Minor7thb9 if it has midi capabilities, it can basically be used with any digital sound that you can find or make on your computer. So the possibilities are literally endless
@@houdoyoudo6714 Ichikas style is more on the Math metal side which sounds good in this guitar hehehe so guitarist who are used to playing rock or metal wouldnt sound great in this soo guitar still have effects on this hehehehe sorry for my grammar
As a certified synth nut I was writhing with frustration at how you never mentioned the midi capability of this awesome piece of kit. Use the midi out to control any midi controllable sound engine. You know that Roland SH-01a you featured in that one video? Yeah you can use it on that.
Yeah but it's not practical. It's a clunky interface when you could just be using a keyboard considering the the guitar shape doesn't actually add anything acoustically. At the end of the day it's the Roland that's great, the guitar is just a wonky guitar shaped interface that doesn't really feel like a guitar to play.
@@SeekerLancer if someone’s main instrument is guitar then they’re usually going to be much more capable of expressing themselves on a guitar than anything else. I think that’s the use case that makes this a dope midi option. Of course you can translate it on to a keyboard, but this looks more fun lol
@@gilbert4394 Exactly, I bought a used DG-20 in the early 90s because I was a decent enough guitarist who became more interested in producing Electronic music, but I sucked at the piano. Apart from the Cmaj/Am scale, basic triads, min7th chords, etc, I had very little experience actually playing the keyboard. For example, at the time, If I'd wanted to record a reasonably complex four-bar fingerstyle chord progression and then harmonize it in fourths, translating those extremely guitar-orientated ideas from my brain into the right keyboard parts, then playing and recording it well enough into Cubase using only the piano roll or Midi keyboard would've taken absolutely ages! the slowness/ lack of immediacy would've put a huge dampener on the situation and my creativity.
I think the use case for this kind of thing is to make a synth "strum" if that makes sense. Like, what if you want to double a rhythm guitar part with a synth? There's also the case where certain goofy funk chords might be really wonky to play on a keyboard, especially if you're adding different articulations and trills to them. Not saying this thing is practical, just saying, I can see how this would give you a new color in your box of crayons
I was looking into em for a bit and a guy at work said he knew a guy who owned one, so he brought him to me one day and he basically told me it's not a guitar. You'll be able to play it, but it's not a fuckin guitar. Lol.
That really isn't a guitar at all though, a keytar's literally just a keyboard but more portable. This is a synth where the input is close to a real guitar to be considered a guitar of sorts. Last time I checked a keytar doesn't have strings.
I've had one of these for 30+ years. It is an interesting device and quite useful for recording backing tracks etc. Considering the era in which it was made, it's fairly miraculous.
Yeah it featured a relatively simple rubber membrain for sensing the fret position and sting sensors which might have been taken from a WWII 'mine' trigger. Sensors which though mecanically based, was obviously very effective, as oppose to the pizeo strain sensors favoured now a days. I'd love to see this resurected without the pity sound module as a stright forward midi Bass guitar controller.
Based on the design of the whole contraption, Im guessing the designers came from the future and the only remnant of the Mandolin is a neo cyberpunk mandolin which sounds like that.
@@latenightthinker4737 No reason, just think this would be a lot of fun to work with. I haven't bothered selling any of my games, or even putting them up for download, I mostly just do it because I find it to be an entertaining hobby that may some day become a career, but for now, the entertainment of working on them is all I want.
Dmdeal sub’d for the updates. I do voices, I’d gladly offer you some free work for a project or two. I also share a love for video games so it’d be a lot of fun to help you out.
Casio 100% need to bring another one out that allows you to input midi for recording. With the quality of midi instruments and samples today and the amount of people that play the guitar, it seems like a no-brainer.
The great thing about this , besides the midi din port, was the fact that it had 'strings' instead of buttons on the 'frets'. I'm told you can replace those black plastic string with conventional nylon B strings, which in my opinon would make it look more funky. Thick fishing line should work too, especially the day-glow kind ;)
@@Soup-Doup the Jammy G sounds too acoustic for being a "digital" guitar and it looks like you have to plug it into software or a keyboard to get a sound
@@jadivods keytar vs synthtar difference (i'm aware that synth is just the name of the sound produced and not a proper differentiator between keys and strings but thats what i like to call it)
Boss: Hey how's the mandolin sound going? Worker: Great! Boss: Is that what a mandolin sounds like? I've never heard one. Worker: Neither have I... Boss: Eh send it.
1:46 6:57 This comment is just for future reference when my dumb self comes back to watch this video again in 5 months edit: genuinely shocked to see how many likes this got. i put these timestamps on a bunch of videos with cool little musical bits in them to come back and listen to later, so seeing one get nearly a thousand likes is pretty wild. it's been 2 years now and i still come back and listen to the timestamps every couple months, so it's nice to see others appreciate it as much as i do :)
Personally, I think this is great. It's a shame that it has been abandoned rather than being updated to improve the sound wave-forms, deal with the over-sensitive fingerboard and overly basic MIDI interface & so on. Because of the nature of the instrument, it could have been expanded to provide harmonics such that the instrument could duplicate a sitar; increase sustain such that it replicated instruments like a Rickenbacker 6/12-string guitar. The instrument sounds could have been actual samples rather than purely digital, the strings could have extended the full length allowing the player to "bend" notes and, though with low tension, they could have been metal allowing the use of an actual capo, and even a slide. With the low tension strings relieving the issues of pressing down high tension wires (causing most beginners to quickly give up) and the fingerboard switches ensuring precise notes, the frets could be replaced with fret markers. There are a ton of ideas that could expand this concept: The technology could have been adapted to other instruments like a violin or cello. Perhaps, considering that there are now guitars that digitally modify the sound for actual string, someone will revive this instrument at some point. Some concepts are bad to begin with. But, this is one that should have been modified and improved upon rather than abandoned.
