Your new CASIO SK-10 is a state-of-the-art musical instrument which uses the latest digital technology to make its operation as simple as possible. In addition to preset keyboard tones and rhythms, the SK-10 lets you "sample" (digitally record) sounds and integrate them as keyboard voices. A unique new sampling repeat function lets you put sampled sounds into any of the 16 preset patterns at random. The SK-10 also features advanced functions such as a memory function that lets you record your own melodies, and a Disney-tune demonstration mode.
-from CASIO SK10 Electronic Musical Instrument Operation Manual
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The CASIO SK10 is a hard machine to peg. Initially marketed as a low-end device (markedly downgraded from the earlier CASIO SK1), the advance in music technology has rendered this already simple keyboard obsolete to the point of novelty. Consumer reviews are rife with personal narratives of samba successes-
Just picked up an SK10 from Goodwill yesterday for $7[US]. What a steal. Came home from work last night and wrote a song with the rocking Samba beat and the great Vibraphone voice.
André Phillips [navyhornet@hotmail.com] 08/11/2005 12:59
frustrating yet appetizing technical malfunction-
Unfortunately it stopped working five years ago, before I had full appreciation for its capabilities. It's really a groovy little thing. I just plugged it in again. It started smoking and smelling like peanut butter. But I don't think I ever figured out the organ.
Molly Iams [Nepenthe444@hotmail.com] 08/02/2004 11:45
and slightly less appetizing childhood nostalgia-
i had one of these when I was 7 and threw up all over it one night shortly after i got it. There are still to this day orange chunks stuck between the keys.
Will [williamberman@gmail.com] 12/18/2007 05:20
-consumer reports selected from http://www.casiosk1.com/sk10.cfm where they are listed in full and available for further comment if you'd like to share your own SK10 experience.
although, its simple interface, cheap construction, impossibly minute keys afford virtually zero expressive playing potential, innovative, electronically inclined musicians like this one have customized and extended the SK-10 through manipulation of its internal circuitry.
"The circuit bending process has been developed largely by individuals experimenting with second-hand electronics in a DIY fashion, either with inexpensive keyboards or drum machines, or with electronic children's toys not associated with musical production. Aesthetic value, immediate usability and highly randomized results are often factors in the process of successfully bending electronics."
-wikipedia entry on circuit bending
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incredible, noisy, fierce, furby-filled footage demonstrating the auspicious history, culture, and aesthetic of circuit bending.
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in short...
the audience- circuit benders, DIY musicians, noise musicians, researchers for new interfaces for musical instruments (NIME)
this audience likely had some incarnation of this keyboard or toy electronic musical instrument at some point in their childhood and repurposed it for a new form of musical expression.
the casio sk-10 is unique to some circuit bent instruments in that it already has an intended musical interface and output which can either be coopted or completely bypassed in creating custom instruments.
the circuit bending aesthetic appropriates 'ironic,' vestige artifacts of youth and incorporates them into their musical endeavors. the pre-programmed disney tracks are a special boon in this regard.
a circuit bender would particularly appreciate the unique challenge the SK-10 provides in that it does not include a 1/4" output- a required feature for amplification/effects processing. circuit bent SK-10's often feature creative solutions to this particular design factor.
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