is a . It has existed in different forms since 1960 , making it one of the oldest still-operating manufacturers of musical electronics, and has survived changes in technology to become one of the most noteworthy and widely-used brands in electronic music and production today.
- '''Rodgers''' was founded in 1958 as an organ company, and survives today as a subsidiary of Roland, still manufacturing high-quality electric, electronic, and pipe organs. '''RSS''' brand offers audio products designed for commercial or installation.
Roland company Slogan s include ''Inspire the enjoyment of creativity'', ''Be the best rather than the biggest'', and ''We design the future''.
It may seem strange for a Japanese company to have a Western name, but Roland was founded with export in mind. Ikutaro Kakehashi heard that the name of his previous company, Ace Electronic Industries Inc. , was often mangled in pronunciation, sometimes unpleasantly; so he looked for a good-sounding name which would be pronounced roughly the same in all of his major export markets. He found the name Roland in a telephone directory, browsing for an American-sounding name amongst the "R"s because no other electronic instrument manufacturer's name started with this letter.
Ironically, the name is difficult to pronounce correctly in Kakehashi's native Japanese , which Does Not Distinguish The 'L' And 'R' Sounds As In English .
Roland was ''not'', as is often claimed, named after the French epic poem '' La Chanson De Roland '' (''The Song of Roland'').
See Also: List of Roland products
- 's first commercial keyboard synthesizer.
- -based echo machines ever produced.
- 1973 - Roland SH-3A : Monophonic synthesizer.
- 1975 - Roland System-100 : Roland's first attempt at a modular synthesizer.
- 1975 - Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus Guitar Amplifier : A two channel 120 watt amplifier equipped with two 12" speakers, built-in chorus and vibrato effects and a 3-band EQ per channel, renowned for its super-clean sound and durability, it has remained in production for over 30 years.
- 1976 - Roland System-700 : Roland's first professional-quality modular synthesizer.
- . The first product in the musical instrument industry to utilize a Microprocessor .
- 1977 - Roland GR-500 : The world's first commercial guitar synthesizer.
- .
- 1978 - Roland Jupiter-4 : Roland's first self-contained polyphonic synthesizer.
- 1980 - Roland CR-8000
- 1981 - Roland Jupiter-8 : This synthesizer put Roland in the forefront of professional synthesizers. A hugely successful 8-voice programmable analog synthesizer.
- s; its distinctive analog sounds, such as its cowbell sound, have become pop music clichés, heard on countless recordings.
- 1982 - Roland Juno-6 : Roland's first synthesizer with digitally-controlled oscillators. (Later released was the Juno-60, a similar model but with the addition of patch memory for storing sounds).
- , Yannis Spathas , Jeff Baxter and Andy Summers . Both are modeled after a Fender Stratocaster guitar, featuring a 21-fret maple neck with rosewood or maple fingerboard and a matching headstock on certain models. Available with three single-coil pickups, 5-way switching and tremolo bridge or dual humbuckers with a 3-way toggle selector and hardtail bridge, equipped with a GK-1 synth pickup and a 24-pin MIDI socket. These Strat-style guitars came with the matching GR-700 and PG-200 pedalboards, which also work as a regular guitar effector as well as a MIDI synthesizer bank.
- " sound for House Music .
- to support MIDI .
- to support MIDI .
- synthesizer designed to be worn hung around the neck with a strap, with an optional modulation attachment that protruded like the neck of a Guitar .
- and Open Hi-Hat) are still essential components of modern Electronic Dance Music . The first Roland drum machine to use analog sound synthesis combined with digital sample playback.
- and in non-Western pop music around the world to the present day. The latter was used extensively in polyrhythmic non-Western pop music to the present day.
- with digitally-controlled oscillators. Same synth engine as the Roland Juno-60 but with the addition of MIDI and the ability to transmit button and slider information through SysEx. Still, no MIDI control of volume in real time.
- 1986 - Roland JX-10 : One of Roland's last true analog synths.
- 1986 - Roland RD-1000 : Roland's first digital piano to feature Roland SA Synthesis technology Roland Development History .
- (a form of Sample-based Synthesis combined with Subtractive Synthesis ). The D-50's descendants include the D-5, D-110 rack unit and D-20 synthesizers.
- , it was supported by many PC Games in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a high-quality music option, until support shifted to General MIDI Sound Card s.
- and Casio . The E-20's descendants include the E-70, E-86, G-800, G-1000 and the current G-70.
- 1989 - Roland Octapad : A set of visually distinctive electronic drum triggers.
- ).
- 1990 - Roland HP-3700 : Roland digital piano Roland Development History .
- synthesizer.
- 1991 - Roland JD-800 : Digital synthesizer with analog style knobs and switches.
- 1992 - Roland DJ-70 : A DJ Sampling music workstation, synthesizer keyboard, which featured the first Scratch Wheel pad.
- 1994 - Roland MS-1 : 16 bit AD/DA conversion, First Portable Digital stereo Phrase Sampler, with R-DAC (Roland Digital Audio Coding).
- 1994 - Roland S-760 : 16 bits Digital sampler with resonant filters.
- 1994 - Roland JV-1080 : aka "Super" JV-1080, a 64-Voice Synthesizer Module. Used on more recordings than any other module in history, the JV-1080 boasts a full range of acclaimed Roland sounds, as well as four expansion slots.
- 1995 - Roland XP-50 : The first music workstation which featured Roland's Revolutionary MRC-Pro Sequencer.
- 1996 - Roland DJ-70mkII : Successor to the DJ-70, with more powerful features, A DJ Sampling music workstation, which featured Scratch Wheel pad. Its a almost a S-760 Sampler with synthesizer keyboard.
- 1996 - Roland MC-303 The first non-keyboard drum machine, sample based synthesizer and sequencer combination bearing the now generic term " Groovebox ".
- 1996 - Roland XP-80 : 64 voice music workstation.
- " synthesizer.
- 1997 - Roland V-Drums : Digital drums incorporating 'silent' mesh drum heads that realistically reproduce both the natural feel and sound of an acoustic drum.
- 1997 - Roland JV-2080 : 64 voice, 3 effects processor, 8 expansion slot, synthesizer module.
- 1998 - Roland JP-8080 : Rack-mountable version of the JP-8000, lacking a keyboard, but featuring 10-voice polyphony, where JP-8000 had 8. JP-8080 also has a vocoder and SmartMedia support.
- 1998 - Roland MC-505 : Successor to the MC-303 with a more powerful synthesizer and sequencer.
- 1999 - Roland MC-09 : A Roland TB-303 Emulator, effects processor, also a Phrase Sampler.
- . A Keytar noted for it's aesthetics and design.
- 2002 - Roland MC-909 : Successor to the MC Groovebox series and also the flagship to all MC Groovebox series. Featuring a full 16 track sequencer, SRX board upgrading, Built-in larger LCD Display Screen and built-in sampling.
- 's legendary MPC series, specifically, the MPC-4000.
- 2004 - Roland Fantom-X : Music Workstation/Professional Synthesizer expandable to 1 gig of sounds.
- 2004 - Roland Juno-D : Popular entry-level synthesizer
- 2004 - Roland V-Accordeon FR-7 : World's first completely digital accordion
- 2005 - Roland Micro Cube : First portable amplifier made by Roland. Allowed for A/C adaptor or battery use. 7 input effects, delay, and reverb options.
- 2005 - Roland Fantom-X a: Entry-level Fantom-X. The "a" stands for "access". (Discontinued)
- 2006 - Roland MC-808 : A Cut down version of the MC-909, featuring a full 16 track sequencer, 512mb more memory then the MC-909, First Motorized faders on MC Groovebox series and built-in sampling, no SRX board to add-on.
- that can be bought for under £450.
- 2006 - Roland Juno-G : Entry-level workstation based on the Fantom-X
- 2007 - Roland MV-8800 : Successor to the MV-8000. Production Station with 24-bit sampling capabilities. Has New Built-in Color LCD Display.
- 2007 - Roland V-Synth GT : an updated V-Synth
Roland Products:
- SRX Expansion Board
- AX-1
- CM-32L , 8 parts + drums sound module, 32 notes polyphony, 128 patches, 30 rhythm sounds and 33 sound effects
- CR-78
- D-50/D-550
- E-20 , Arranger Keyboard
- JD-800
- JD-990
- JP-8000
- Juno-106
- Juno-60
- Juno-G , Synthesizer
- Jupiter 4
- Jupiter 6
- Jupiter 8
- JX-3P
- JX-8P
- JX-10
- MC-202
- MC-307
- MC-808 , Groove Box
- MC-909 , Groove Box
- MT-32 , 8 parts + drums sound module, 32 notes polyphony, 128 patches and 30 rhythm sounds
- R-8
- RD-700 , Digital Piano
- RE-201
- SH-101
- SH-1000
- SH-201 , Synthesizer
- SH-32
- SH-09
- SP-404 , Sampler
- SP-808 , Groove Sampler
- System 100m
- TB-303
- TR-505
- TR-606
- TR-808
- TR-909
- U-20/U-220
- VariOS , VariOS Open-ended system module
- XP-30 , 61-key keyboard, 64 notes polyphony, more than 2500 patches included
- XP-50
- XP-80
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