Sooner or later, any parent begins to think about whether he buys the right toys for his child, and naturally comes to the conclusion that some cars, dolls and soldiers are definitely not enough for the development of the child. And what to do?
What to buy your child?
Parents often have a problem, what else to give the child for general development. A huge designer or musical instrument, and what, or maybe, to buy a punching bag ?! And here, as a rule, the cultural attitude, laid back in imperial times, is triggered. The piano is an excellent musical instrument! Even a person with a complete lack of hearing and voice can extract music from him. But this is a child, why does he need a piano? Or maybe a drum is better? No thanks! And at the moment of these most painful thoughts, suppliers of everything and everything come to the rescue. Your attention is Casio SA-46.
Casio: is it worth trusting?
This company is known to all, without exception, especially those who were born and raised in the 90s. At that time, such a product as an electronic watch was, if not uncommon and in short supply, then very much in demand, especially among young people. At that time, it was the most advanced watch on the market. They had everything that the user needed: an alarm clock, a calendar, a stopwatch. But most importantly, they were made of stainless steel and had protection against moisture. So began the conquest of the former USSR market by Casio. At the moment, according to Wikipedia, this company is engaged in the production of small consumer electronics. Calculators, watches, alarms and much more can be offered by a Japanese provider of advanced technologies.
Why is the Casio SA-46 synthesizer so interesting?
To begin with, it is worth noting the fact that, despite the very modest dimensions (47 x 23 x 7 cm) and focus on children, the synthesizer is not a toy in the literal sense. This is a full-fledged musical instrument with a small weight of 1.3 kg, designed for small children's pens. Despite the fact that Casio SA-46 is a children's synthesizer, it has 32 child-friendly keys, eight-stream polyphony, hundreds of different sound tones and five dozen ready-made styles. Also in the instrument there are separate keys for drums in the amount of five pieces, ten ready-made tunes. It is possible to switch between organ and piano. The device has an LCD screen, a standard headphone jack and two 0.5W speakers. The kit itself includes, in addition to toys, a charger and instructions, in addition, you can use AA batteries (they need 6 pieces). It should also be noted that, despite its indisputable attractiveness, the tool is designed for beginners or those who are not sure whether a child will like a gift. Because of this, among knowledgeable people, an instrument with 8-note polyphony is considered entertainment, but not a serious instrument.
A bit of musical educational program
Let's start with a simple one. Where is the correct stress: polyphony or polyphony? According to the Explanatory Dictionary of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, it was considered correct to emphasize "o", but already in Soviet times the emphasis was shifted to the right. And in our time, most explanatory dictionaries offer the first reading option. From the point of view of music science, this term denotes a polyphonic (multi-instrumental) sounding of a work in which all instruments are guided by the same rules and techniques and perform one melody. In our case, 8 notes is the lowest bar.
If you carefully read the reference materials, it becomes clear that to extract more or less decent sounds from the instrument, you need at least 24 notes, but this is already a professional level, respectively, such an instrument is much more expensive. Professionals for targeted music classes recommend taking synthesizers with polyphony from 24 notes and above. It is also recommended to pay attention to the quality and purity of the sounds produced. It is also interesting that in higher musical educational institutions such a thing as polyphony is budded into a separate discipline, the purpose of which is to teach the professional composer or art critic the practical aspects of polyphonic works.
Language and translation difficulties in music
At the same time, in the use of the term
polyphony there are some linguistic determinants. So, in English, several words are hidden behind the word polyphonic, and in German there are several suitable words for one concept of polyphony. Because of this situation in the language, it is possible to understand what is meant only by context. And such situations arise due to direct translation from other languages. In the Russian language, this term is not synonymous with the word
polyphony , and in specialized literature this term is not used independently. Because of this small misunderstanding in the description of melodies in the phones there appeared a
polyphony , with an indispensable emphasis on the last “and”.
User Feedback
There is a lot of information about the Casio SA-46. From the reviews you can see that the opinions of users were divided into professional and domestic. From the point of view of certified musicians, 8-note polyphony is definitely not enough, and the sound is far from perfect. Some believe that the toy even falls short of "good." On the other hand, so to speak, barricades of audience sympathy are the parents who bought this device to their child. And here opinions were also divided: those who came across poor-quality goods, believe that everything is bad, and the money was wasted. But there are those who liked it, and even those who play with pleasure and who are happy with everything. In addition, do not forget that recall is a purely subjective assessment of the very unit of goods that the author of the angry / laudatory opus holds. Nevertheless, when choosing a children's synthesizer Casio SA-46, reviews will help to make this or that decision. And remember: this is a children's synthesizer, and you should not expect great opportunities from it.