Casiotone History

Learning to play more than one musical instrument was costly and time-consuming, and the electronic instruments of the time did not offer ease of operation either. In a bid to break through these barriers, Casio developed the compact, lightweight Casiotone 201 electronic keyboard with a built-in speaker to offer the enjoyment of playing a variety of different musical instruments with simplicity. This innovative instrument enabled the user to play the sounds of 29 different instruments on the keyboard. Hailed at the time as a “third type of instrument”—neither an electric organ nor a synthesizer—the model proved a good fit with society’s predilection for richness of spirit and spread around the world in a flash, giving rise to a whole new way of enjoying music.