How To Make A Toy Keyboard Sound Like An Orchestra
In this video, Budapest-based synthesist vekoni demonstrates why you should be limited by your gear – creating an ambient orchestral composition using just a 40 year-old Casio SA-2 keyboard and an iPhone running some effects plugins.
The performance makes creative use of effects to radically transform the SA-2 sound, using Quinta Pitch Machine to transpose the original sound, Rymdigare to create movement, Weeping Wall to create loops and more.
Here’s what vekoni shared about the technical details:
The SA-2 has a violin and piano sound that works surprisingly well as an orchestral base — the rest is just finding the right effects to build on top of it.
Nembrini’s Quinta Pitch Machine sits first in the AUM chain but starts disengaged. As the piece progresses I switch between a low pitch setting for a fuller bass sound and a high pitch setting for melodic moments — both assigned to buttons on the Mvave Chocolate MIDI controller. Rymdigare follows – part reverb, part drone machine, with swelling tails and internal feedback that adds a lot of movement to the signal. Then Weeping Wall in macro loop mode — loops up to 60 seconds that slowly fade away, stacking layers that dissolve before they outstay their welcome. Eventide Blackhole at the end for the final wash of space.
Signal chain:
→ Casio SA-2 (modded with an output jack)
→ 3.5mm TS to 6.35mm cable
→ IK Multimedia iRig USB audio interface
→ iPhone — AUM as host
Inside AUM (in order):
- Nembrini Quinta Pitch Machine (2 nodes set up to low and high pitch)
- Rymdigare
- Weeping Wall
- Eventide Blackhole Reverb
Watch the video and share your thoughts in the comments!
