The '80s were a golden age for treasures that would eventually be found in molding boxes in the corners of your garage. After parsing through the Atari cartridges and Kiss 8-tracks, with enough patience and some luck, there’s the chance you’d come across some of the best and weirdest musical instruments brushed aside by time. In today’s music landscape, “toy” instruments have become something of a coveted medium to expand and redefine creativity. There are hundreds of cheap synths and plastic aberrations in circulation that collectors and players keep an eye out for, but two in particular separated themselves from the herd and created their own cult followings: the Casio SK-1 and the Suzuki Omnichord.
Found on the stages of everyone from David Bowie to Arcade Fire to Brian Eno, the SK-1 and Omnichord are renowned for their innovative design and function as well as their incredibly unique sounds. Created as entry-level instruments that beginners and non-players would find accessible, both have since carved loyal followings of musicians from all walks. Though Suzuki and Casio are connected by the fact that each company made a quintessential '80s instruments, each companies’ product and distribution is wildly different. Let’s take a look through their histories and see how the SK-1 and Omnichord came about.
The Suzuki Omnichord
The classic OM27 Omnichord.
Suzuki, known primarily for various lines of educational instruments, introduced the Omnichord in 1981 with the model name OM27. The Omnichord, though a completely new instrument, retained Suzuki’s interest in creating accessible instruments for novice players. The design of the Omnichord evolved as a modern, electronic successor to the autoharp and quickly took on a life of its own.
The interface of the Omnichord consists of a panel of buttons corresponding to different keys and chord structures with a thin strip for sliding a finger or guitar pick along to emulate strumming. When a chord is selected, the programmed drum patterns keep in step with the changes, and the strum-able metal strip is always in tune with which chord is in action. Later renditions of the Omnichord, such as the model OM250M and the QChord (still manufactured by Suzuki today) incorporated MIDI accessibility and more advanced integrations, but the original OM27 is still the most widely used incarnation of the Omnichord.
Favored for its “8-bit” sound and intuitive design, the Omnichord is all over the modern landscape. A quick search for “Omnichord” on YouTube reveals the instrument’s popularity amongst bedroom singer-songwriters and producers. Some notable players include Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, and Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo, Wes Anderson, and '90s Nickelodeon fame. The Omnichord is even a known favorite for the music on Adventure Time, a surreal cartoon popular among children and bored twentysomethings. Over the past thirty plus years, the truly unique sound and nature of the Omnichord has set it above and beyond as a coveted '80s garage treasure.
Take a look at this timeline of Omnichord models starting with its short-lived predecessor, the Tronichord. Each iteration of Omnichord expanded the previous with additional chords and programmed rhythms to choose from.
The Casio SK-1
TA circuit bent SK-1.
Whereas the Omnichord has found an audience for its unique sound and interface, the Casio SK-1 is coveted almost solely for its kitsch. Released by Casio in 1985, the SK-1, dubbed “The Poor Man’s Sampler,” was one of the first commercially available synths with sampling capabilities. This coupled with the instrument’s price range below $100 made the SK-1 both a novelty and an entry gate into sampling. Everything else on the SK-1 is the quintessence of cheap 80’s synths: molded plastic keys, primary colors on the buttons, obnoxious percussion rhythms looping for eternity. The SK-1 defined the markings and characteristics of finding a synth in your attic.
The Casio SK-1 has developed an inextricable affinity with the phrase “lo-fi” over the past 29 years. The corny synth sounds and comically underwhelming appearance of the SK-1 earned it a place of affection amongst synth aficionados and collectors. The synth has also inspired a culture of “circuit-bending” and different modifications to the SK-1 to take the instrument to new experimental heights. In addition, take for example Owen Ashworth, better known by his project name Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. It is well documented Ashworth used a Casio SK-1 primarily in recording his second live album in Sydney.
The decades are sometimes unfair to instruments from years ago, but diamonds in the rough have a habit of cropping up. In the years following their release into the market, the Suzuki Omnichord and the Casio SK-1, though drastically different instruments, are both loved remnants of 80’s instrument sensibilities. The next time you’re visiting the parents have a look through the garage, and also be sure to check out Reverb’s listings for these instruments and others like them.