05/21/05
Casio Casiotone MT-240 keyboard
Sorry about the huge picture, but I'm completely gay for this thing. I love it. Picked it up at the Jefferson Highway Flea Market (I'm not even sure that's the name of the place) for 15 dollars from Jimmy On The Dock, a kindly southern gentleman who hangs out on the dock/loading bay area of the flea market, leaving signs inside of his shops that say "see Jimmy on the dock"... so that's his name now. Anyway, this thing is one of my best recent thrift store finds by far. Here's a list of things that make it such a wonderful little cheapo keyboard:
01. It can be used as a MIDI controller for any software synthesizers you might have. This alone made the purchase worth it. The MT-240 came out in the late 80's, if I'm not mistaken, making it one the earliest home (marketed more for the general consumer as opposed to professionals) keyboards with MIDI capability.
02. You can get some great sounds out of this thing. The "210 Sound Tone Bank" label at the top right is a bit misleading, as it really only has 18 preset sounds to choose from, but you can combine any two of these sounds into one... which often makes for some beautiful/bizarre tones. Bells + Elec Piano = tops!
03. The demo song is a bombastic, tropical-themed tour de force of homosexuality. It's hilarious.
04. The "MIDI Pulse Code Modulation" font.
05. There's something metallic rattling around loose inside of it. This adds to its character, as a metallic object rattling around inside of you would add to yours.
Since the MT-240 was the only thing of note I found this weekend, I'll throw up another picture of it. Isn't it pretty?
© 2005 seawall