You can actually do a lot of interesting things with this device he didn't mention. One is that it has infinite sustain on some of the sounds-including the jazz organ he used briefly. Also it has a midi out and can be used to trigger any midi keyboard or even a sampler-making the sound base pretty broad and way better than the tones produced by the thing itself. I've gotten lots of use out of mine, even on stage...
It's because technology is the Achilles' Heel of most guitarrist. I play several instruments and performing on guitar is one of the hardest for me, but the easiest to set up. On the opposite side; sound designing for keyboard/synth is very hard and the set up for live vs studio can be very different and convoluted, but the amount of creative control and granularity over my sound is overwhelming!
I think a bass version would be really cool getting a sub bass sound with infinite sustain while being able to play live and not have to learn it on a keyboard
I dont have a DG-20, but I do have an old used Yamaha EZ-AG (similar concept), and stock, it has 8 out of its 20 different sounds as bass guitars. So the Casio DG-20 might well be capable of adding bass to it, if it doesnt come with bass as a stock sound already. The EZ-AG incidentally is pretty cheap and also comes with a grand piano sound. And from what I've read, you can change the sounds out with a computer.
@@notheaveragejoe6403 imagine trying to run a system on youtube to earn royalties for people playing your game, as if you weren’t making enough money already selling them for over $60 per copy and selling overpriced consoles as well. (just shitting on Nintendo like you said to, but they are pretty cool sometimes)
I used to have one in the late eighties. He forgot to say that it has a MIDI OUT and could be put in mono or poly. I used in a series of gigs, where I played my fender guitar, but in two or three songs I had to play bass or other instruments, using the midi out, and my Roland D-110... when you learned how to play it without glitches, it could be very useful, especially if, as it was my case, it was not your main and only instrument...
How did you managed to play yours without glitches? I currently tried to use it to record in Ableton but it only catched some of the notes played. I read in some thread that it has to do with the "note off" command the guitar is not sending. Would appreciate any tip to make it work :)
The really cool thing you could do with the DG-20 was flip the switch for solo notes. That setting limited the synth to only producing single notes when triggered. Then strum and chord. You'd get this random storm of rhythmic random notes in key, impossible to duplicate easily with any other instrument. Sorry I sold mine or lost it in the sea of time.
Pfffft..... That guitar left for a pack of smokes when the cybertruck baby was born.... never came back. Spent a few years living in a car, then a shelf... now this Asian dude owns him.... Meanwhile, at night, every cybertruck sheds a tear..... daddy. Baaaahhhhh hahahahahahahaha
Dwight Keller-Williams they just don’t sound good for the purpose they seem to be made, if u put a preset named distorted guitar than make it sound like it. Otherwise don’t name it distorted guitar because that doesn’t sound close enough...
For those who didn't get it: This was in fact a coveted instrument THIRTY THREE YEARS AGO. Pretty good for the time, and capable of serious business with its midi out port. Mine still works.
Came to see the samurai. I just don't like the bias on some reviews, sometimes shitty old gear is portrayed as classic vintage treasure, sometimes as "plastic freakshow", according to the hype.
You spend years studying something that is mostly pshysical and all of a sudden it goes digital. It not only messing with how the thing feels but also how it sounds. This is layers of fuckery. Like how you could have someone go from a typewriter to a phone.
Boy, you have missed the *MAIN* reason to own this guitar...and that is the fact that it is a MIDI Controller! If you just want the sounds from this, buy a DG-10, which is just a guitar synth. But the DG-20, has MIDI out, and you can use it to control synths with MIDI in, or plug into your DAW. And back when it came out, most other guitar-like MIDI controllers went for thousands of dollars, while the DG-20 was, I think $599. You should do a followup video exploring the MIDI aspect of the DG-20!!
Oh, that's much more useful. That's why I have my 50 dollar Yamaha keyboard. I can plug it into my PC and have it play through several hundred bucks worth of VSTs via MIDI cable.
I actually have one of these. Bought it from a mad neighbour who lived near me when I was 15 or so. Fun fact, I once played a solo gig in Limerick (Ireland) where I used this bad boy to play the Chocobo theme from the Final Fantasy series.
"I spent 300$ on this and now I sound like a Nintendo Wii Menu" Soooo... where's the bad side of that This is actually amazing for composing the soundtracks or Indie games, tho. Love it!
That "someone somewhere on a Sunday morning" was me in Nairobi, from 1989 onward. That JAZZ ORGAN setting best worked for me with my YAMAHA 100watt bass amp. I would use a phase shifter where I felt necessary. The setting I loved best was STRINGS, which I would pass through a flanger, and if an extra amp was available I would use the MIDI OUT into my YAMAHA DX 30's STRINGS setting. By now you must have guessed that I was trying to imitate the HAMMOND B3 sound that I grew up listening to in the 50s and 60s (not to much effect though, in my own opinion) I still own it.
I had one of these in the 80's and I'm sorry we parted ways. The internal sounds are toy-ish, but it has midi out, so the midi world is your oyster (except if I recall correctly it only did note-on, note-off, no velocity). I would like to try it out again as a compositional tool, hooking it into a DAW as I find it easier to think on a guitar vs a piano. In the 80's that wasn't really practical. I was using Cubase on AtariST and the software was kinda clunky to use, but maybe now with easier and more powerful software, it wouldn't be such a chore to filter out all those inevitable unwanted notes. I think it must have been pretty solidly built as there are still a few around. Considering its low price, I think it deserves some love.
Stephen Halpin There is actually a product you can buy that attaches your guitar and sends midi over usb based on what it detects. I haven’t used it but from what i’ve seen it works pretty well.
I've had my Casio DG20 for about 4 years now. Picked it up for $80 at a pawn shop because i thought I was pretty neat. Played around with it for about a week or two and decided it's a better conversation piece or decoration than an instrument. Haven't been able to let go of it since, it's just got a really radical charisma.
Now to make a shirt of himself wearing a shirt of himself wearing a shirt of himself wearing a shirt of himself wearing a shirt of himself. All playing different guitars, of course
fun fact: my schools guitar teacher had one of these and he had no idea how he got it. anyways i love looking at guitars and stuff and one day i found that in the very back of the closet. one thing led to another and he let me take it home as mine. it’s pretty cool actually and with some daw effects you can actually use it in songs
this "guitar" is kinda funny, but in my opinion it would improve ALOT if the synth inside was updated to modern times... i bet you it sounds way better with a working synth than with a 30-40 year old one
It doesn't seem like that'd be too hard to accomplish, since it's got MIDI output. Just plug it into your PC, load up a DAW, and get your modern synths up and running.
@Better Than The Beatles! you are right, the synths werent nessecarily bad, but you can bet that the synth in that guitar isnt a roland or korg or yamaha, its something id think is maximum middle class. and upgrading the hardware while updating the software wouldnt hurt. i doubt it will ever be an awesome piece of instrument but at least it could be way better than it acutally is atm.
I agree. With some upgraded hardware and software that would sound amazing. I've seen a modern version somewhere. I dont know if it was a one off or for consumer. It had digital touchpad instead of strings.
For the two people that didn't understand the "dog sounds" thing (and the next that may come): it was a joke referencing the fact that Casio keyboard used to come with some weird sounds, like dog barks, sirens, car horns, etc. It was a bit of a joke to play any normal song with one of these effects (at least for me and everyone I ever knew that had one of these). Since this guitar is made by Casio, it must contain the same weird effects.
@@lucasduque8289 The MIDI standard has a relatively large section of silly effects and sounds, including helicopter, gun sounds, and animal sounds. Maybe Casio came up with the original idea?
It's got MIDI out. That's quite an important thing to fail to mention. Basically it's what ever instrument or multi instrument or sample you want it to be. In effect it's a stringed MIDI controller. In fact, just putting it direct through a guitar amp or distortion and reverb makes the 80s Nintendo sound quite epic. Pretty cool in other words.
I have the DG-1 which I believe was the first version, which looked sort of like a cartoon broom, which had no transpose, no MIDI, but you could fine-tune it via a trim pot in the back with a jewler's screwdriver. I Stil have it and use it on recordings periodically though a noise gate is needed. I also had a DG-10 back in high school, which was the budget version of the one you're using. No drum pads, no MIDI, fine tuning was via a small pot on the bottom where the headphones plug in, and the pickguard was a metallic medium blue color instead of black. The best one of these ever sounded to me was running it through my Bugera halfstack at rehearsal and writing a Ballad with it right there with the rest of the band something like 10 years ago. Something I probably should explore again.
"I spent 300 dollars on this and now I sound like a Nintendo Wii menu" hey why did you say this like it's a bad thing?
because you're gay
Stonks
Dont listen to them i would love that too
I would love to have a guitar that sounds like that
yeha man, nintendo wii games has some dope ass music
If you're wondering why this thing exits, you're severely underestimating how much cocaine was done in the 80s.
Allagí yes
Allagí don’t forget the heroine too
"Uncle Diaz, how many drugs existed in the 80s?"
Yes, ｃｏｃｋｓｕｃｋａ！
This, this is the best comment I read in a while.
Let’s not forget Snorkeling on top of a DELOREAN as a matter of a fact. lol 😂
This could be genuinely useful when writing a retro game soundtrack
Nahhh too expensive downloading an app is better
Exactly what I was thinking
I have a DG-20 and I’m currently writing a soundtrack for a friends indie game
Minor7thb9 if it has midi capabilities, it can basically be used with any digital sound that you can find or make on your computer. So the possibilities are literally endless
They are if you k ow guitar, and have the midi version. I accidentally got the dg-10 and not the dg-20 with midi.
Ichika Nito recently played a song with this thing and it’s actually amazing
Yea, it's all back to the user not the tools.
that guy could play with his hoo ha and it would still sound great.
@@houdoyoudo6714 Ichikas style is more on the Math metal side which sounds good in this guitar hehehe so guitarist who are used to playing rock or metal wouldnt sound great in this
soo guitar still have effects on this hehehehe
sorry for my grammar
he played a one minute snippet and already exhausted 90% of the possibilities of this thing. it's just a guitar-shaped keyboard
he has two videos, and they're both awesome!
"I've got the acoustic guitar setting selected..." - Proceeds to generate the most digital sound I have ever heard in my life.
Ikr
It's how acoustic sounds in an 8-bit game, I guess.
It also from the 80s 😂
It sounds like an early 90s computer game tbh
hey, it's trying it's best ok? :(
Incredible, I never seen anything like that in my life, a guy with his own face in his t-shirt
do you know who Morrissey is?
You haven't lived
Hilarious. Self deprecating.
@@protopaes that's not Morrissey. perhaps you might wanna google a photo of him
he should wear the tshirt on the tshirt
Looks like a SEGA console
Sounds like a SEGA console
...It's a SEGA console
Ahmet Ibrahim SEGAAAAAAAAAAA!
And Nintendo had the power glove...
It's SEGA"s port of Guitar Hero :D
Sorry, Sega doesn't sound this nice.
And Cue the SONIC THE HEDGEHOG GAME MUSIC.
As a certified synth nut I was writhing with frustration at how you never mentioned the midi capability of this awesome piece of kit. Use the midi out to control any midi controllable sound engine. You know that Roland SH-01a you featured in that one video? Yeah you can use it on that.
Yeah but it's not practical. It's a clunky interface when you could just be using a keyboard considering the the guitar shape doesn't actually add anything acoustically. At the end of the day it's the Roland that's great, the guitar is just a wonky guitar shaped interface that doesn't really feel like a guitar to play.
@@SeekerLancer if someone’s main instrument is guitar then they’re usually going to be much more capable of expressing themselves on a guitar than anything else. I think that’s the use case that makes this a dope midi option. Of course you can translate it on to a keyboard, but this looks more fun lol
@@gilbert4394 Exactly, I bought a used DG-20 in the early 90s because I was a decent enough guitarist who became more interested in producing Electronic music, but I sucked at the piano. Apart from the Cmaj/Am scale, basic triads, min7th chords, etc, I had very little experience actually playing the keyboard. For example, at the time, If I'd wanted to record a reasonably complex four-bar fingerstyle chord progression and then harmonize it in fourths, translating those extremely guitar-orientated ideas from my brain into the right keyboard parts, then playing and recording it well enough into Cubase using only the piano roll or Midi keyboard would've taken absolutely ages! the slowness/ lack of immediacy would've put a huge dampener on the situation and my creativity.
I think the use case for this kind of thing is to make a synth "strum" if that makes sense. Like, what if you want to double a rhythm guitar part with a synth? There's also the case where certain goofy funk chords might be really wonky to play on a keyboard, especially if you're adding different articulations and trills to them. Not saying this thing is practical, just saying, I can see how this would give you a new color in your box of crayons
This thing kills blues purists on sight
so worth the 300 dollars i guess
@@angelsphere The self fulfulling prophecy, we are all bluesmen deep down
I like Nintendo
good
I play the blues and I dig it
This thing was genuinely made 30 years ahead of its time; it's too bad.
Nah this thing will never have it's time, and rightfully so.
50 years!~
Agreed
I was looking into em for a bit and a guy at work said he knew a guy who owned one, so he brought him to me one day and he basically told me it's not a guitar. You'll be able to play it, but it's not a fuckin guitar. Lol.
It was made in exactly the time it should have been made
"What would happen if a cheap keyboard had a child with a guitar?"
A... keytar? Those exist.
Facts.
But keytar is actually cool, so keytar = good keyboard + guitar
Yeah this thing is more like a Guiboard
That really isn't a guitar at all though, a keytar's literally just a keyboard but more portable. This is a synth where the input is close to a real guitar to be considered a guitar of sorts. Last time I checked a keytar doesn't have strings.
both are guitar and keyboard children, but different gender
I've had one of these for 30+ years. It is an interesting device and quite useful for recording backing tracks etc. Considering the era in which it was made, it's fairly miraculous.
Yeah it featured a relatively simple rubber membrain for sensing the fret position and sting sensors which might have been taken from a WWII 'mine' trigger. Sensors which though mecanically based, was obviously very effective, as oppose to the pizeo strain sensors favoured now a days. I'd love to see this resurected without the pity sound module as a stright forward midi Bass guitar controller.
Wondering if the person who chose to name the mode “mandolin” had ever actually heard a mandolin.
Based on the design of the whole contraption, Im guessing the designers came from the future and the only remnant of the Mandolin is a neo cyberpunk mandolin which sounds like that.
They were trying to emulate a tremolo
Perhaps they were referring to the food slicer.
Sounds like a nes game
I suspect mandolin was actually an inaccurate translation of a traditional asian string instrument.
As a musician who also makes his own games, one of these would be incredible with a few takes and some editing, I'd make a soundtrack with it.
why not just a keyboard?
@@latenightthinker4737 No reason, just think this would be a lot of fun to work with. I haven't bothered selling any of my games, or even putting them up for download, I mostly just do it because I find it to be an entertaining hobby that may some day become a career, but for now, the entertainment of working on them is all I want.
Dmdeal sub’d for the updates. I do voices, I’d gladly offer you some free work for a project or two. I also share a love for video games so it’d be a lot of fun to help you out.
@@dmdeal7562 ah that's pretty cool
I want one. :)
"I've got the acoustic guitar setting selected"
*Plays NES music.
_”I see this as an absolute win!”_
1:47
Not complaining. Sounds badass to me.
Wait.
"It's not really practical..." *proceeds to put out a BANGER of a jam*
In our current VAPOR WAVE era and aesthetic this would be pretty cool to play today HAHA! lol
Live vapor wave
Samurai guitarist video game
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA LOLLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A E S T H E T I C
This isnt vapor wave at all though.
"prevents it from having any real practical value"
*Outro's with a boss ass 80's masterpiece played on the "toy" *
That outro makes me want one
I want a full version of the outro
Apparently my idea of “practical value” and his idea are vastly different things. I want one and may even need one lol
He's over there mad trash talking it all the while axing the shit out of that thing. Is this a reverse psychology ad?
So THIS is how Nintendo creates their music
Nexxt Meme Probably since when they didn’t used to had the Proper equipment.
😆 😆 😆
@@1ivannthegreat 😂😂
Old is gold
Casio 100% need to bring another one out that allows you to input midi for recording. With the quality of midi instruments and samples today and the amount of people that play the guitar, it seems like a no-brainer.
from my understanding this does allow you to input midi, he just didn't showcase that
The mandolin sounds like a new dragonforce song
Thought the same as soon as the first note hit 😂
Sounds like a retro game IMO, it was awesome to listen to.
Hahahahahahaha
It was featured in the Flight of the Conchords.
ua-cam.com/video/JT5AQIlmM0I/v-deo.html
Name?
Its full potential can only be achieved with the use of the power glove.
Super clutch throw back
aaaaahahahaHAAAAA👈👌
It's bad
Now you're playing with power!™
@superHAPPYrocks Not that old. The Power Glove is referenced constantly in games and nerdy media. Even in movies.
I dont care for the fact that hes not wearing a shirt of himself in his shirt of himself.
shirtseption
@Johnny Hammersticks Well he'd have to do at least two runs of the shirt to achieve this. Maybe he could do a new one every year?
@Johnny Hammersticks Exactly.
I felt underwhelmed at first before I read this comment.. I’m thankful for your contribution lol
Yeah highkey could’ve been much better
Imagine this, but made today with more modern technology, it could be so damn cool.
The great thing about this , besides the midi din port, was the fact that it had 'strings' instead of buttons on the 'frets'. I'm told you can replace those black plastic string with conventional nylon B strings, which in my opinon would make it look more funky. Thick fishing line should work too, especially the day-glow kind ;)
You mean the Jammy Guitar?
@@Soup-Doup the Jammy G sounds too acoustic for being a "digital" guitar and it looks like you have to plug it into software or a keyboard to get a sound
You mean a keytar?
@@jadivods keytar vs synthtar
difference
(i'm aware that synth is just the name of the sound produced and not a proper differentiator between keys and strings but thats what i like to call it)
Boss: Hey how's the mandolin sound going?
Worker: Great!
Boss: Is that what a mandolin sounds like? I've never heard one.
Worker: Neither have I...
Boss: Eh send it.
It's basically an arpeggiator
Hahahaha! This got me
🤣🤣 drunk mandolin. 🤣
Is it supposed to be like... tremolo picking or something lol?
This is very late, but it's actually trying to emulate the "mandolin" stop on an organ, which is a tremolo percussion stop
Hey this would kick ass for making retro style game music
Pretty sure my 30ish dollar toy keyboard had the same sounds, including the drum machine and pads
@@maheepsingh3612 "But It really makes you FEEL like a guitar" - IGN
God is love
@@maheepsingh3612 and I cant play keys at all. So I'll pay 300 to sound like a Nintendogs menu thanks
@@willthigpen4889 You know what? I respect that.
1:46
6:57
This comment is just for future reference when my dumb self comes back to watch this video again in 5 months
edit: genuinely shocked to see how many likes this got. i put these timestamps on a bunch of videos with cool little musical bits in them to come back and listen to later, so seeing one get nearly a thousand likes is pretty wild. it's been 2 years now and i still come back and listen to the timestamps every couple months, so it's nice to see others appreciate it as much as i do :)
Thanks for this
I just did this
Ok
Yes
Damn that's sounds beautiful
Personally, I think this is great. It's a shame that it has been abandoned rather than being updated to improve the sound wave-forms, deal with the over-sensitive fingerboard and overly basic MIDI interface & so on. Because of the nature of the instrument, it could have been expanded to provide harmonics such that the instrument could duplicate a sitar; increase sustain such that it replicated instruments like a Rickenbacker 6/12-string guitar.
The instrument sounds could have been actual samples rather than purely digital, the strings could have extended the full length allowing the player to "bend" notes and, though with low tension, they could have been metal allowing the use of an actual capo, and even a slide. With the low tension strings relieving the issues of pressing down high tension wires (causing most beginners to quickly give up) and the fingerboard switches ensuring precise notes, the frets could be replaced with fret markers.
There are a ton of ideas that could expand this concept: The technology could have been adapted to other instruments like a violin or cello.
Perhaps, considering that there are now guitars that digitally modify the sound for actual string, someone will revive this instrument at some point. Some concepts are bad to begin with. But, this is one that should have been modified and improved upon rather than abandoned.
Presenting the all new
*Tesla Cyberguitar*
Him holding a guitar, while wearing shirt of himself holding a guitar, while wearing a shirt of a guy holding a guitar....shirtception.
not to mention that the shirt is wearing in the picture is also of a guy playing guitar
I spent way too much time thinking of this double mirror concept.....ha
You can actually do a lot of interesting things with this device he didn't mention.
One is that it has infinite sustain on some of the sounds-including the jazz organ he used briefly. Also it has a midi out and can be used to trigger any midi keyboard or even a sampler-making the sound base pretty broad and way better than the tones produced by the thing itself. I've gotten lots of use out of mine, even on stage...
Honestly surprised he didn't talk about the midi out functions, i've seen these used as controller for analog synths several times.
It's because technology is the Achilles' Heel of most guitarrist. I play several instruments and performing on guitar is one of the hardest for me, but the easiest to set up. On the opposite side; sound designing for keyboard/synth is very hard and the set up for live vs studio can be very different and convoluted, but the amount of creative control and granularity over my sound is overwhelming!
I think a bass version would be really cool getting a sub bass sound with infinite sustain while being able to play live and not have to learn it on a keyboard
:0)
I dont have a DG-20, but I do have an old used Yamaha EZ-AG (similar concept), and stock, it has 8 out of its 20 different sounds as bass guitars. So the Casio DG-20 might well be capable of adding bass to it, if it doesnt come with bass as a stock sound already.
The EZ-AG incidentally is pretty cheap and also comes with a grand piano sound. And from what I've read, you can change the sounds out with a computer.
I understand it has MIDI so you should be able to do that
“I spent $300 on this and now I sound like a Nintendo Wii menu.” ...Is that a negative thing??
First
No
No, not really. Funnu quote tough LOL
How dare you reference a 1980s instrument to a damn wii. 😤 spit on Nintendo some more why don't you.
