Instruments and Equipment by Roland Corporation

Roland Corporation was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka, Japan on 18 April 1972.

Since then it has development numerous instruments and tools that have since gained legendary status. Synthesisers like the Jupiter-8, D-50, Juno 6,60 and 106. Samplers like the S-50, S-550, S-750 and S-770. Drum machines like the TR-808 and TR-909. Together with numerous utilities are known throughout the industry.

This company has never stopped with the current Fantom keyboard range being extremely functional workstations with the current incarnation possibly occupying the King of the Workstations title at the moment.

If I were to look at my keyboard and electronic instrument collection then it would be safe to say that this company features heavily. But then that really underlies the impact that the synthesisers, samplers and drum machines have had on the music industry over the years and on how I make my music.

But it did not necessarily start that way for me. I started playing Yamaha keyboards, pianos and synthesisers not these legendary instruments that now occupy a substantial part of my collection and feature on this website and the YouTube channel.

My first acquisition following my divorce was the D-550, the rack mount version of the infamous D-50. I was always taken by the factory sounds this instrument produced. These factory 'stock' sounds were basically used by the artist Enya used to write an entire album. If you listen to any album in the pop spectrum from the late 80's and early 90's you will here this synthesiser.

The D-70 Super LA Synthesiser followed not long after. In addition to its rompler sounds this was used extensively by me as a 76-key MIDI controller. I then had another lucky find which was a non-working D-50. As with my Korg M1 story this was a road trip to Manchester over a weekend to find a D-50 that had lost its 'MOJO'. A new battery and a restore of the factory sounds and this synthesiser was quickly restored to working operations.

Other road trips followed to pick up a S-750 sampler from Southend-on-Sea plus a bonus spending the afternoon riding the fair ground rides that are on the seafront, S-50 sampler from Hull, D-20 from the Midlands.

As the collection has grown along with many other AIRA and Boutique items as these were released. The TR-8, TB-3, MX-1, JX-03, TR-08, TR-09, D-05 and JU-06A have all been picked up to provide the sonic capabilities of the instruments that they have re-imagined.

Then there have been some more modern acquisitions as well. If you haven't played a Jupiter-80 then you really have missed a massive playing experience. This synthesiser has been described by many reviewers as the ultimate synth Roland always wanted to produce, but the technology was not far enough advanced until its release. Then there has been the System-8 which has a Juno-106, Jupiter-8 and JX-3P plug-out making this a very versatile addition to the studio. The most recent and last addition to the Roland stable was the Jupiter-X which looks like a Jupiter-8 but can mirror the sounds from the Juno-106, Jupiter-8, XV-5080 and more recently the Jupiter-4 plug-out.

What I would say is if you wanted the 'Pop' sound of the 80's then somewhere your rig you would be playing an instrument from this company.

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Roland A-880

The A-880 MIDI Patcher MIDI Mixer is a 1U unit designed to help the musician manage the MIDI routing in their studio.

One of a series of MIDI management modules released in the late 1980's to help with the management of MIDI and control of instruments in the studio.

These units are becoming rare to find as the people that use them tend to hang onto them. But when you acquire one you wonder how you managed without it.

Click anywhere on the image or title to see the work undertaken on this sampler.

Roland D-70

The D-70 Super LA Synthesizer was launched in 1990 and billed as the next synthesiser in the D-Series range.

In reality when you looked under the hood you realised that this wasn't a D-series synthesiser at all. But the new synthesiser in the U-Series rompler range. The board is actually stamped U-50.

D-series or U-Series it still has one of the nicest key beds to play.

Click anywhere on the image or title to see the work undertaken on this sampler.

Roland JX-3P

Launched in 1983. The JX-3P was a digitally driven analog synthesiser.

In fact this was a hi-bride synthesiser. The voices were driven through a traditional VCO circuitry. But these were controlled by a digital processor.

Click anywhere on the image or title to see the work undertaken on this synthesiser.

Roland MX-1

Launched in 2015. The MX-1 Mix Performer is a mixed up mixer for the Aira product range.

Mixed up. Is this a mixer? Is this a Surface? or is this a digital interface for your computer? Or is this all three?

Click anywhere on the image or title to see the work undertaken on this synthesiser.

Roland S-50

Launched in 1986. The S-50 is a 12-bit 61-key sampler. Samples created on this instrument are stored on a 3.5" floppy disk drive.

Click anywhere on the image or title to see the work undertaken on this sampler.

Roland System-8

Launched in 2016. The System-8 is a digital synth that uses Analogue Circuit Behaviour (ACB) modelling to deliver the sounds of the Roland's legendary synthesisers.

Click anywhere on the image or title to see the videos created about this synthesiser.

Roland TR-8

Launched in 2014. The TR-8 was the answer to the constant request from the musical community to re-issue the classic drum machines, specifically the TR-808 and TR-909 Rhythm Performers. Other drum machines were added to the instrument during the release period.

Click anywhere on the image or title to see the work undertaken on this sampler.

Instruments and Equipment by Roland Corporation

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