Kurzweil - homepage
Kurzweil official FTP site - Manual and "PC88MX Made Easy"
If the site is not working, here are some files that may be helpful (if you are the copyright owner of these, let me know and I will remove them):
PC88_MusiciansGuide.pdf - PC88 Musician's Guide, main manual
PC88MadeEasy.pdf - tutorial
pc88mx.ins - 1997 CakeWalk instrument definition for PC88 or PC88MX, for all four banks of the PC88MX, including note names for the drum kits and General MIDI (right click, select "Save Target As").
pc88mx_old.ins - older 1996 CakeWalk instrument definition, no General MIDI (right click, select "Save Target As").
Email Kurzweil Operational Tech Support
Harmony-Central - reviews
SonicState - reviews and additional info
Sonikmatter - Kurzweil Emergency Room
Battery Replacement:1) Turn the PC88 upside down (keys on bottom).
2) Remove all the screws on the bottom (which is now the top) of the keyboard.
3) Remove the screws on the back which are all in a line on the back (seven of them).
4) Remove the screws which hold the end caps to the bottom. There are some on the bottom (which you removed) and two on the back.
5) Lift the bottom of the keyboard up slightly. If you accidently remove a ribbon connector which has very little play (controls the bottom range of keys on the keyboard) you can plug this back in later.
6) Gently pull the CR-2032 battery out and pop in a new one (the positive side of the battery will be facing away from the battery holder, only partially obscured).
7) If the ribbon cable popped out, lower the bottom of the keyboard closer to the assembly, and gently plug it back in.
8) Put the bottom back on, aligning all the screw holes with their mates. You may have to align the controller wheels a bit so the holes are realigned.
Based on Battery Replacement Instructions
Released in July 94. This is an 88 note weighted keyboard controller with built in sounds. As a master MIDI keyboard controller, it is extremely full featured. Though it shares many features from the MIDIBOARD, including the arpeggiator, it features a vastly improved user interface. It is also much better suited for carrying around - at only 50 lbs, it is about half the weight of the MIDIBOARD! It has four zones which can be split or layered, and a large variety of fully programmable physical controllers including: 4 sliders, 2 switch pedals, 4 continuous pedals, 3 front panel switches, pitch wheel, mod wheel, and mono pressure.
In addition, unlike the MIDIBOARD, it contains built in sounds. The 32 voice sound engine features 64 preset sounds including: Grand Piano, Fender Rhodes, FM type electric piano, strings, Hammond B-3, Harpsichord, Clavinet, Vibes, Marimba, Electric Bass, Acoustic Bass (with and without layered Ride Cymbal), Acoustic Guitar, and Synth Pads. It also includes a stereo digital effects processor with 40 effects algorithms for reverb, chorus and delay.
An optional VGM expansion board offers an additional 32 voices of polyphony with 224 programs including: the General MIDI soundset (128 programs), 77 additional programs, and 19 programs which are a duplicate of some in the base unit (this allows you to create a 64 voice patch). This board also has its own independent effects processor.
An additional model is the PC88MX, which is a PC88 that comes with the VGM board already installed.
The PC88 won the TEC Award from Mix Magazine in October 1995.
The PC88 was discontinued in the summer of 2000.