@@notheaveragejoe6403 imagine trying to run a system on youtube to earn royalties for people playing your game, as if you weren’t making enough money already selling them for over $60 per copy and selling overpriced consoles as well. (just shitting on Nintendo like you said to, but they are pretty cool sometimes)
I used to have one in the late eighties. He forgot to say that it has a MIDI OUT and could be put in mono or poly. I used in a series of gigs, where I played my fender guitar, but in two or three songs I had to play bass or other instruments, using the midi out, and my Roland D-110... when you learned how to play it without glitches, it could be very useful, especially if, as it was my case, it was not your main and only instrument...
Honestly, with MIDI, this thing could be quite fun.
I'm late to the show but my first question was going to be if it had MIDI capabilities. Curiosity sated. Thank you.
this is probably the dopest thing ever
How did you managed to play yours without glitches? I currently tried to use it to record in Ableton but it only catched some of the notes played. I read in some thread that it has to do with the "note off" command the guitar is not sending. Would appreciate any tip to make it work :)
how much did it cost in 1987?
"Let's try out the Mandalin"
*Mega Man 2 Music Intensifes*
Lmao
Ninja Gaiden all the way bro.
🤣🤣🤣
*mandolin.
Yes, I had to be that guy.
@@That_One_Guy_In_A_Band you really did it to 'em
The really cool thing you could do with the DG-20 was flip the switch for solo notes. That setting limited the synth to only producing single notes when triggered. Then strum and chord. You'd get this random storm of rhythmic random notes in key, impossible to duplicate easily with any other instrument. Sorry I sold mine or lost it in the sea of time.
It looks like a Cybertruck and a guitar had a child.
Pfffft..... That guitar left for a pack of smokes when the cybertruck baby was born.... never came back. Spent a few years living in a car, then a shelf... now this Asian dude owns him....
Meanwhile, at night, every cybertruck sheds a tear..... daddy.
Baaaahhhhh hahahahahahahaha
@@bmw328igearhead that's deep
Jokerkeyz then it should sound better.
They Cyberfucked
but did it past the rock test?
"these sounds are not professional,"
all sounds are professional. you just have to know when to use them.
Ouch
Exactly. No genre of music is bad if its good music
Dwight Keller-Williams they just don’t sound good for the purpose they seem to be made, if u put a preset named distorted guitar than make it sound like it. Otherwise don’t name it distorted guitar because that doesn’t sound close enough...
@@artemjetman It works slightly better as midi, albeit limited midi.
Based
For those who didn't get it: This was in fact a coveted instrument THIRTY THREE YEARS AGO. Pretty good for the time, and capable of serious business with its midi out port. Mine still works.
Did they come out with a bass version?
Came to see the samurai. I just don't like the bias on some reviews, sometimes shitty old gear is portrayed as classic vintage treasure, sometimes as "plastic freakshow", according to the hype.
@@rhinotank8725 I think they did not dare, at least to my knowledge. But it would be fun to play.
that first chord progression just made me smile, kinda makes me realize life isnt so bad
Other digital guiatars: lets me show u the music of future.
This guitar: ya like jazz
Is this a Gundam Thunderbolt rEfErEnCe¿
God damn Japan in the 80's sounds like a life worth living.
It's the best decade ever bruh
The 80s
I imagine it was like Blade Runner, but with shorter, smarter people 👽
🐲
Feetus Deletus Going to Asia makes me feel tall and I’m below 6 feet.
@@smalliesmalls9601 I visited Peru and I'm 6 foot 2 and everyone looked at me like I was a alien. The Quechua people are around 4-5 feet average.
I really like that ending peice, it sounds like a comfy SNES hometown in an RPG
FFVII
Dunno, it's got a bit more tension than 'hometown' in my opinion - I'd say more intro screen vibe?
Omg we have the same pfp
sounds like ending credit music to streets of rage or something
I love how serious you stay during all the jokes lmfao
He probably took lessons from Davie504.
"hey girl this goes out to you" plays Mario w1-1
This totally looks like something that would be sold today and labeled "cyber punk"
seriously, I was thinking someone should just take the body apart and use it to make an actual guitar because it looks so badass retro 80s cyberpunk
Am I the only one who thinks that guitar is the coolest of all?
Imagine making techno or edm music without computer damn
Hell yeah dude this is what in was thinking
Hell yeah we could have EDM'n'roll
This is horrible..LMAO
I concur
I think its pretty cool
I love how he is constantly negative towards this guitar, despite how many possibilities something like this opens up for people with external synths
Kid: "I want guitar"
Mom: "We have guitar at home"
The guitar at home:
Better in some ways tbh, but not a replacement for a real one. This is a mighty need.
Mom at the guitar shop:
Fender Strat, Les Paul, Ibanez Roadcore...
Phased Plasma Guitar in the 40 watt range.
Guitar at home is keyboard
Yea I don’t get what he’s saying this thing is wicked
Ik right
As wicked as a hell-bound sinner? Cuz if it is, then I sure hope it receives Jesus Christ as its savior 😉
@@luisb3426 What the hell
You spend years studying something that is mostly pshysical and all of a sudden it goes digital. It not only messing with how the thing feels but also how it sounds.
This is layers of fuckery. Like how you could have someone go from a typewriter to a phone.
@@dudeistpreist5721 that's a bad comparison, typewriter to a keyboard or cellphone to a smartphone
Boy, you have missed the *MAIN* reason to own this guitar...and that is the fact that it is a MIDI Controller! If you just want the sounds from this, buy a DG-10, which is just a guitar synth. But the DG-20, has MIDI out, and you can use it to control synths with MIDI in, or plug into your DAW. And back when it came out, most other guitar-like MIDI controllers went for thousands of dollars, while the DG-20 was, I think $599.
You should do a followup video exploring the MIDI aspect of the DG-20!!
this
Seconded
I was just about to inquire about the MIDI capabilites of this thing.
