Released by Casio in 1988, the VZ-1 was one of the first multitimbral synths - 16 voices and 8 parts could be played at once. It's five octave keyboard featured velocity and aftertouch and even had a delay effect included. The VZ-1 utilizing the IPD tone generation (a type of Phase Distortion synthesis) great for producing synth basses, leads and metalic type sounds. A single voice is made with 8 oscillators, freely patched like a modular synthesizer, using Mix, Ring Modulation and Phase Distortion. Casio also released the VZ-1 as the rackmount version VZ-10m and also a scaled down version VZ-8m.

Programming the VZ's from the front panel was a real challenge due to the tiny LED display, however if you connected your VZ with your computer your could purchase some of the early editing software that was just staring to become available. I bought a copy of Dr. T's (remember them?) "X-OR" which was the first multi device editor and librarian for the Macintosh, and it made creating patches for the VZ's a whole lot easier. X-OR went on to become MOTU's "Unisyn" which we are still using to create sounds for synthesizers.

Casio VZ-10m Sound Module

Casio VZ-8m Sound Module

Our Casio VZ series patches are available as system exclusive or standard midi files. Sorry, but we no longer offer the sounds on the RAM cartridges as they were discontinued many years ago. Our sounds will also get you back in business if your VZ-1 synths battery has died and you lost all the sounds in the memory. If your computer has a midi interface or sound card connected to the USB port, you can use that to load in the sounds. We provide the software along with your order that will load in the sounds for you. Midi interfaces are an inexpensive alternative to purchasing VZ RAM cards and we sell them starting at under $100.