Casio Donates Keyboards for Make Music Day
Casio, a premier manufacturer of keyboards since 1980, is donating keyboards to Make Music Day. Held each year on June 21, Make Music Day (MMD) is a free celebration of music around the world. Launched in 1982 in France as the Fête de la Musique, it is now held on the same day in more than 1,000 cities in 120 countries.
Casio has selected the perfect instrument to accompany musicians on Make Music Day, the CT-S200 keyboard. The highly portable (less than eight pounds), keyboard provides musicians of all abilities with the foundation to bring music to their lives, no matter their environment. Casio will put this to the test as the company is providing 25 keyboards for Make Music Day performances in all sorts of unique venues, including down a mineshaft in Platteville, Wisconsin, on a mountain trail outside of El Paso, Texas, in a treehouse in Avon Lake, Ohio, and inside the zebra enclosure at the Philadelphia area's Elmwood Park Zoo.
The keyboard offers 61 full-size keys alongside 400 great-sounding tones, 77 rhythms, and ten types of reverb presets for added depth. The instrument also can connect to the Chordana Play app (iOS and Android) for lessons, possesses a “Dance Music Mode” to create and remix EDM tracks, and only takes six AA batteries to run.
We sat down with Sue VanderSchans, Casio’s Director of Marketing Communications, to discuss the company’s involvement in MMD.
How long has Casio been participating in MMD?
We first joined this wonderful global celebration in 2013 as part of the 7th Annual Make Music New York event, where we debuted our “Privia Piano Bar.” Pianist Nate Buccieri performed on our PX-5 Pro Digital Stage Piano on the flatbed of a truck that traveled all over New York City—from Harlem, down the West Side to the East Village. We were so happy to see so many people spontaneously join him in belting out their favorite tunes.
What motivated Casio to donate keyboards for this year’s event?
While we are always honored to be a part of MMD, donating keyboards this year holds a particularly important meaning for us, as we want to help everyone get beyond the trauma and loss from the pandemic and to celebrate the joy that active music-making can bring. The piano emerged as one of the most popular activities people of all ages took up during the pandemic, and we were pleasantly surprised by the sheer number of people who flocked to Casio keyboards during this time—to entertain themselves and their family members or to simply reacquaint themselves with an old friend.
Why is the CT-S200 the best model for musicians to use during Make Music Day?
The Casiotone CT-S200 is a 61-key portable keyboard that was designed with flexibility in mind. Our developers believed that the joy of music should be shared anytime, anywhere. It has a built-in carry handle and can run on 6AA batteries, making it perfect for on-the-go inspiration.
How can NAMM Members get involved/support Casio and its Make Music Day events?
Amplifying the message. One of the easiest ways to get involved is to communicate the times and locations for each of the events in your communities and to use your resources to see if some of the morning broadcast news outlets can get out and cover the fun.
To learn more about Make Music Day and Casio, visit www.makemusicday.org and https://www.casiomusicgear.com/. Be sure to follow #casiomusicgearMMD for content from the performances and #MakeMusicDay for all Make Music Day festivities.