Roland Corporation
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Roland_Keyboard.jpg
Roland_Keyboard.jpg
Roland EXR-3 Keyboard
Roland Corporation is a manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on April 18, 1972 with 33 million yen in capital, and was named after the French epic poem, La Chanson de Roland. Today Roland has factories in Japan, the United States, Italy, and Taiwan. As of March 31, 2003, it employed 729 employees.
Roland use a number of additional brand names for their products:
- BOSS (guitar effects pedals, effects units, rhythm machines)
- Edirol (Desktop Media Production or 'DTMP')
- Rodgers Instruments (electronic and combination pipe organs)
- Roland Digital Group (Roland DG).
Roland company slogans:
- Inspire the enjoyment of creativity
- Be the best rather than the biggest
- We Design the Future
Timeline of noteworthy products
- 1973 - Roland SH-1000: Claimed by Roland to be Japan's first commercial keyboard synthesizer.
- 1973 - Roland RE-201: The renowned 'Space Echo' machine, one of the most popular tape delay-based echo machines ever produced.
- 1975 - Roland System-100: Roland's first attempt at a modular synthesizer.
- 1976 - Roland System-700: Roland's first professional-quality modular synthesizer.
- 1977 - Roland MC-8 Microcomposer: A ground breaking digital sequencer. The first product in the musical instrument industry to utilize a microprocessor.
- 1977 - Roland GR-500: The world's first commercial guitar synthesiser.
- 1978 - Roland CR-78: The world's first user programmable drum machine.
- 1978 - Roland Jupiter-4: Roland's first self-contained polyphonic synthesizer.
- 1981 - Roland Jupiter-8: This synthesizer put Roland in the forefront of professional synthesizers. A hugely successful 8-voice programmable analog synthesizer.
- 1981 - Roland TR-808: Among the first and most popular programmable drum machines; its distinctive analog sounds, such as its cowbell sound, have become pop music cliches, heard on countless recordings.
- 1982 - Roland Juno-6: Roland's first synthesizer with digitally-controlled analog oscillators.
- 1982 - Roland TB-303: Defined the "acid" sound for rave music.
- 1983 - Roland JX-3P: First Roland synthesizer to support MIDI.
- 1983 - Roland Jupiter-6: Second Roland synthesizer to support MIDI.
- 1983 - Roland SH-101: Monophonic 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.
- 1984 - Roland TR-909: An extremely popular drum maching during the early 1990s, the sounds of which (particularly the kick drum) are still essential components of modern electronic dance music. The first Roland drum machine to use analog sound synthesis combined with digital sample playback.
- 1984 - Roland Juno-106: A widely used synthesizer 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.
- 1986 - Roland JX-10: This was one of Roland's last true analog synths.
- 1987 - Roland D-50: One of the most popular digital synthesizers; Roland's first all-digital synthesizer implementing their "Linear Arithmetic" synthesis (a form of sample-based synthesis combined with subtractive synthesis).
- 1987 - Roland MT-32: Also using "Linear Arithmetic" synthesis, 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 cards.
- 1988 - Roland E-20: Roland's first entry into the auto-accompaniment keyboard market, going head to head with Yamaha and Casio. The E-20's descendants include the E-70, E-86, G-800, G-1000 and the current VA-7.
- 1989 - Roland Octapad: A set of visually distinctive electronic drum triggers.
- 1991 - Roland Sound Canvas: The world's first General MIDI synthesizer.
- 1996 - Roland MC-303 The first non-keyboard drum machine, sample based synthesizer and sequencer combination bearing the now generic term "Groovebox".
- 1997 - Roland JP-8000: Roland's first "virtual analog" 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.
- 1998 - Roland MC-505: Successor to the MC-303 with a more powerful synthesizer and sequencer.
- 2002 - Roland MC-909: Successor to the MC Groovebox series featuring a full 16 track sequencer and built-in sampling.