Arturia CZ V Demo and Tutorial

Published on Apr 27, 2020 CatSynth TV

"We explore the CZ V from Arturia, including a tutorial on its phase-distortion synthesizer engine and an exploration of several factory presets. We also touch on the history of the original Casio CZ series (including the CZ 101) and phase distortion synthesis.

00:10 History of the Casio CZ Series
00:43 What is Phase Distortion Synthesis
01:26 Phase Distortion Synthesis in the CZ V
03:22 Basic Functions and Factory Presets
08:37 Working with the advanced panel and synthesizer engine
14:30 Advanced feature: Custom Phase-distortion waveform presets

'Released in 1984, the CZ-101 was Casio’s answer to the wildly popular Yamaha DX7. It was significantly less expensive and infinitely easier to program than its rival. Instead of frequency modulation, Casio’s phase distortion (PD) used various user-selected waveforms to modulate the timing of simple carrier waves at the cycle level in order to create more complex wave shapes. This simplified form of digital synthesis made it comparatively easy to perfect a wide variety of timbres spanning warm pads, natural percussion, buzzy digitalia, sci-fi effects and even analog synths. While PD could sound similar to FM, it also had a unique sonic signature all its own.'"