The world's 1st rap keyboard
I distinctly remember waiting for my band's turn to play in a Rome recording studio in 1990 or so. Suddenly, from the studio lounge area a hip-hop beat started, followed by a voice that sounded like Darth Vader. "What is that you're playing?" I asked the guy who sat on the couch, banging away on the mini-keys and singing in the smallest microphone I had ever seen: "Oh, it's this Casio keyboard I just bought. It's pretty cool..."
That was the then-brand-new Casio RAP-1 Rapman, "the world's 1st rap keyboard". I was immediately hooked, but for some reason didn't buy it at the time. I recently had the chance to get one, and I haven't stopped playing with it yet.
The Rapman was Casio's response to the immense popularity of rap at the time, and while the company had already produced a zillion other mini-keyboards before, this one was special: it had the usual 2 and 1/2 octaves and typical Casiotone sounds:
but also incorporated a microphone with voice effector:
and most importantly, a scratch disk to emulate DJs ;-)
The preset sounds on the Rapman were the typical Casio samples of the era, but standouts include the Brass Ensemble , still today a staple in hip-hop music - the Metal Guitar, which was perfect when sampled and used as a techno lead - the Orchestra Hit, that was really ubiquitous in the early '90s - and above all, the incredible Vocoder patch, an exquisite robotic sound.
Or course, to be able to rap, you need a microphone, and the Rapman came with one: the Casio EM-4131, and the best way I can describe it would be an SM-58 for the Smurfs. Really the cutest mic I have ever seen, my 5-year-old daughter loves it. Once you rap or sing into the microphone, you can flp a switch and sound like you're ingesting helium, or Barry White's at 15ips sound effector demo.
The beats - you gotta have the beats to rap over, and the Rapman doesn't disappoint: there are classic 8-beat rhythms that are still fresh-sounding today Beat 1, complete funky numbers Rap 2, classic hip-hop styles Hip-Hop 4, and of course, TR-808 style patterns that were really popular back then Beat 5. All these rhythms are perfect to rap over.
The scratch wheel is a nice touch and even though it doesn't really scratch the samples like a real turntable would (it simply triggers a different sample for each direction you turn it), it is a nifty idea and a lot of fun. There is also a set of three buttons that you can configure to play back drum sounds, or orchestral stabs.
In all, this is a great little keyboard, and I suspect it is going to follow the steps of its brothers CZ-101 and SK-1 and become a collector item. Go get one and rap, man!
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My son Just got one for his birthday, and all his brothers love it to...
that Beat 1 ,,,can't get it out of my head :)
this thing is so fun to use. The variety of sounds that you can play around with is just mind blowing...hahahahahaha
For anyone who cares as of 8 pm 12/2/2010 I have put a Casio rap-man rap-2 with voice effector on eBay for a 7 day listing I hate to have to part with it but I need Christmas money for my kid. I hope someone will love this keyboard as much as me.
Just bought one of these for our 6 yr old son for his birthday, thanks for the write up about it! He is going to love it !
Casio made a sequel to the Rapman keyboard. It was called the DJ-1 and is one of the rarest keyboards ever released by Casio. Nowadays, the only place to find one of these for sale is in Japan and perhaps once or twice in an entire year do any show up on eBay. It has two scratch discs (one for pitch), six drum pads, 35 tones and 30 rap rhythms, as well as a cassette deck for playing backing tracks and to record your own compositions with. It also has the famous voice effector built-in and includes a dozen or so effects from the Casio VA-10 Voice Arranger. Here's a pic to wet your tonsils with:
http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs214.snc/22169_273368472188_742337188_4438073_4656740_n.jpg
This DJ-1 is approximately the size of a Yamaha PSS-680 and is very much a workstation in it's own right. As a complete, portable recording studio it gets the job done, although in a very cheap and cheesy sounding way. This is one of those holy grails that any serious collector would go out of their way to chase down. I know I definitely am!
The standard SK-8 can be circuit bent in a way that will release the extra rhythms, instruments and scale tuning of the arabic SK-8. Arabic Casio keyboards are very common and around one third of Casio keyboards were released in Arabic form. It had to be done because Middle Eastern music is composed in different scales than western music, so a normal SK-8 just wouldn't sell well in that part of the world.
The Arabic features and functions are hidden and turned off in the standard SK-8. You simply need to learn how to turn them back on and that will require some rewiring and adding of some components.
Good Luck! :)
Oh, and I just bought a Rapman off eBay today for $60 USD in MINT condition. I'd love to get my hands on the other Rapman kayboard, the RAP-10 Drum Machine. Now THAT would be something to behold!
....Just downloaded the Kasio Kristmas songs off of itunes. Great stuff, hard to believe that only Casios were used. NICE JOB KK
BTW, We (Kasio Kristmas) did "Frosty the Snowman" re-named "Frosty the Rapman" with the Casio Rapman keyboard. Record Scratches and all. It is kind of a Grand Master Flash meets Beastie Boys influence.
Hi here all Casio enthusiasts,
We (Kasio Kristmas) are looking for a Casio SK-8A. If you are selling or know someone who might please let us know. We can be found at our website contact page http://www.kasiokritmas.com
Here is a brief description of who and what we did/do. We have done a Christmas Album with old Casio Instruments and handheld games in 5.1 Surround Sound and Stereo. We also do remixes and want MORE Casio stuff. The next re-mix will be from the band RATT, so we need that Arabic Keyboard.
I own a Rap-2 one of two that I have seen on e-bay in the last three years, has all features of the rap man and more, also called a rap sudio. has 30 different rap patterns, is stereo,25 different tones, a pitch disk which controls pitch of scratch disk and six different sound effect pads(elec bass guitar,metal guitar ,C'mon Y'all,Uhh!, Gimme A Beat!,Whoosh!) Has the voice effector, four different volume controls, and built in cassette deck. Also has mic, aux,and phone/output ports in rear. Keyboard has 32 keys(about 2.5 octaves of range). Any where I take it it always brings out comments . I have had several offers to buy it, but because of its rareness I have never considered selling. This is only one of many of my rare toys but is definitely one of the most fun ones. Still looking for another for a good friend of mine.
I love mine. It's full of horrific, magical sounds.
awesome blog! I wish there were more reviews with awesome audio demos of small and random music gear like this!
This is great, i make so many prank phone cals with it, :D
the voice effector kept me entertained for hours
So lovely to see this again. This was my first keyboard at 10.
Ha ha! What an inspired toy this was. I remember waving the mic over the speaker to create feedback.