Casio WK-3000 etc.

Overview of models with "drawbar" organ facility

Although Casio doesn't make a dedicated clonewheel instrument, some of the company's recent and current models offer a very cost-effective alternative.

The instruments in question are the 76-note WK-3000 and its sisters and successors. While nominally home keyboards, these instruments boast a dedicated "drawbar" organ function and onboard rotary speaker simulation. The "drawbars" in this case are pairs of buttons below the instrument's LCD, operating in a similar manner to the "virtual drawbars" on Clavia's Nord Electro and Nord Stage. These control the nine footages found on a classic Hammond, and the footage levels are shown on the LCD as bars. Only three levels per footage are available (as opposed to eight on most clonewheels) but in practice this is less of a limitation than it might sound. Additionally, key-click (on or off) and single-triggered percussion (2nd, 3rd or both, with variable decay) can be selected via the edit menu.

The onboard digital effects unit offers (among its dozens of effects) a rotary simulator with user parameters for fast and slow speeds, ramp-up and ramp-down speeds, default speed and run/brake. There are also multi-effect algorithms combining the rotary effect with overdrive and/or early reflection/reverb. The rotary speed is controlled by the keyboard's modulation button or wheel, and ramps realistically up or down.

Models

The original instruments were:

• WK-3000 (basic model; modulation button, no floppy disk drive or dedicated line-outs)
• WK-3100 (specialized Karaoke model; as 3000 but with microphone input)
• WK-3500 (advanced model; as 3000 but with modulation wheel, floppy disk drive and stereo line-out sockets)

These were replaced in 2005 by:

• WK-3200 (as 3000 but with more onboard RAM and more/improved preset sounds and rhythms)
• WK-3700 (as 3500 but with more onboard RAM and more/improved preset sounds and rhythms)

These were replaced in 2006 by:

• WK-3300 (as 3200 but with even more onboard RAM; USB-MIDI port replaces MIDI IN/OUT)
• WK-3800 (as 3700 but with even more onboard RAM; USB-MIDI port replaces MIDI IN/OUT)
• WK-8000 (as 3300 but with 88-note semi-weighted keyboard and modulation wheel)

All models feature a SmartMedia slot (latterly SD) and can accept data from the Web.

Pros & Cons

Pro:

• Costs far less than any clonewheel keyboard or module
• Also offers very good acoustic piano and vintage electric piano sounds, all editable
• Has 50 drawbar presets and 100 user memory slots specifically for drawbar sounds
• Good onboard digital effects including rotary, overdrive and reverb
• Extremely portable

Con:

• Only three drawbar levels per footage
• No facility for changing rotary speed via footswitch or MIDI modulation command (but onboard button or wheel are very effective)
• No foldback emulation
• Rotary emulation lacks advanced parameters
• Keyboard has no volume pedal facility
• Only one drawbar sound can be used at a time, even via MIDI or keyboard split
• Latest models (3300, 3800) have no conventional MIDI ports and can not be used as a controller or slave other than with a computer.

Others

The above models use technology first seen in Casio's MZ-2000 flagship, which boasted actual sliders for drawbar control, but which unfortunately cost as much as many true clonewheels.

As well as the WK range, Casio has produced 61-key versions.

• CTK-691 (as WK-3000; no pitch-bend wheel or modulation button)
• CTK-900 (as WK-3200; no pitch-bend wheel or modulation button)

These use exactly the same architecture as the larger versions, but the drawbar footages are only editable via a menu system, and there is no dedicated facility for changing the rotary speed while playing (the menu buttons can be used at a pinch).

For these reasons, the CTK models should not be seen as a cheap alternative to a clonewheel, tempting though it may seem.