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Casio DG-20 Digital MIDI Guitar

16 January, 2008 - 12:00 — matt

In the 80's a lot of strange things were thought up, not the least of which was the Casio Digital Guitar.

The Casio DG-20 is a stringed guitar, but every time you play those strings, corresponding MIDI data is sent to the onboard computer, which plays the sounds of whichever instrument you've selected! Naturally the sounds are not mind-blowingly awesome, but some are actually pretty usable. You can either play the DG-20 as a standalone guitar via its built-in speakers, or for better quality sound you can plug it into your stereo.

Add to this the fact that it can output MIDI to whatever synths/VSTs you want, and its a pretty fun wee addition to any home studio!


I first actually heard about this piece of strange 80's musical gadgetry in an episode of The Flight of the Conchords! Around 25 years after it was released by Casio. The Conchords say that they bought their Casio DG-20 from a pawn shop in the future.


If anyone actually owns a Casio DG-20, let me know - I'd love to hear some first hand accounts of what it's like to use!

Comments

19 January, 2008 - 16:05 — Sonya
Sonya's picture

That second video is so funny! What a dork!

19 January, 2008 - 17:29 — matt
matt's picture

Yeah Sonya, those Conchords are classic! I posted a few of my favorite Conchords songs (that they performed through out their TV series...)

http://www.maketunes.com/forums/flight-of-the-conchords

20 January, 2008 - 05:59 — ed
ed's picture

RoFL!! Fast Forward Selecta!!!! Hilarious never heard of the conchchords reminded me of bo selecta

A Freind of mine used to have one of theese i have to say it was awful the sound was pants and most of all it had no pitch bend . was like playing with a childs toy really. no substitute to a real guitar anyway .

My Showcase

20 January, 2008 - 08:01 — Sonya
Sonya's picture

Well I didn't know about them til now. I am heading on over to the other forum. Check out some more, cause that is funny shite.

20 January, 2008 - 10:45 — matt
matt's picture

Ed - hehe yup the lack of pitchbend etc, and the tinny sounds are a slight downside ;) I guess it was mainly seeing what Bret from the Conchords managed to do with it in their live act that interested me in it. Somehow it became a funky component of their stage presence lol (they do play real guitars/bass as well, not just god awful 80s plastic guitars!!)

20 January, 2008 - 10:47 — matt
matt's picture

Sonya - you should definately check out the whole tv series... there are like 12 episodes I think which have all found their way onto the net naturally, and they're also making a second series due to the popularity of it

21 January, 2008 - 03:55 — Ya Bama Boy
Ya Bama Boy's picture

HOW'S IT GO hey matt i actually found one of these things on ebay for about 109.00 yeah im def feelin the vibe, makes me want to dust off my red zipper jacket and moonwalk..lmao

21 January, 2008 - 10:35 — matt
matt's picture

Hey Ya Bama Boy - Haha thats about right huh! Cutting edge 25 year old technology ;)

21 March, 2008 - 02:15 — Frank Marquis
Frank Marquis's picture

o my god...that second video was hillarious....at first i was thinking it would be kinda cool to have one of those.....whoops...lol...:P

21 March, 2008 - 11:39 — matt
matt's picture

Yeah Frank - theres a lot of that totally off the wall music focused comedy in Flight of the Conchords... you should check it out! Dam funny, they're making a second season at the moment...

21 March, 2008 - 12:57 — Frank Marquis
Frank Marquis's picture

yea man....i'll have to check out and share it with others to get a good laugh

22 March, 2008 - 11:15 — Gopal
Gopal's picture

I've been looking for one of these for ages. If you know anyone that has one that works I'll have it in a heartbeat. Guitar to midi conversion would make the world of difference to my music as I've played guitar for around 15 years but can't play keys to save myself.
www.myspace.com/bangermanstudio

22 March, 2008 - 12:56 — matt
matt's picture

Yeah Gopal, never seen them in NZ - but I did find that one was sold on trade me on the 24 april 2007. So they must turn up every so often :P

They pop up on ebay reasonably often too, though with the shipping it could get a little pricey of course.