Instrument Review - Bontempi AZ-9000

The Bontempi AZ-9000 is an electronic keyboard dating back to the mid-eighties from Italian organ manufacturer Bontempi.  I could find little information regarding this instrument except a couple circuit bending videos and images of other models in the AZ series, which much like the X series featured similar looking keyboards but with diminishing features the lower the number of the keyboard.  Much like the X-451, I couldn't find much about this keyboard but was drawn to it because it seemed to be the top-of-the-line of that particular series and because of a few intriguing features that I had not really seen or that appeared to be uncommon in a synthesizer from that era.

Because I am not a trained pianist, have limited technical skill regarding the electronics, and am not the greatest reviewer in the world, I will attempt to offer a simple review of this synthesizer and hope that it helps build a better resource for these musical gems from the early days of home keyboarding.

Build

The build of this synthesizer seems to be quiet good.  Considering Bontempis are known for their cheap sounds similar to that of a Casio, I was assuming the worst when I got this thing.  When I received the package I was surprised by the weight of the keyboard and would probably place it upwards of ten to fifteen pounds.  Even the key construction surprised me - it had spring mechanisms much like the fellow Italian synth maker Siel.

The speakers were of good quality and there was foam surrounding the speakers inside which was nice because the keyboard could achieve rather loud sounds clearly and without causing any unnecessary sounds, such as rattling from the plastic like that experienced with the Seiko DS-202.  Even the buttons and sliders seem pretty sturdy.  The various buttons don't wiggle or move except in the direction they were intended to go, which is down.

There were some issues but I would attribute them mostly due to age.  For instance, a couple of the housings for the screws would break off at the base when attempting to unscrew and open the keyboard.  This is an easy enough fix and would probably require a bit of caution proceeding in the future.

Also, not quite sure if this is the norm of synthesizer and home keyboard construction of the early and mid eighties (all keyboards I have taken apart point to "no"), but I had noticed that the various boards run underneath the keyboard so to see the fully requires removal of the keyboard.  All other keyboards I have seen typically had any circuitry above the keyboard.

Cosmetic

The appearance of this keyboard is nothing special.  The casing is a kind of dark gray color.  The color-coded buttons are nicely arranged and easy to identify purpose and use and provide a kind of uniformity but they are not that stylistic, like say a futuristic and sleek Bontempi Prof organ.  

I have also noticed that other versions of this keyboard feature a different font.  While this one has strange (and kind of cheap-looking) block lettering that was undoubtedly chosen to push the digital nature of this keyboard, other versions had equally cheap-looking italics.

Sound

What can I say about the sound?

This is a keyboard from the eighties that promotes its use of PCM sounds.  While this presented the user with more "realistic" sounds and was a departure from analog, to someone who is using the keyboard after thirty years the sounds appear to be dated and when compared with PCM Casios or Yamahas, they kind of still sound more like their analog counterparts, and it might actually still be analog sounds since the only location that identifies as PCM is the rhythm section.  If you are a fan of that kind of sound, then you may not be totally displeased with this synthesizer.  In addition to to the "digital sampled" section that provides various instruments, the keyboard also offers a "digital synth" section that allows some parameters to be altered.

The keyboard also offers a nice assortment of chorus effects, such as "orchestra," "accomp," and "fast," as well as vibrato and sustain giving the limited number of voices some variance.

Along with the main sound there are also "accompaniment" and "bass" sounds that play with the rhythm and when compared to older (presumably) synths like the X-451 they were kind of underwhelming.

As for rhythm, it is your typical PCM fare.  The rhythms are punchy and not too overproduced like many Casio rhythms and I think play nicely with the various tones.  

Features

This is where the keyboard might be worth buying - the oddball features that Bontempi added.

For one, while this allows for a DC 12V input using a generic power supply, this keyboard also uses the same proprietary power supply found on other Bontempis, like the X-451.  There are either direct plug-in versions of this power supply or ones that are battery compartments.  Either way it is an interesting feature, but also somewhat redundant.

This keyboard is also MIDI compatible, with several buttons appearing to have multiple functions, although I am uncertain as to how the MIDI capabilities are activated or operated.  The words "MIDI mode" appear beneath a selector button but it is unclear just how this relates to the MIDI controls other than sharing the same color lettering.

In addition to the things like audio outputs and the ability to plug in foot pedals, the most interesting feature on this keyboard is the "digital synth" capabilities.  While these features are by no means a complex synthesis engine, they offer some versatility to an otherwise generic mid-eighties PCM keyboard.

The "digital synth" options allow for a user to select one of four envelopes, up to two of four different waves (2 square, 1 triangle, 1 sine), 4 different mixes of the waves (20/80, 40/60, 60/40, and 80/20), and the ability to select 2 different sounds to make a "custom program," which can also include the 16 different "digital sampled" orchestra sounds.  This may also provide for some prime circuit-bending opportunities being that these are functions that already exist that alter the sound (along with the various chorus effects).  While you may not get some fat bass sounds or sweeping pads from this basic synthesizer you might be able to get some nice accompaniment sounds or when processed some interesting leads.  I personally like this sound more-so than early Yamaha home keyboards, more particularly synths like the PSS-570, which offered a good amount of variation.  I find these Bontempi tones to be of a more personal nature.

Overall

Overall this is a nice basic keyboard with generic PCM rhythms.  It offers some interesting features that place it slightly above some of its competitors from the same time.  The most surprising aspect of this keyboard is the quality of the construction.  Considering the type of instrument and the reputation of the company as being cheap, I expected lightweight plastic, simple circuit boards, and poor key mechanisms, like the solid bendable plastic of some inexpensive Casio models.  

Instrument Review - Seiko DS-202

Update 9/23/2016!

I had recently acquired a second DS-202.  While all the rhythms and sounds work, the presets are rather generic and the speakers still rattle when the volume is increased, especially when accompaniment is added to the rhythm.  

Also, looking at the serial numbers, some of the keys have a slightly different color stripe, where instead of being greenish they are bluish in color and some of the yellow stripes are white.

The 1980s were an interesting time for synthesizers.  Not only did you have the rise of things like MIDI and digital processing, but new manufacturers entered the fold too, like electronic watch makers Casio and Seiko.

Seiko?

That's right.  The Seiko Corporation got into the synthesizer game back in 1983 and released several
odd digital synthesizers.  They were the DS-101, DS-202, and DS-250.  They also sold three add-on modules - the DS-310, which was an additive synthesis attachment, the DS-320 which was a sequencer, and the DS-1000 MIDI Digital Sequencer, and the SIB-1, with capabilities unknown at this time.  All of the add-ons attached via a very short ribbon cable into two ports on the back of the synthesizer.  There were also several cartridges that plugged into the DS-320 that added various sounds.  They were the SRC-10, DMC-2, and perhaps some others that may be floating out there.

There really isn't much information on this synthesizer but from what little there is known, it appears that the sound generation technology for this line was originally developed by Gray Laboratories, the additive synthesis engine was eventually sold to Seiko.  What makes this interesting is that at the time additive synthesis, a method in which timbre is created by adding sine waves together, was used by highly expensive synthesizers like the NED Synclavier, which retailed for five figures.  The Seiko DS synths were released for a fraction of the cost and had some very interesting features.

Let's start with the DS-202 -

The DS-202 has several sections labeled on the top panel of the keyboard - EFFECT, INSTRUMENTS, AUTO BASS CHORD, RHYTHM, and FUNCTION.

EFFECT

This EFFECT section features 3 sliders that can alter chorus, vibrato, and sustain, with a button to add delay to the vibrato.  One peculiar thing, in my opinion, is that on all the sliders of this synthesizer, the minimum is located at the top and the maximum is located on the bottom.  The same goes for rhythm tempo, with one pushing up to decrease the speed.

