Instrument Review - Atari Synthosaur

Album Review - Paul McCartney's Egypt Station

By now you have probably read all the reviews, describing McCartney's 18th solo effort as either his greatest album released in decades or just another generic entry into his lengthy and impressive catalog.  My personal opinion is that it is a mix of both.

Generally speaking, I have found his last three albums (excluding Kisses on the Bottom) to be very good, and in that regard this album is no exception.  Through a first listen, I found myself enjoying the sounds of each track, some more than others.  There were times where I would think to myself that some of the songs were too McCartney-ish.  The lyrics felt superficial and forced but McCartney pulls it off because he knows how to craft a song with catchy melodies and rhythms.  I believe his co-written tracks stand out on this album and in my opinion his collaborations are wonderful exercises at reigning in all that Macca fluff. 

The Good:

I originally pre-ordered the album off of Amazon when I heard of the release but when I read a couple days ago that Target \got an exclusive with two additional tracks I initially balked, but when I was shopping the other day I couldn't resist when I saw it was on sale.  A quick listen in the car had me wondering why McCartney left perhaps his two best tracks off of the wider release.  Even my 5-year-old son was singing along by the time we got home.  One of the tracks, "Get Started," was a solo effort that is not risky but a wonderful pop tune, but "Nothing For Free" was a pleasant surprise and made me searching for the writing credits when I got home.  While it was one of the few co-written tracks with Ryan Tedder, it sounded modern yet uniquely Paul, and I personally would have led with this as one of the first singles, along with "Fuh You," which once you get past the novelty of the controversy is quite catchy.  Collaborations tend to reign McCartney in (see works with artists like John Lennon, Youth, Elvis Costello, Stevie Wonder, etc.)  For some reason the final track makes me think of his Press To Play album and his single for "Spies Like Us," and that's a good thing.

"Back in Brazil" has some catchy rhythms and features some typical McCartney story telling lyrics but definitely stands out.  The synth line is catchy and the beat is fun.  For some reason I find this track reminiscent of Barry Manilow's "Copacabana."

"I Don't Know" and "Come On To Me" are great in their own right and also make wonderful A-Sides, although I find the ending of the latter to sound a bit forced while still a little fun to sing. 

"People Want Peace" sounded very formulaic but catchy and fits well with some of his earlier peace-related songs, like "Pipes of Peace." 

"Happy With You," "Hand In Hand," "Who Cares," and "Do It Now" are also fine songs that are very complimentary to the rest of the album and do not feel like filler.

"Hunt You Down/Naked/C-Link" is also another good title but the sum of the parts does not equate to a great song.  I found that it opens up to a great rocker with a great beat but it abruptly enters into the slower paced "Naked," which in turn awkwardly flows into "C-Link."  While McCartney is known for playing with medleys, this one felt a little unfinished and rough around the edges.  Had those parts been fully developed into three separate tracks I feel that they would be stronger additions to this album.

The Bad

I really don't believe any of the tracks to be categorically bad.  I didn't really care much for the instrumental "Station" tracks but found them pleasant when I realized they were playing and was too late to skip to the next song.  I would more accurately describe the rest of this album as just "okay."

"Confidante" is one of those songs where I enjoy listening to it until I start to listen to the lyrics and I find myself questioning the author.  The song is heartfelt but feels silly at the same time. 

"Dominoes" is also an okay song but after a few listenings did not stand out.  I am sure it will be one of those songs that will pop up on a future random playlist, I give it a listen, I enjoy it, and then it goes back into the vault for next random encounter.

"Caesar Rock" sounds food but just kind of generic.  After hearing it sung you can hear the play on words - "She's a Rock" - but it doesn't sound as groundbreaking or original as many of his other songs.  I would probably classify this as "filler."

"Despite Repeated Warnings" is also another fine entry.  A medley of sorts, this song has gotten attention as being a shot at President Trump.  I love the song and some of the hooks.  It has some points where I am reminded of his past medleys like "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" but like the other medley on this album I find the transitions to be a bit abrupt for my liking.  Still a great listen.

Overall

I find this to be a great album with great replay quality.  There are instant personal hits that I will be singing for years and I would definitely love to see some of these tracks performed live.  For being in his mid-seventies, McCartney keeps a busy schedule and it feels like eons since his last solid release.  Albums like Kisses on the Bottom are pleasant surprises but take a bit to warm up to.  I personally love his collaborations, both past and present, and hope that he does more in the future, in part hoping that doing so will help keep a healthy output of McCartney material for years to come.


   

Instrument Review - The Key by Lonestar Technologies, Inc.

What if I described an instrument that looked like a guitar, had buttons on the neck, played by strumming a switch-like mechanism on the body, and synched up to your television to allow you to play along with some of your favorite music, like Nirvana, Eric Clapton, Green Day, or The Beatles?
Are you imagining this:

If this is what you imagined then you would be wrong.

While Guitar Hero came out in 2005, what I was describing is nearly 15 years older and potentialy much cooler.  I am talking about the Lonestar Technologies' The Key "interactive musical instrument."

Not much information exists explaining these musical oddities.  Lonestar Technologies Inc. originated as a karaoke machine manufacturer around 1989 with their Super K karaoke cassette deck that interfaced with home televisions to display lyrics and by 1992 became a leader in the karaoke audiocassette hardware market.  Around 1993 stories started to be written about their newest contribution to the music scene - The Key.

As written on August 9th for Bloomberg:

The Hicksville (N.Y.) company has developed an instrument called The Key. It looks like an electric guitar, but instead of strings, it has six plastic "fins" and white, piano-like keys on the neck. The Key accepts cartridges that contain song tracks stored in read-only memory. Plug in a card, strum the fins, and the device creates the chords for the song you've selected. Lonestar President Lawrence Richenstein says the programming used in The Key cartridges can be encoded onto musical laser disks and rock videos for use in karaoke setups, which would allow lounge-singer wannabes to play along while they croon. 

BusinessWeek called it a "karaoke guitar" and the advertised price was $400 but it didn't really seem to get any traction.

Randy Jackson, of Zebra fame, was involved in the development of the instrument.  When interviewed by RCF, Jackson had this to say about The Key:

 “What an amazing project. It was a big change for me, going from being a full time musician to doing development for such an innovative company. “The Key" had a very futuristic design and by itself is a guitar-like synthesizer, where the "frets" are like keys on a keyboard and the "strings" are made up of synthetic "veins" attached to the body. “The Key” could be used as a stand-alone MIDI controller and had it's own internal sound engine.  Chords are formed by pressing different combinations of keys while strumming the "veins". "The Key" could also be used as a video "reader" that would allow the user to play along with music videos on encoded video tapes. We also developed cartridges called "Song Pacs" that could be plugged into a slot in the instrument and used to accompany the player. The "Song Pac" cartridges included midi versions of licensed songs and allowed the user to play an album’s worth of songs on each cartridge. I liked to describe "The Key" as an electronic Autoharp. We got Jon Anderson from Yes to try out the instrument and he ended up writing a bunch of songs using "The Key". "The Key" was pretty expensive when it was released and only a few could afford it. "The Key" was a very ambitious project and may have been a little ahead of its time”.

While he seemed involved with the product, appearing at a charity karaoke-type event in 1995, and with magazines like Popular mechanics buzzing about the new (now 2-year-old instrument), the instrument yet to hit retail shelves and seemed to only be available through mail order.

An article for the Chicago Tribune cited the price of the guitar at a higher $599 (nearly $200 more than originally advertised) and while expected to hit retail shelves by September, 1995, orders were being taken over phone by calling 1-800-4-THE-KEY, with additional products to be offered depending on success.

That success never came.

The only other notable musician who was known to have played The Key was Jon Anderson of Yes.

Despite failing to make it big in the marketplace, The Key was quite innovative for its time and as mentioned before was an early attempt at what the Guitar Hero and Rock Band video games were able to achieve nearly a decade later - create a karaoke instrument.  What exactly made this thing special?

The Key was a single oscillator digital synthesizer with 6-note polyphony.  The Key has dozens of preset sounds - mostly guitar or stringed instrument sounds - as well as a canned rhythm, pitch bend, and perhaps its defining feature - the cartridge slot to accept SONGPACS, which allow you to play along with certain songs.  The Key also had technology that allowed you to play along with VHS, Laserdisc, or CDs, and with a 4P4C modular connector the ability to play in conjunction with another Key, but without a manual it is unknown just how this worked.

The way I see it, The Key is to a regular guitar as the Omnichord is to a chorded zither.  The latest iteration of the Omnichord, the Q-Chord, may have even been inspired by the karaoke nature of The Key with their own song cartridges for playing along with some standards and hits.

So with all that being said, what is my opinion of The Key?

Build

The entire body of this synthesizer is made with a hard plastic and feels pretty strong and on par with other keyboard synthesizers.  While it seems sturdy, all the weight is placed in the body and made even heavier if using 6 "D" cell batteries to power the thing, although you could also use rechargeable Eneloop batteries in an adapter and save a few ounces.  I imagine most of the weight seems to come from the speaker, which despite some of the few comments online I found to be quiet sufficient for playing around with outside.  With that being said, it does make me nervous holding it from the neck - especially since all the buttons are on the neck.

For the neck, the buttons all feel wiggly and some don't seem to respond when depressed while other times there seems to be a minute delay if you release your finger too late while strumming causing a completely different chord to be played.  It also seems that some of the buttons are either sensitive or don't work.  This may be an age issue but considering this device looks brand new and in the box, complete with the little plastic cover that was placed over the veins, I will probably lean in the direction of this being a quality issue.

The buttons on the body are pretty responsive but the two side buttons do kind of feel a bit flimsy.  As for the main feature - the "veins" - For the most part they seem responsive although it seemed that some seemed to work better when strumming in one direction versus the other.

Cosmetics

This is probably the best part of the instrument.  Unlike my other digital guitars like the Casio DG-20 or the Suzuki Unisynth, which utilize strings, this thing looks odd... but sleek.  I personally think the speaker placement is perfect and the symmetric appearance is refreshing from the angular bodies of the other guitars mentioned.  It is also nice to see this thing has actual rubber buttons (except for the expression and change buttons) and that, also unlike the Casio and Suzuki, the neck is not rubber.

Perhaps my only complaint would be that on the neck the keys correspond to various notes.  Depressing any combination of keys helps form different chords.  All the keys are white except for a few with little black lines that appear to indicate where the black keys would lay on a traditional piano keyboard... but there are no black keys!  None of the keys are marked so the only way to tell which key is what is through trial and error and memorization.  Also, because of where the black markings are on the keys, when holding this while standing, it makes it a bit difficult to see, but that isn't too big of a deal since I prefer to play with it sitting down since the area right above the speaker seems perfect for resting on your thigh so you can play this thing like a lap guitar.

Sound

I probably equate the sounds of this instrument to be like that of a home keyboard of that era.  Since the sounds are a bit more expressive and some unique, I would probably place this a bit on the higher end.  Granted the sounds are digitally synthesized (although some sound like samples) so don't expect a realistic sounding guitar, they have a nice timbre, with the exception of a few that have that cheesy MIDI overdrive sound, but again, considering the era this thing came from the sounds it produces are quite impressive.  Once strumming is mastered this thing can provide some wonderful atmosphere.  Don't go looking for a groove machine in this device.  The rhythms are rather generic and without an intro or fill, repetitive.

Features

While scrolling through the voices it goes up to the 120s, this thing skips around and only has 55 voices.  Many sound the same with only some minute differences and some sounds seems to only work with some of the keys.  As for rhythms, there are 26 rhythms and zero fills.  You can control the tempo but that requires a press of a button to access that feature.

On the body of the instrument are a couple of other buttons.  "STRUMMER" selects the voice while "SONG" picks the rhythm.  The rhythm can be started and paused but not stopped unless you switch to a different "song" and then switch back.  Otherwise and picks right back up from where it was stopped.  There are also "KEYBOARD," "EXIT," "ENTER," and "MODE" buttons but so far I can't quite figure out what they do.  When changing the mode the screen changes and to 2 different messages but I'm not sure what they mean.

A couple of the other features may be lost to time.  The SONGPAC cartridges (which I do not have) allow to play along with a favorite song and I am unsure just how this thing syncs up with a VHS, laserdisc, or CD to allow you to play along.  I am also unsure how the networking capabilities with another Key works.  I suppose that also presents another issue - finding someone who also has this thing.

While one of the saving graces for this instrument is the presence of a MIDI port, it also has a low and high sound output but each uses a 1/8" jack.  This was probably because the target audience was the home consumer and not the professional musician.  By 1993 most home electronics switched from 1/4" to 1/8" inputs.  When recording there was virtually no floor noise so I would say the output was pretty good.

And for all you lefties out there, this thing appears to have an additional strap lock so you could play with your left hand (although I do not know if you can alter the order in which the veins play the notes).

Overall

This thing is truly something.  This thing looks like what the future looked like to someone from the 70s.  I could imagine this thing as a prop in a movie like Logan's Run.  It is kind of nice that this thing doesn't look as dated as the DG-20 or Unisynth.  The sounds are also unique enough that they can blend with a variety of different instruments.  I was playing around with this thing with a variety of different rhythm and drum machines from the 70s, 80s, and 90s and this thing blended quite nicely.  I would probably put this in the same category of instrument as the former mentioned digital guitars or the Suzuki Omnichord.  It is not quite suited for lead but makes a great rhythm or accent piece, and since it is easay to just turn on and jump right in, it could be perfect for testing out some chords for a song - especially if you are not the best guitarist but love that strummed sound.

Sample

All voices and rhythms:
Strumming:

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Instrument Review - Sony DRP-1

I was scrolling through eBay one day when I came across this "rare" gem - a Sony drum machine!

The auction was only going for a couple dollars and it made me wonder just what a Sony drum machine would sound like so I bid and lo and behold, I won.  This thing is definitely an audio oddity, which would make it perfect for my music.

Build

What is there to say?  This thing looks and feels cheap.  The buttons are rubber and responsive, so I guess there is that.  The power switch works.  The battery compartment opens with out a problem (although the molds that hold the 2 AA batteries are kind of strange at first but they get the job done).  I would probably rate the build on this well since there is really not that much you can screw up on.

Cosmetics

This thing resembles a computer mouse with added buttons.  I suppose the design is made to fit in your hand and be played with your fingers like a mini drum kit.

Sound 

The sounds are lo-fi samples.  They aren't terrible but they are not dynamic.  This would definitely be fun to play around with for one-off songs or in conjunction with an effects processor.

Features

One 1/8" audio jack.  Seven sounds. Eight rhythms - one of which is just a repetitive cow bell and another punctuated by some really gritty sample of some sped up person yelling "Sony!"  This is reminiscent of the early samples you would hear in Nintendo or Genesis games (or dare I say Colecovision's Squish'em Sam).  Out of the eight rhythms, I would say two are decent.  The others could be fun.  I suppose another feature of this thing could be that it has four little plastic feat on the bottom that serve no purpose.  The legs should have been made of rubber so this thing doesn't slide around.  I also find the plug placement strange.  I would expect it at the top but it is on the bottom below the wrist.  Coupled with the resemblance of a computer mouse, the absence of an internal speaker, the low audio output, and a simple 1/8" jack, I am lead to believe that this device was targeted for desktop users.

Overall

Overall I wouldn't pay more than five bucks for this thing.  I personally love recording with weird instruments so I have something to write in my liner notes.  It also provides me with some subtle variation since I am too cheap to buy a new or professional model but this thing is a toy.  I really find it odd because this is a low-end "drum pad" from Sony Corporation.  Considering their reputation with audio equipment, one would expect a higher quality device.  While the DRP-1 is the entry level of the DRP series, the other two aren't any better.  They feature a couple more sounds and rhythms, as well as a rudimentary programming feature.

Gallery

Sorry.  Not much to photograph!

Instrument Review - Yamaha EMR-1

I couldn't resist picking up this little device when I saw it for less than ten dollars on eBay so I bid on it and won.  When it arrived in the mail a pristine little black box greeted me.  This "digital drummer" came with very low expectations but I didn't care.  The dimensions seemed to match my Yamaha FB-01 and the sounds quirky enough for me to find useful.  So, without further ado, here is my simple review.

Build

This thing is pretty sound.  All but four buttons are a soft rubber and they are all it pretty good shape (apart from the "shuffle" button that appeared to be the previous owner's favorite).  Despite its age the device looks brand new and I would rate this thing pretty highly.

Cosmetics

The device is simple.  Several buttons, a small LED screen, a light showing what beat it is that is slightly reminiscent of KITT's scanner bar from Knight Rider.  This thing is so neutral that it can pretty much be integrated into any audio setup without appearing out of place.

Sound 

This is where many would grade this thing poorly.  The device is just a box full of PCM drum loops.  This is basically a home keyboard rhythm machine with additional rhythms.  It has the same intro or fill-in features a home keyboard of that era featured so it makes you wonder who this device was actually being marketed for.  My personal opinion is that the sounds are dated and some rhythms clunky but they are also fun, and the main reason why I picked this up was because it was different than anything out there.  Modern drum and rhythm machines kind of sound real.  Early machines were extremely synthetic.  Drum machines from the eighties had so much variation.  This one definitely does not sound real, although it does have some wonderful hi-hats and cymbals.

Features

This thing is bare bones and I imagine it was marketed for the home amateur market.  You may want this device if you are playing in a church band and needed a drummer.  The features on this are kind of minimal.  It was designed to daisy chain to other instruments in the Yamaha EM series, like the EMT-1.  That is neat, I suppose.  This thing also has MIDI, line inputs and outs (using RCA jacks), and power through if using in conjunction of other Yamaha devices.

While the rhythm features are pretty standard, the only thing that I find on this that make this slightly better than the rhythm section on a home keyboard is the "large" and "small" buttons that seemingly mute or add certain instruments to the selected rhythm, which seems to help facilitate songwriting and differentiating different parts of the song.  I personally like this ease of use so that I may record starting with the intro button, transition to the main rhythm, use a few fills, and then utilize these two buttons for either a chorus or bridge.  This is similar to older rhythm machines that have potentiometers to alter the sound of a single instrument, just with less precision.

Overall

Over all, this thing is an oddity.  It plays PCM rhythms, none to spectacular, has minimal features, and seems to be designed to be used in conjunction with other dated Yamaha products.  Keeping that in minde, if you like to record using strange one-offs, musical oddities, or antiquated synthesizers, this is a great addition to any studio - especially when considering its size.

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Instrument Review - Siel MDP-40 a.k.a. Suzuki RPM-40 a.k.a. Keytek MDP-40

Late last year I reviewed the Suzuki Keyman PK-37 - an instance when a Japanese company outsourced manufacturing of their product to an Italian synthesizer manufacturer, of all companies.  While the PK-37 was a line unique to Suzuki, with odd designs and features (with the PK-37 not resembling any of its brothers or sisters), there were other instruments that were just re-branded.  While this is not all that unusual, the Siel/Suzuki partnership was kind of weird and the instrument we will look at today is the Siel MDP-40, also known as the Suzuki RPM-40, which was a simple drum machine.

What I find strange about this unit, which I will discuss in a little more detail below, is that this unit does not appear to be a costly machine and while it does offer some features useful for professional musicians, the quality (in both build and sound) is something lacking, which brings to question just who this machine was designed for in the first place.

Build

My first impression when holding this thing was that it was incredibly light.  The plastic looks of medium quality and appears to be the same type found in their synth lines of the time.  The buttons are sufficiently sized for a normal human finger to press but pressing some of them down they were either too responsive resulting in some double taps or not responsive enough causing the beat to be a bit off.  This may be chalked up to age but I will assume not.  The one dial on this thing - a volume potentiometer - is very firm and hard to turn but may be the sturdiest part of this synth.  There were no crackles when adjusted.

Cosmetics

The cosmetics of this machine aren't terrible.  The Siel and Suzuki differ slightly, with the Siel closely resembling the scheme of their other synths of the time, like the DK-70, with colored bars on the buttons.  What I found particularly odd is that while many companies that make different types of units (drum machine/synth/sequencer/etc.) try to keep things uniform, like the mid-eighties Korg DDD-1, DDD-5, or Super Section, this one has some similarities.  While Siel used the color bars on the buttons, the buttons are larger plastic square buttons with rounded edges while their synths used smaller rectangular rubber buttons.  This may seem minor but for some aesthetics are everything.  This was my main complaint regarding the aesthetics of the Seiko DS-250, where that keyboard had a completely different design from the earlier models or the add-ons.

I do like the graphics on the buttons.  The Siel features large pictograms so that a user can quickly identify the sound while the Suzuki has it split with the name.  Again, this is minor being that the instrument is small and will be close to the user to begin with.  The features are also clearly labeled.

And for some reason on the far left is printed "A.C. DESIGN."


Sound

This is where I scratch my head.  When a company releases a standalone drum machine you kind of expect to have slightly enhanced quality but this sounds like they ported some low-bit samples from a home keyboard line.  The sounds aren't terrible and can be quite useful and fun.  Their dated sounds can make great accents with a nice punchy attitude.  The kick, snare, rimshot, and cowbell are good, the hi-hats, cymbals, and shaker decent, the tom is alright, and the hand claps being borderline dreadful.

I will also say that the preset rhythms are kind of mediocre.  While they are not overdone like plenty of Casio rhythms, they don't really feel all too inspiring.  While that is a lot to ask from a cheap eighties digital synth, considering this was an independent drum machine I would have expected something a little more.

Features

This thing is pretty spartan when it comes to features.  It has 40 different preset rhythms (20 presets with 2 versions), hence the 40 in its moniker, tempo control, basic MIDI function, and manual drum play.  The couple things I like about this are that it offers a "swing" option and hand clap variations to the presets and that it provides 2 different breaks that allows for a break to be played and then transition to the second preset of the chosen option. It also appears two more sounds are only accessible through MIDI (a low kick and low hi-hat).

Overall

Overall, I would only recommend this if you like cheap early eighties digital sounds.  This unit is small and strange but because of its uncommon availability the price can be a little ridiculous.  It would be like paying a premium just to get some Casio preset rhythms.  Most of the rhythms are throwaways and some of the sounds can only be accessed through the basic-at-best MIDI function.  The clunky plastic buttons are reasonably placed and sized but just don't feel like a natural fit for a drum machine.

While I tend to dislike circuit-bending (because most people poorly execute it), this would be a great unit to mess around with.  The guts are pretty spacious and the entire left side is ideal for dials or switches.  Slap on some wood sides and some additional effects and this thing could be a gritty beast.  Without any modification this drum machine is just a lo-fi simpleton, or as another review called it, a "monster of mediocrity."

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Instrument Review - Fisher SC-310 (with SCK-30) a.k.a. Sanyo KBX-7

As a child who grew up in the eighties there were two main electronics that I had in my bedroom - a keyboard and a stereo cassette deck a.k.a. a "boom box."  The keyboard I had in question was a Casio PT-87.  As for the boom box, I couldn't tell you what I had.  It most likely was a hand me down from my brothers as they upgraded their equipment but there is one thing I can tell you - I used those two things almost daily, sometimes in conjunction so it is only logical for electronics companies of that era to combine the two and make the ultimate device in home recording and playing - a stereo deck with a built in musical keyboard.

I have found three different examples online of this amazing yet forgotten piece of synthesizer (and stereo) history - the Casio KX-101, Casio CK-200 & CK-500, Sharp MR-990, and the Fisher SC-310 (with SCK-30 stereo music composer).

Casio KX-101

Casio CK-200

Casio CK-500

Sharp MR-990

Fisher SC-310

All of these keyboards each have some distinctions in sound (although not much being that they are early-to-mid eighties square wave synths) and they have some varying features, although very little information can be found about these suckers.  The Casio KX-101 comes with a keyboard attached to the bottom and provides for 4-note polyphony, some rhythms, arpeggios, and chords.  From my understanding, the Casio keyboards also allow for the playing to be recorded onto the internal cassette deck (although I have read on some websites that this is not true).  I am uncertain about the Sharp mode but will be reviewing the Fisher SCK-30 because that is the only keyboard currently in my possession, however I will not be able to review the cassette deck features because I have only acquired the keyboard.  

Build

Unlike the Casios, the Fisher keyboard is detachable, which is nice.  For a small generic keyboard it feels relatively solid and possesses a decent weight (especially with the 5 AA batteries added).  The mini-keys sit close but feel responsive to the touch, the sliders feel firm, and the buttons on par with any other kind of toy keyboard of that time.

