Over the holidays, I discovered an old project I started as a kid almost 20 years ago-
Over 600+ megabytes of vintage toy keyboard sample loops.
As some background, I saved up my money from working after school at White Castle (a dangerously delicious burger chain) to buy a Sound Blaster 16 card. It was thrilling. The Sound Blaster transformed my family’s Windows 95 machine into a futuristic recording studio. Thus, my dreams of working in the music tech industry were alive and well. (I’m still working on that dream).
I used this “state-of-the-art” technology to record all the toy keyboards I owned. Then, I spent weeks editing the loops using a shareware program called “Cool Edit”.
One of the hundreds of free loops included:
These sounds have never seen the light of day. Until now…
10X Platinum Producer, Bolo Da Producer makes a beat with these free samples
Features:
AudioKit has released a new free and open-source collection of over 800+ free original loops of vintage Casio and Yamaha toy keyboards.
This free sample pack includes over 600+ MB of tempo-labeled loops and individual drum hits of 1990s Yamaha PSS, PSR, and Casio MT keyboards. For full retro-sound authenticity, the samples were lovingly recorded through a Sound Blaster 16-bit soundcard and processed and mangled using ’90s computer sound editors.
- Tempo-labeled loops of vintage Yamaha PSS, PSR and Casio MT keyboards.
- Recorded Lo-Fi through a Sound Blaster card.
- Sounds Processed and Mangled using 1990s Computer Technology
- 600+ Megabytes of 16-bit, 44.1k wav files
- 800+ Original Open-source and Royalty Free samples
These are the sounds millions of people heard as their first venture into “Electronic Music. These are the blips, beeps, and crude instrument renditions from the cheap electronic keyboards we grew up with. Even though they were dismissed as just “Toys, their sounds have a unique quality that will ruin add character to any mix.
Sound Demos:
Demo 1
Demo 2
Demo 3
Demo 4
Demo 5
Demo 6
Download:
Individual Sounds on Github:
https://github.com/analogcode/toykeyboards
You are completely free to use these samples as part of your own original commercial and private compositions. I’m releasing these samples as MIT open-source. Meaning, you can do whatever you want with these sounds.
The drums are cool. Some of the tonal loops are slightly off-time. But, all-in-all, these sounds are perfect for chopping up into a sampler. Who knows… You may find a hidden gem in these. Enjoy,
Thank you!
Many many Thanx Young Man !!!
I will definitly use these lovingly produced sounds !!!
Bless You !!!!
Paul xxx
[…] More information: AudioKit / Toy Keyboard Samples & Loops […]
Thank you for these Matthew. It seems quite odd that at the time these 16bit sounds sounded really awful to me, but now they seem full of latent possibility!
[…] this page to listen to the demos and download your free […]
Thank you for your generosity, Matthew! This download is a godsend!
Just wanted to say also that I still have that exact, same Yamaha keyboard that’s featured in the photo on this page. It still works perfectly, and I still use it every now and then, like when writing a song. 🙂
Awesome, thanks!
Thanks for the samples. I remember the exitement of some of these “demos”, wondering how the manufacturers actualy got the various tunes coded into the machines, and if there was a way to replace their data, and use my own instead, but it seems that they are hard coded into the chips, perhaps with eproms or something.
I was thinking of doing a simular project as yours, with my DJX , but its power socket is dead. I could by-pass that, but i only have 44khz built in AC97 sampling power, or a Berringer Ucontroller USB1 to sample with.
i love this beautiful world
This is AMAZING, thank you <3
Many thanks for this. Can someone explain to me how to integrate the soundBank to the app synth One?
Hi Debonz, these are standalone wav loops and one-shots. They can be used on your desktop. Or, in an iOS DAW that loads wav files. No AudioKit apps required. Currently, these can’t be used in Synth One. As, Synth One creates all sounds purely, with synthesis and doesn’t use samples. However, I believe you can load wave loops into GarageBand, and use alongside Synth One!
Hello Mathew … Amazing Work on these samples … I just tried the Synth one and the sounds are amazing !!! they remind me of blade runner soundtrack from vangelis and some 80’s synth sounds … I love the feel of that era !!!
I remember about the same time you were sampling these from your sound blaster card I had an amiga computer and I found a four track sequencer on it and I was blown away with the sounds provided … That time 80’s was amazing Iam sure you would also agree.
Excellent team work and my congrats to everyone who worked on Synth One …. You guys are amazing.
I wish that synth one is soon released for MAC so I can use these sounds in Logic Sequencer. That would be amazing.
Best Wishes
Athar Saeed
Pakistan
Thanks Arthar, your kind words humble us! And, eventually, we would love to bring Synth One to the mac!
Thank you very much for this awesome sounds!
Thank you for your hard work. I have sent your video to my friends. Some get it & some don’t. They are not used to iPad apps for synth sounds. They are used to keyboard hardware not software. I love what you are doing. Thanks Michael.
Thanks Michael!
Splendiferous!
Hello can you create a lib for the Casiotone MT 100 all patches and Accomp please
That is so awesome… your generosity is way above the average. Much appreciation, and all the best into 2020 and beyond 👍🏽👍🏼👍🏻🇦🇺
You are a national treasure!
Thank You Matthew very much!
thanx
Thanks Pam!
Hi Matthew. Thanks for the generosity and hard work. I remember my sister having a Casio keyboard but not one as sophisticated as yours. We would always play around.
Now I have a Korg Poly61 that still works brilliantly. Just needs a few fixes on some buttons to bring it back to 100% functionality. Always love plugging it into my amp and just messing with the presets.
All the best and keep up the good work.
Hey Davey! You rock. And, that Korg Poly 61 sounds awesome. I bet it still sounds fantastic! Thanks again
Thanks for the cool sounds! I’m really looking forward to your work on AUv3
Thanks Stephen, I’m working hard every day.
You Da Man! In Costa Rica makin a hit with these!
Bolo, thanks my man! And, it sounds like you’re living the dream. HMU when you make it back to Atlanta!
Wow! This brings back memories. Thank You Thank You Thank You
Thanks JC! Really appreciate the kind words!
Wonderful! Thank you!
Thanks Hugh, appreciate you!
OMG … saving up for a Sound Blaster 16, then spending 2 1/2 weeks weeping bloody tears of frustration while editing CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT trying to get it to work because it insisted it had to be on IRQ 5 and I already had a tablet or a scanner or something on IRQ 5 that didn’t want to move, either.
Good times.
You are the kind of people that makes internet great. Thanks a lot.
I’ve been trying for ages to create a certain electric snare sound in Pro Logic, without success.
The MT52 snare is exactly what I was after.
Thank you, well appreciated.
nerdy stuff and god old mess too;)
thanks a lot