Anyway, these features seem to offer very little to the tone.  The chorus effects are nice and provide a little variation to the various voices but the vibrato seems almost negligible.  Same goes for the sustain, but than again that may be because my DS-202 appears to have some malfunctioning buttons, which leads me to the next section.

INSTRUMENTS

The INSTRUMENTS section features ten voices: piano, organ, harpsichord, flute, strings, electric piano, jazz organ, vibraphone, clarinet, and brass.  Pretty standard fare for a synthesizer of this time.  The sounds generated aren't spectacular and are reminiscent of a Casio from this era.  Sadly I can only seem to get sound out of half of my buttons and what comes out is clean.  Having the ability to add the effects mentioned above is a nice feature but the quality isn't anything to write home about and would probably have been disappointing had this keyboard been purchased at its full original retail, which I have read floated around one thousand dollars.

AUTO BASS CHORD

Like its fellow Casio keyboards, this featured a little accompaniment section that gave the four different modes: normal, simple finger chord, key split, and sound mix.  There is also a slider called "ABC VOLUME BALANCE," which would seem to work with the sound mix option, where one could mix two of the instruments together, although that feature does not appear to be working on my synth, or if it is, works very poorly.  Then there are four buttons - hold, variation, chord off, and tone set.

Personally, I found this section to be pretty much useless.  The chords are lackluster and dull sounding, and when played in conjunction with the rhythm feature no variation whatsoever.  Press a key and a chord is just repeatedly played with the beat.  The hold feature would hold a note below the key split but that is it and I can't quite figure out the other buttons.  Again, I do not know if this is because my synthesizer appears to be broken, but from what is coming out of the speakers I am not that impressed.

RHYTHM

This is the only section of the keyboard that I actually enjoyed.  The beats have that analog drum machine sound, and who knows - the drums may be analog.  I peaked inside the synth and saw a bunch of resistors and such on a board so it is quite possible that Seiko utilized some analog features in this keyboard.  I personally enjoy analog drums and found the rhythms to be nice.  The accompaniment doesn't really add much and I would probably recommend sampling the rhythms for use with a more capable synth, like the DS-202's big brother, the DS-250.

If you were curious, here are the various rhythms: 8 beat, 16 beat, waltz, Latin, Latin 2, swing, 2 beat, and slow rock.

FUNCTION

The final section features just one button and one slider: a key transpose button and the total volume.


Another feature of this synthesizer are the speakers.  I would probably rate these higher than a standard Casio synth.  When played to the fullest, the sound came out clear but some notes seemed to rattle the case.  While some people have complained about the construction of these keyboards, I have found them to be pretty decent (except for mine, which features a giant hole on the bottom where someone may have dropped it on the edge of a table, and perhaps causing the issue surrounding my non-functioning buttons.

Another odd feature of this synthesizer is that the outputs and power are located on the side.  I like having these to the side of a keyboard for the sake of accessibility.  I'm sure they are on this one because the back is occupied by the add-on modules but I wouldn't complain if this became standard on other synths.  On the side there is a pitch adjustment, RCA audio out (for stereo) or a 1/4" jack for mono output, as well as 1/4" jacks for sustain and expression and perhaps the most hated thing about this synthesizer - the proprietary power supply jack.  Not only does this synthesizer use a 4-pin DIN male plug, it also requires a 13.8v 1a supply.  I was able to find parts to manufacture my own but many people seem to cannibalize auctions and sell the power supply piecemeal for a profit.

To sum up this synthesizer, Mercury is to Ford as Seiko is to Casio*, but here is the sad part, where Seiko seems to have tried for the high-end home keyboard arranger market, the synthesizer (at least the DS-101 and DS-202) seem to be the equivalent of a cheap Casio manufactured a couple years later with some editable features but overall an interesting synthesizer.  I am sure the DS-310 adds plenty to this synthesizer but I would much rather utilize those add-ons on the DS-250, which will be featured in a separate review.

Here is a preview of the sounds of the Seiko DS-202 in a song project I was working on: