Pan Toys MC-73
(digital squarewave keyboard with C64 sounds & accompaniment)
This rare squarewave keyboard from 1996(?, part of the sound chip number)
is yet another small member of the MC-3
hardware family. It has less features but the sound is very similar (see
there).
On the keyboard stands no manufacturer, but on eBay I saw that they
were released by Pan Toys (and likely others);
main features:
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37 midsize keys
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polyphony 4 notes (only 1 with accompaniment)
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2 built-in speakers (stereo, sounds bassless and distorted)
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8 preset sounds {piano, guitar, violin, organ, harpsichord, cowbell, clarinet,
mandolin}
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8 preset rhythms {rhumba, march, pops, bossanova, disco, 16 beats, slow
rock, waltz}
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functions selected through cipher buttons {'1'..'3'} + rotary select knob
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volume slider
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sustain & vibrato buttons
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rhythm fill-in button
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tempo +/- buttons (16 steps)
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transpose button (+11 semitone steps, only with accompaniment}
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single finger accompaniment (no manual chord mode)
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percussion button (switches rightmost 5 keys into drumpad mode}
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squarewave based sound generator like Letron MC-3.
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CPU= "705, MC25-1" (42 pin DIL) with separate sound chip "DSG-MC-3, 1996
(K)" (24 pin DIL, same like MC-3)
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simple sequencer (polyphonic record & playback of all sounds, 51 notes)
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battery alarm (plays 2 notes when not played for a minute - also when mains
operated)
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8 demo melodies (monophonic main voice with standard accompaniment)
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"1 key 1 note" button (doesn't work?)
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jacks for AC- adapter & headphone
notes:
The case design (speakers & "voice/ style/ song"- knob) was inspired
by the Yamaha PSS-21 (see PSS-31),
while the control panel buttons look much like with MC-32.
Like with Pan Toys MC-7,
the power LED flashes as tempo indicator. Unless volume is set extremely
low, the sound of my specimen sounds rather bassless and somewhat distorted;
possibly there is a design flaw in the amplifier.
The main voice sound is much like MC-3; the "mandolin" rings.
Also the accompaniment and rhythm sounds like with MC-3, but there is only
a single finger accompaniment and no manual chord mode with rhythm off.
During accompaniment, also the fill-in pattern contains accompaniment notes.
There is also no programmable drum pattern, but only the rightmost 5 keys
can be switched into drum kit mode (sounds like MC-3 drumpads).
There is a simple record/ playback sequencer which records all sounds
(maximum 51 notes) and control panel events. Unlike most other such keyboards,
the playback tempo can not be changed with the tempo buttons, but instead
it even records tempo changes in the rhythm. (Pattern is erased by power
off.)
The 8 demo melodies employ the currently selected preset sound. They
play monophonic with standard accompaniment and repeat each in a loop.
The demo melodies are:
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Mary Had a Little Lamb
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London Bridge Is Falling Down
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Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
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Night in Moscow Suburb
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Red River Valley
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Brother John
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Umterlanders Heimweh
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Happy Birthday
The misspelled "Unterlanders Heimweh" is not like the melody on Casio
VL-Tone 1, but corresponds to the folk waltz on Elite
MC2200 (see there) and Casio MT-36.
question: There is a strange "1
key 1 note" button; normally such buttons start a "one key play" feature
to play the demo melodies or sequencer contents note by note, but this
one makes only the "record" LED flash (another press turns it off) and
otherwise seems to do nothing. Does anybody know what it is for? (I have
no manual for this instrument.)
Regarding the CPU type label, also a variant called "MC-25" may exist,
which appears to be the genuine name of this hardware class. The preset
sound and rhythm list of the Pan Toys MC-73 resembles Bontempi
ES3000 (aka MC-2100) although the latter has different hardware
and less polyphony.
| removal
of these screws voids warranty... |
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