Saisho MK-600 Music Maker

phantompowers · September 22, 2010, 04:44:20 PM

Circuit Bent Saisho MK 600 Music Maker.mp4

I haven't posted for a while 'cos I have been totally wrapped up in playing my guitar again and writing songs! Although I do browse the site regularly.
I bent this recently and have just got round to making the vid. I got it for £4 from a charity shop.
It has 2 glitch switches and has been pitch shifted with a 40106 chip oscillator. This is the first pitch shift I have done on a keyboard that hasn't been a straight resistor for pot swap so I am very pleased.
It also has an output added that is attached to the tempo LED via a vactrol so it can be synced along to other bits of kit.
If anyone wants any further info on it I will be glad to share all that I have discovered.

100th post!!!!!!!!!!! Ta-daaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

phantompowers · September 22, 2010, 04:45:15 PM

Oooh yeahhhh!
I am now a 3 star mother fucker!

Circuitbenders · September 22, 2010, 05:04:34 PM

nice, i like the LED's going crazy and the clanging percussion

Is this actually something else rebranded as Saisho? If i recall correctly Saisho was the inhouse brand of either Currys or Dixons. Whichever one it was the other one had Matsui. I somehow doubt they would has designed their own keyboard and it kind of reminds me of something else.

electoyd · September 22, 2010, 06:13:23 PM

there was the saisho pro synth as well and another which names escape me at the mo. All 3 are really bendable, though the pro synth is pretty big and heavy, you can program in drum patterns on it. Are you just using the 40106 like an ltc chip?

phantompowers · September 23, 2010, 08:56:05 AM

Yes, Saisho was Dixon's brand but I have know idea what this keyboard was before they stole the design!
It's not really stereo but the bass and drums are split left and right so you can eq them differently or add different effects which is nice. The programmable drums are a bit crap, as the pattern, when played back never sounds the same as when you punched it in.
The LED's do look cool when they go crazy but it totally messes up the timing of the 'tempo LED' which I have wired to an output.
I did use the 40106 'like an ltc'. A bit of a waste of a 40106 but a lot cheaper than an ltc!

electoyd · September 23, 2010, 08:31:13 PM

did you ground the unused pins of the 40106? I always liked this keyboard it has a really different sound, the design is quite good as well (for the era). The pro synth has nice bends on it, lots of subtle stuff you can do with pots on the drums, i had to get rid of mine cause it was a monster and i kept tripping over it, the mk600 is much better size. It was the mk800 that was the other i had, it was like the big bruv ov the mk600 but not as unweildy as the pro synth, this keyboard had quite a techno sound, had pots on it that could pitch the bass drum amongst other things. Good to see someone else doing something with one of these.

Gordonjcp · September 24, 2010, 08:43:45 AM

Ground the unused *input* pins of any CMOS logic chip (40-series kind of thing). Don't ground the outputs.

Matt the Modulator · September 24, 2010, 11:47:14 AM

Yeah Great Work love the tones

- ive seen a few of these for sale on Ebay but never got round to getting one mmmmmm that might change - thanks for sharing

electoyd · September 27, 2010, 09:52:00 AM

thanks for that Gordon, i had been informed it was all the unused pins on 40's but yeah they can interfere with each other or something along those lines.

Gordonjcp · September 28, 2010, 10:56:08 AM

There was a very popular VHF amateur radio in the early 80s that grounded all unused pins of a quad-NAND gate - the trouble being that pulling both input pins low sent the output high, and that was grounded too! Apparently you could shave a good 50mA off the current draw by snipping the output pin...

electoyd · September 28, 2010, 02:26:05 PM

do you mean snipping off the unused output pins would save drawing the 50ma current? thanks

Gordonjcp · September 28, 2010, 02:36:29 PM

No - but in this case it did because the output was being driven to 5v but shorted to ground, drawing extra current and heating up the chip. Normally you'd just leave the output pins disconnected, but someone had designed the board with them wired to ground.

phantompowers · May 24, 2011, 08:42:40 PM

I know it's been a long time but I have re-bent this keyboard and it is loads better so I thought I'd share this with you. Please ask for any info on it and I'll gladly share.
Circuit Bent Saisho MK-600 Music Maker part 2

Matt the Modulator · May 24, 2011, 09:25:16 PM

Great tones love the note held indefinitely bend (if its bend that is )

phantompowers · May 25, 2011, 08:50:25 AM

Cheers! Yeah, It's a cool bend that one. It only works with some of the selected sounds though.
I've just found out that this keyboard is on the table hooters site under the name 'Letron MC-3'.
There were loads more bends and mods I could have performed but knowing when to stop is sometimes the most important thing!