Apparently it's better than MIDI pickups.
@@The_Mister_E honestly not really surprised, midi pickups have always been dissapointing to me, but this is a real purpose built midi controller
Oh, that's much more useful. That's why I have my 50 dollar Yamaha keyboard. I can plug it into my PC and have it play through several hundred bucks worth of VSTs via MIDI cable.
"What instrument do you play?"
"I play the gaming guitar"
the playability is not that great, proceed to make a 8bit JAMMER
That could literally be a youtube channel in and of itself
* *Everyone furiously marking their listings for DG 20s up on Reverb* *
that was very cash money of you
The first one sounds like something you'd hear out of Animal crossing
Sims if they talked in woohoo
I was thinking the old wii music
Sounds exactly like a kk slider song
looks like someone needs to up their ear training.
The Shit you
I actually have one of these. Bought it from a mad neighbour who lived near me when I was 15 or so.
Fun fact, I once played a solo gig in Limerick (Ireland) where I used this bad boy to play the Chocobo theme from the Final Fantasy series.
"I spent 300$ on this and now I sound like a Nintendo Wii Menu"
Soooo... where's the bad side of that
This is actually amazing for composing the soundtracks or Indie games, tho. Love it!
@5:38 - Reminds me of an Apple II fighting game. Double Dragon, maybe?
It reminds me to shit
get into a nintendocore band duud XD
1:47
Not complaining.
Sounds badass to me.
It looks like it's trying to avoid radar detection
This is how they recorded KK sliders songs in Animal Crossing.
T L with this exact model??
@@PlutoniumSlums no the pinky version of it
Beat me to it
That's exactly what I thought it sounded like.
That "someone somewhere on a Sunday morning" was me in Nairobi, from 1989 onward. That JAZZ ORGAN setting best worked for me with my YAMAHA 100watt bass amp. I would use a phase shifter where I felt necessary. The setting I loved best was STRINGS, which I would pass through a flanger, and if an extra amp was available I would use the MIDI OUT into my YAMAHA DX 30's STRINGS setting. By now you must have guessed that I was trying to imitate the HAMMOND B3 sound that I grew up listening to in the 50s and 60s (not to much effect though, in my own opinion) I still own it.
I would say this is an instant retro chiptune soundtrack machine!
Love to see you try squeeze every bit of potential out of this weird instrument.
i especially like how literally none of the effects sound anything like what they're titled.
That's usually how I feel checking out presets on subtractive synth vst's
I had one of these in the 80's and I'm sorry we parted ways. The internal sounds are toy-ish, but it has midi out, so the midi world is your oyster (except if I recall correctly it only did note-on, note-off, no velocity). I would like to try it out again as a compositional tool, hooking it into a DAW as I find it easier to think on a guitar vs a piano. In the 80's that wasn't really practical. I was using Cubase on AtariST and the software was kinda clunky to use, but maybe now with easier and more powerful software, it wouldn't be such a chore to filter out all those inevitable unwanted notes. I think it must have been pretty solidly built as there are still a few around. Considering its low price, I think it deserves some love.
Stephen Halpin There is actually a product you can buy that attaches your guitar and sends midi over usb based on what it detects. I haven’t used it but from what i’ve seen it works pretty well.
Gr-55 is pretty cool! Slap a midi pickup on your guitar and it’s wild all the stuff you can do
As a bedroom pop and dream pop lover this is just fucking amazing, all those lo fi shitty retro sounds, and u can still play it as a guitar
I've had my Casio DG20 for about 4 years now. Picked it up for $80 at a pawn shop because i thought I was pretty neat. Played around with it for about a week or two and decided it's a better conversation piece or decoration than an instrument. Haven't been able to let go of it since, it's just got a really radical charisma.
I'm pretty sure Pat Metheny has been using that trumpet setting his entire career.
On his Roland guitar synth which is quite a different instrument. But yeah, he used that kind of sound as a substitute for Distortion.
Yeah, even if it’s not this it’s definitely close
Dude that's SOOOO wrong...BUT FUNNY AF
It was a joke, guys. Calm down.
Almost. His guitar is like a roland refrofitted guitar with midi, so he drives a sound module, but from a regular guitar with tuned steel strings.
The 80’s called and they want their samples back.
It doesn't sound like samples, it's a synthesis afaik
it's fm synthesis so let me correct this for you ...
the 80's called and they want their patches back.
That jam at the end was the most synthwave song I’ve ever heard on the most synthwave instrument I’ve ever seen
This would pair well with a Sax-a-boom.
oh my god your channel
Oh yeah jack black
Jfr Films ahahahahahahahhahaha
Content is *very* questionable.
Cold Steel Builds all around upsetting
The mandolin setting sounded more like a DragonForce mode
Stealing comments, I see.
The Mandolin setting sounds like it's straight out from Contra..
And ninja Gaiden
HA! That was exactly my first thought!
I wonder what they could do if they seriously tried to make something like this with today's technology.
Whos here after ichika nito?
Me
Me
How did u know? XD
Yeah
wait, what did ichika do? i forgot to subscribe on this acct
Dude wearing a t shirt of himself wearing a t shirt showing himself
It tells you something
Also playing the guitar and playing the guitar on the shirt
The video is just frames if him in different t shirts with a dubbed over voice
Noah Noah smart man
Now to make a shirt of himself wearing a shirt of himself wearing a shirt of himself wearing a shirt of himself wearing a shirt of himself. All playing different guitars, of course
It's a guitar to make old Game Boy soundtracks
For fucks sake, it's not the same thing!
It's a Casio keyboard! Not a Gameboy!