Cosmetics

This thing definitely has the aesthetics from a nineteen eighties stereo company.  The glossy black plastic that covers the top is definitely a change from the drab gray boxes Casio was dropping on the market (whatever happened to those cream-colored or wood-grain Casiotones?)  The features are clearly labeled and the LCD display is nice enough to even display a staff so that you know what note you are playing and where it is located.  My only complaint is that on the far left of the keyboard are nine bullet points describing the features of the keyboard.  I could understand if Fisher decided to eternally emblazon onto the face of their keyboard directions, being that they were not known for making keyboards and the memory play features of these early keyboards can be somewhat confusing, being that they require a sequence of buttons pressed, but bullet points that could be best left for the back of a box or a magazine advertisement?

Sound 

The sounds of the voices are that of an inexpensive analog toy keyboard but are slightly different than some of the other keyboards like this out there and considering some of the features, these sounds can be welcomed into one's synthesizer orchestra.  I wouldn't be surprised if under the hood this thing had some early Casio or Yamaha circuitry.  While they may not be the first chair, they definitely can provide some dynamics or accents to a song.  The rhythms are especially nice - particularly the several rhythms with added arpeggios.  As a fan of vintage rhythm machines, I find these numerous rhythms to be fun and enjoyable and after several minutes of playing around with the features I came up with several ideas for some songs (I had to stop myself being that I have countless unfinished projects already).

Features

This is where this keyboard shines.  While this instrument is monophonic with sounds that sometimes make a Casio VL-1 sound warm, it comes with 8 preset voices, 18 different rhythms, chord function (in a typical organ set up and not integrated into the keyboard like later home keyboards), and when the chord buttons are played along with a rhythm you get kind of a walking bass.  Personally I like the chord section resembling that of an organ versus occupying an octave on the lower end of the keyboard.  For an individual like myself who is not a trained pianist, having these non-conventional setups helps facilitate the creation of music in an easy and recognizable way.  While there is no fill option for the rhythms, it is easy to change rhythms mid-song to provide for some variation.  I also thought it interesting that one of the rhythm options is "enka," which presumably references the Japanese musical style, although I am not sure.  I was just surprised to see this option as I have never seen it appear on any other keyboard in my possession.

There are sliders for master volume, rhythm, and chord, transpose and tempo buttons, and perhaps the most interesting aspect of this keyboard - memory recording which allows for the playing of up to 508 notes into 8 different sections that can be stored on a cassette loaded into the accompanying stereo.  It is also believed that you can record your playing directly onto the cassette.

While not a part of the stereo, the keyboard only has a left and right RCA jack and no plug for external power.  While there is a battery compartment for 5 AA batteries, it appears this is because the keyboard is intended to be used in conjunction with the stereo.  From researching, it appears that when docked into the stereo the keyboard consumes less of the batteries and has a longer life but it I am uncertain if the batteries are required while docked.  While this is unfortunate, having the keyboard detachable is a positive, being that should the stereo component die you do not also lose an instrument and modifying the keyboard for external power or expanded audio out features would not be terribly difficult to perform and would be possible by a novice technician.

Overall

Overall I think this keyboard is a must have for any collector.  Personally I would choose this one over the Casios (although the KX-101 would make an excellent shelf piece since the keyboard is forward facing).  The sounds may not make this as desirable to some but the features packed into this small keyboard are a plus.  It may not be a centerpiece of a band but it can definitely provide for some interesting music or some level of variation should one choose to utilize the rhythms and while the audio output options are limited, having RCA outs does provide for a nice clean sound.  The portability is a positive for this keyboard.  While the battery life could pose a nuisance, as mentioned above it could be easy to modify, and even not, I do not see this keyboard being used to draft a symphonic masterpiece.  Intermittent use may prove the battery issue a non-issue.

Looking at just the SCK-30, I would recommend if you can find this at a low price (somewhere under the $30 range), or with the SC-310, possibly somewhere under $100.  Since this is not a Casio, you may be able to find this relatively cheap (I got my keyboard $20).  Personally, I love the forward facing KX-101 with all of its buttons, dials, and sliders.  A close second in aesthetics would be the Sharp with the retractable keyboard (those buttons and sliders again do it for me).  The problem is that those keyboards, while similar, tend to go for much more.  The Fisher can get you into the ballpark for a fraction of the price.

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