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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Audio
Comments (10)
Read More Entries by Paolo Di Nicolantonio.
a good read.
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 AM LOOKING FOR A CASIO RAPMAN RAP-2!!!
IF YOU CAN FIND ONE I WILL BE INTERESTED.
GREG
323 443 5743
gregkicksrhymes@yahoo.com
THANKS!
I love mine. It's full of horrific, magical sounds.
Wow! I want one of these. Absolutely amazing.
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.