Synthesizing calculator

[Katie Wasserman]

I think that the VL-1 was more of a toy keyboard that allowed for simple recording and ADSR (attach, decay sustain, release) sound customization. It was not polyphonic and it sounded pretty terrible. The calculator was just a fun add-on; there was no integration between the calculator functions and the music functions other than using the single memory register for the custom ADSR value.

Had the calculator been programmable with the ability to write to the 100 step melody memory, control the volume and rate of playback, well, that would have been quite a nice toy. There was no reason that they couldn't have created such a thing with the technology that they had already in the machine.

I still have my VL-1 (packed away) and have had the manual on my website for years. Most months it's the most popular download so there does indeed seem to be a lot of interest in it.

Maybe HP should consider such a device for their next calculator project after the Prime.