Plugin Boutique VirtualCZ

Casio’s CZ synths have been left largely untouched by the virtual instrument boom. Bruce Aisher investigates a new plug-in that sets out to put this right

As a teenager in 1985 I visited my local music shop to try out any new synths – there was no way I could afford any of them, but they somehow put up with me. This was a time when analogue synths covered in pots or sliders had given way to rows of buttons and LCD displays. The Yamaha DX7 had broken sales records for a synth, and pointed very clearly to a new and very digital future. I can still remember my first impressions of the CZ-5000. It had lots of buttons but, even to my untrained ears, it sounded more like the analogue synths I’d heard on records than the DX7. A few years later, my first polysynth was the cut-price, mini-key CZ-101.

The CZ range generated all sound digitally using so-called Phase Distortion. This is not entirely dissimilar to Frequency Modulation (as employed by Yamaha’s DXs), the significant difference in PD being that the modulation source was harmonicallyrich, and reset with each cycle of the waveform. The amount of this phase distortion could be controlled by a Digital Controlled Waveform (DCW) envelope. This made the CZs appear much more familiar to those used to envelope controlled filters, and made them relatively easy to understand and programme. Two oscillator sections could be layered and detuned, plus be controlled by independent eight-stage pitch, waveform and amplitude envelopes. You also got pitch glide, portamento and vibrato (controlled from a multi-waveform LFO). Interestingly, Casio also threw in ring modulation between oscillators – that made bell-like and more clangorous tones possible – and noise modulation.

Familiar sound

VirtualCZ attempts to recreate this chapter of synthesis in plug-in form and does a good job. Run through any of the presets and you can immediately hear the familiar PD sound. Programming is much easier than via the original’s LCD and buttons. For those who can’t be doing with multi-stage envelopes, there is now the possibility to switch to ADSR mode. You even get a chorus unit that is similar, yet far quieter, than the original on my CZ-3000. A major bonus for CZ keyboard owners is the ability to automatically upload patch changes via MIDI SysEx – making this a virtual instrument and hardware editor.

This also makes direct comparison easy. Whilst most sounds are very close, there was a perceptible difference in tone in the lower registers, as well as a more dramatic difference as far as aliasing was concerned. It sounds smoother, with more class and less dirt.

VirtualCZ does go further functionally than the originals in some areas, but stays close enough to the PD heritage to make this a great addition to your retro armoury.