How Casio accidentally started reggae's digital revolution

Looking at the Casio Casiotone MT40, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was an unremarkable keyboard. You may even have owned one just like it. Launched in 1981, the cream machine came with 37 keys, 22 different instrument sounds, six onboard rhythms and a dedicated mini bass keyboard. It cost around $150 or, adjusting for inflation, about $400 if it were on sale today.Beneath that beige plastic, however, the MT40 hid a secret. A “rock” preset that, once discovered, would reverberate in popular music for the next 30 years. The preset would become one of reggae’s most famous “riddims,” inspire many imitations and force the genre into the digital age. The story of the “sleng teng” riddim (as it is known) in reggae history is well documented, but its origins are based on myth. This is the real story of how Casio’s MT40 became the most influential keyboard of its kind.For the uninitiated, this is the three second melody that started it all: