Casio’s latest digital keyboard features a built-in vocal synthesizer. Basically, a musician can play a voice in the same way they’d play notes.

The Casio CT-S1000V supports vocal performances in either Japanese or English. Because it lacks an alphanumeric keyboard and relies on a fairly low-res monochromatic LCD display for making on-device settings adjustments, entering custom lyrics into the keyboard is done through a smartphone app where text can be either typed.

Once the lyrics are entered, the app automatically breaks up the words into playable syllables and allows users to tweak the pronunciations to get a desired sound. Although the keyboard includes Bluetooth, that’s reserved for MIDI functions, so syncing lyrics from the mobile app to the CT-S1000V requires a physical USB cable connection between the two devices, an odd choice.

The keyboard comes preinstalled with 100 of these “Lyric Tones” based on phrases from popular songs with space for an additional 50 custom creations to be transferred from the lyric app, but the original 100 can also be overwritten when space runs low. The lyrics can be played automatically based on a specific rhythm as keys are pressed (with each key defining the pitch of the sung lyric) or a syllable at a time for a more nuanced performance with or without legato (a term used to describe direct transitions from note to note without any silence in between). Users also have a choice of 22 different vocalist types that include everything from robot-like talk-boxes, to large choirs, to quiet whispers.

The CT-S1000V is also a very capable digital piano that features 800 different playable sounds covering “all categories of instruments,” 243 built-in rhythms for solo musicians wanting musical accompaniment, and 50 user-programmable rhythms.

The keyboard can be preordered for US$680. For musicians who don’t need the vocal synthesis feature, Casio is also releasing a slightly cheaper version, the US$500 CT-S500, which can also be powered by six AA batteries.(SD-Agencies)