421941 - June 02, 2016 09:55 PM Re: Overload of HQ Casio MZ-x tutorial vids [Re: AlenK]

You guys are funny. But If you're not trying to be funny I hope you see the mistake you made there.

To save anyone from further embarrassing themselves the video was actually posted by Bachus in the "The (multi)pads on the Casio Mz-x500" thread here. So it wasn't in this thread at all. It was fair for Bachus to point out that it had been posted before (although he neglected to say that it was HE who posted it and that it was in another thread) but I feel no need to apologize for posting it again here since others may have missed it there as I did.

In any case to get back to discussion it seems clear that Casio is not aiming these arrangers primarily at "typical" arranger players, at least not ones in the US (the rest of the world is a big market). So if you're one of those players and you're not interested they're probably not too upset about it.

You really dont need to appologize for double posting.... It happens to all of us.. I just pointed out it was allready posted and discussed on these boards, thats all, it wasnt meant to be criticisme on your post... It was more meant to give some extra information about this video..