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Keanu Reeves and Tony Hawk have been indulging in a bit of a mutual love-in, as well as talking about their favourite music.

Reeves was appearing in the skate icon’s Hawk Vs Wolf podcast and conversation touched upon music and video games. Hawk’s Pro Skater soundtrack turns 25 this year and the series played a not insignificant role in the wave of interest in nu-metal, skate punk and related genres in the early 2000s.

“Music was just a huge part of skating, especially in the formative years of the ‘70s and ‘80s,” Hawk said. “So, when I got to do a game, I wanted to represent the culture, including music. So, I just was throwing bands in that I listened to growing up. They were easy to get.”

“So, that was my contribution to the game in terms of the old-school music,” he continued. “Then, they (the games company) had their own pretty robust music department to get newer bands at the time, the stuff that people associate with [the games] like Goldfinger, Powerman 5000, Fu Manchu, stuff like that.”

Interestingly but, when asked about his all-time favourite band, Hawk namechecked politicised UK post-punkers Gang Of Four, not a group you’d ever link to skate culture in any shape or form. He also mentioned The Clash as “the ultimate favourite.”

Also in on the interview were Reeves’ fellow Dogstar members. Drummer Robert Mailhouse asked if he’d ever skate without listening to music. Hawk replied that music was a constant presence in skateparks back in the day: “They were mostly playing K-Rock [over the intercom of the skate parks],” he explained. “K-Rock was that sound. Rodney on the ROQ, that was one of the first vinyl I ever bought.”

The episode also contained much talk comparing the respective lives of a working rock band with that of a pro skater.

Dogstar originally formed in the early ’90s and released two albums – Our Little Visionary and Happy Endings in 1996 and 2000 respectively. For years they were assumed to have been little more than a footnote in Reeves’ more renowned career in Hollywood. But then post Covid the band reconvened, releasing their first album in 23 years last October – Somewhere Between The Power Lines and The Palm Trees. They recently lined up an extensive US tour for August and September.

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Analoguesque Sound Designs has released a free sound library, Analoguesque Random Experiments, for the ASM Hydrasynth.

What they say about it:

“The Hydrasynth randomization can reel in the randomness in a pleasantly controlled manner, depending on the method chosen, and this produces more inspiring musical results. The most impressive feature is the use of existing presets as a seed for the randomization, which generates patches based on those already in the synth. This greatly increases the chance of producing a musically playable patch without falling foul of simply generating similar-sounding patches over and over.

Traditional random patch generators often (but not always) produce un-musical results, or require extensive editing to get them back to reality. Happy accidents occur but the results can often be unplayable. The Hydrasynth randomization allows more control to produce patches that are often playable “out of the box”, or that only require minimal editing to get them going.

The 128 patches in this bank are all generated using this technique, with only minimal editing in some cases to bring the sound in-line.”

Analoguesque Random Experiments is available now as a free download.

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Casio launches CT-S1-76 , a compact, clean aesthetics, freedom to enjoy superb acoustics and refined tones.

Released in 2021, Casio’s 61-note Casiotone CT-S1 was immediately recognised as one of the best keyboards for beginners, and it remains so today. Rather than release a direct successor, then, Casio has launched a sister product, the 76-note CT-S1-76.

The obvious benefit here is that the greater number of keys gives you scope to play a wider repertoire of pieces, but that’s not the only advantage that the CT-S1-76 has over its smaller sibling. There’s also a more powerful dual 6.5W speaker system – the CT-S1 has a dual 2.5W setup – that includes Casio’s Horizontal Bass-Reflex System. This is said to improve the sound of the lower end frequencies.

Enhanced Bluetooth functionality, meanwhile, means that the CT-S1-76’s functionality can be controlled via the Casio Music Space app. This could actually be pretty useful; the number of controls on the keyboard itself has been kept to a minimum, so app control means that you won’t need to worry about making multiple button/key presses when you want to access the deeper functionality. This isn’t an option on the CT-S1.

Where the two keyboards do share common ground is in their soundset, which is powered by Casio’s AiX Sound Source technology. You get the expected acoustic/electric piano and organ tones, plus a selection of ‘advanced’ tones that replicate vintage instruments, and some classics from the Casio archives. There are 61 sounds in total.

Though the word ‘Casiotone’ typically summons up images of compact keyboards, so the CT-S1-76 feels like it slightly goes against the grain. However, despite its extended range of keys, it remains relatively svelte and light, measuring just 1,140mm long and 258mm deep. The weight has been kept down to 5.3kg, which Casio says makes this the lightest 76-note keyboard with built-in speakers that you can buy.

The CT-S1-76 is price at just £349. The CT-S1-76 is available in black and white colour options, and can be powered by the supplied AC adapter or eight AA batteries. You even get a stand for your sheet music, tablet or smartphone.

Find out more on the Casio website.

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