Casio MT-45

This is one of the older Casio MTs, probably from 1981, with few sounds and rhythms (8+8) like all mid-size-key casios of the era. Despite this fact , there is vibrato and sustain, and an awesome retro-sounding appregiator (lacking in most MTs) and a choice of two bass sounds in the auto-accompaniament.

Also, like warranty-void AKA tablehooters has extensively explained, the chord section is very versatile and fast, accepting non-chords too, something non-existent or rare in modern keyboards/arrangers.

Another curiocity is that it is a 4 octave / mid size keys, but one octave is permanently dedicated to either bass / chord / accompaniament. There's also a 'memory' switch, another old school trait enabling to hold or not hold the chord currently playing. (old school bontempis have the same switch)

The machine architecture is very friendly to circuit bending / tampering / modifying.

Like most casio of the era it's got its output jack as well as tuning knob and dc adapter in.

UTILIZATION

Like all old casios of the era, all functions are easy and displayed on the panel

in this point of view those old "toy" keyboards in all their limited list of functions, they are very practical to use and get used to.

OVERALL OPINION

Most of its sound is chessy and analogue sounding, drums sounds are analogue and the filters muffling the tone sounds are also analogue. It sounds quite unique and retro for lovers of this kind of thing. The tones sound cheesier and even less realistic than later MTs, but the chord section in all its cheasiness has that appeal that some like in those old casios.

I also own casio mt-52 and casio mt-800 all unique in their own way and nice sounding IMO for retro lovers. I have also made circuit bends for those.

But I loved the mt-45 most in that way, so much in fact that I bought a second one build into a wooden case this time a bigger project, all inspired by the mt-45 'open architecture' to circuit bending.

In a way the sounds are quite relevant to chip tunes styles and 8-bit , 'commodore' music ... the appregiator is awesome!

The Casio MT-45 is a mini keyboard that is on the older side. I don’t know exactly when these were made, but it’s definitely got sort of an 80’s vibe to it in both sound and look. The keyboard is all mini sized keys, spanning a total of four octaves. I don’t know off the top of my head what the connections are for it, as I’ve only used the built in speakers for sounding it.



UTILIZATION

It only takes a few minutes to figure out how to use with Casio MT-45. For starters, you’ve got your basic tone section that gives you eight different preset sounds to choose from, including emulations of pianos, harp, clarinet, accordion, pipe organ, organ, and violin. In then also has effects for vibrato and sustain, and a full on rhythm section. The rhythm section gives you eight different patterns to choose from, as well as independent control over the tempo and accompanying volume. It also has a ‘fill in’ button for adding fills when you want. Lastly, there’s a section called ‘chord’ for setting the arpeggio and automatic bass. I haven’t seen a manual for the MT-45.


OVERALL OPINION

While certainly more than cheesy, I actually really like the sounds that the Casio MT-45 has. Of course it’s all in it’s own quirky way, but you can built your own little song all right here. It’s a lot of fun to lay down and beat and use the bass and arpeggio to beef up whatever you’re playing on top of it. I’ve yet to incorporate this in any song I’ve seriously worked on, but we have one of these at the studio I work at so I’ve been messing with it for a bit now and sooner or later will probably try to do something real with it. If you like cheap and cheesy vintage ‘toy’ keyboards, you’ll love the Casio MT-45. I don’t know much at all about their availability or pricing or anything like that, but will say that it’s one of the coolest keyboards of it’s kind that I’ve used. More and more people are using old keyboards like this one, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it was somewhat sought after. If you come across one, definitely don’t pass it off as a total cheese ball (even though it kind of is), as I think there’s a lot of cool things that can be done with it…