Bro the 80s called, they want you to release an album ASAP that small example u played was 🔥
fun fact: my schools guitar teacher had one of these and he had no idea how he got it. anyways i love looking at guitars and stuff and one day i found that in the very back of the closet. one thing led to another and he let me take it home as mine. it’s pretty cool actually and with some daw effects you can actually use it in songs
Jimby I just feel like ‘one thing lead to another’ was poor choice of words especially for something about a teacher 😂😂😂, but cool story lol
How does it work used as a midi controller with software instruments/sample libraries?
Even freakier than the instrument is this freaky tshirt.
Yeah
What the fender hss strat with a Floyd Rose
This thing looks like it belongs in a MUSE live show
It's bad, but not that bad
@@tonydv9260 shit take
I could see Muse doing something like this at their shows.
@@tonydv9260 now that's a miss
@@sashasmokes721 yeah i like that mushroom
This is so cyberpunk, has great potential, i hope they'll make one today and explore the full potential of this concept to make it actually amazing
can we get a full length Funky Clavinet track? who's with me
Me
Absolutely.
Agreed. Wanted a bit more!
We need more fonky phone
100% weird, 100% like, Buying right now. Let's gooo
i can't find it online lol. my guess is these are rare.
@@plebeian3671 Casio DG-20, there are dg-1s too
Eyyy a fellow Seahawks fan!
this "guitar" is kinda funny, but in my opinion it would improve ALOT if the synth inside was updated to modern times... i bet you it sounds way better with a working synth than with a 30-40 year old one
It doesn't seem like that'd be too hard to accomplish, since it's got MIDI output. Just plug it into your PC, load up a DAW, and get your modern synths up and running.
@Better Than The Beatles! you are right, the synths werent nessecarily bad, but you can bet that the synth in that guitar isnt a roland or korg or yamaha, its something id think is maximum middle class. and upgrading the hardware while updating the software wouldnt hurt. i doubt it will ever be an awesome piece of instrument but at least it could be way better than it acutally is atm.
UA-camr 'Look Mum No Computer' has videos with the DG-20 hooked up to analog synths if you are interested.
@@IamAlterEggo ill check it, thx ;)
I agree. With some upgraded hardware and software that would sound amazing. I've seen a modern version somewhere. I dont know if it was a one off or for consumer. It had digital touchpad instead of strings.
I played one of these recently, and it was very fun to mess around with. Obviously there are better options now, but still a neat piece of gear.
That last song reminded me of..:
"Currently all our colleagues are busy. Please hold." *funky music*
LMAO
"Here's the mandolin setting..."
[plays something that sounds like music from Mega Man]
More like f zero
Imagine Steve Vai with one of these futuristic Axes
I am imagining a poochy-face to the Nth degree. ;-)
@@greglawrencemusic haha! xD
Makes everything sound like 80's-90's era videogame music!
This is what RuneScape’s entire OST was made on. Change my mind.
DooshFlute very right. Osrs for life let it live on forever mane
DooshFlute I wanna see someone play sea shanty 2 on this
*_Changes your mind_*
The devs spent a lot
I like how after explaining that there are no acoustics at all, he is still trying to generate vibrato at the end lol
This straight up a NES/SNES music machine
I think that it is super awesome that you are wearing a shirt with a picture of yourself on it.
you skipped over the coolest feature that takes it from toy to tool: you can use it as a midi controller
Great advantage for people like me that have no patience with keybords xD
if you ever wanted to play a guitar that sounded like a NES/Genesis this is for YOU!
Can't believe he didn't play dog sounds :(
dog sounds?
Bob's burgers reference??
For the two people that didn't understand the "dog sounds" thing (and the next that may come): it was a joke referencing the fact that Casio keyboard used to come with some weird sounds, like dog barks, sirens, car horns, etc. It was a bit of a joke to play any normal song with one of these effects (at least for me and everyone I ever knew that had one of these). Since this guitar is made by Casio, it must contain the same weird effects.
Casio toy keyboards from the 80s were more "serious" and technical instruments. Today's toys are colorful, rounded, and cartoon-like.
@@lucasduque8289 The MIDI standard has a relatively large section of silly effects and sounds, including helicopter, gun sounds, and animal sounds. Maybe Casio came up with the original idea?
It's got MIDI out. That's quite an important thing to fail to mention. Basically it's what ever instrument or multi instrument or sample you want it to be. In effect it's a stringed MIDI controller. In fact, just putting it direct through a guitar amp or distortion and reverb makes the 80s Nintendo sound quite epic. Pretty cool in other words.
This is the coolest thing I've ever seen, you probably don't like it because you're too good at normal guitar
Exactly
No, he probably doesn't like it because it sounds like utter shit.
@@surinaam1186 it really doesnt
@@surinaam1186 I think it sounds awesome.
@@surinaam1186 no.
I recognize those cheap drum machine sounds from the Casio keyboards I had as a kid in the 80's. Bossa Nova FTW.
Looks like Musks cyber truck turned into a guitar.
ZaaZoJo there will be one in every cybertruck.
Or this is a cyber truck baby that didn't grow up....
Took me a second to get the reference. I truly thought you misspelled Mask, as in M.A.S.K., the old 80's cartoon. 😂
I have the DG-1 which I believe was the first version, which looked sort of like a cartoon broom, which had no transpose, no MIDI, but you could fine-tune it via a trim pot in the back with a jewler's screwdriver. I Stil have it and use it on recordings periodically though a noise gate is needed.
I also had a DG-10 back in high school, which was the budget version of the one you're using. No drum pads, no MIDI, fine tuning was via a small pot on the bottom where the headphones plug in, and the pickguard was a metallic medium blue color instead of black.
The best one of these ever sounded to me was running it through my Bugera halfstack at rehearsal and writing a Ballad with it right there with the rest of the band something like 10 years ago. Something I probably should explore again.