Roland takes us through the history of musical invention with an interactive website, anniversary editions and hints of new products.
Happy Anniversary!
The Roland Corporation was founded in Osaka Japan in 1972 and since then has designed and built some of the most iconic electronic musical instruments on the planet. From the early TR drum machines, through Space Echoes, organs and guitar amps to the System-700 modular synthesizer of 1976 and the VP-330 Vocoder of 1979.

ITS VERY INTERESTING IN MY OPINION

Homepage : https://www.roland.com/global/roland-50th-anniversary/

Q: which Roland instrument impressed you the most? share your opinion with us ....

 

Last edited by a moderator: Jan 21, 2022

Cheers Roland!

Many happy returns!

 

Land of the Rising Sound | A Roland Retrospective

 

I wish they would offer 'pro' versions of their boutique line, i.e. 1/4" outs instead of the dinky 1/8" single stereo and a larger footprint. I've tried em all and I think the D-05 is something special. Comes very close to the original I owned.

As far as favorite, always loved the Juno-6, TR-606, D-50, and their Space Echoes.

The ones I liked the least were the Jupiter-6, I owned 2 of em...just never liked it in a mix. And I actually owned a Jupiter-8 - that is hands down the most over-rated, over-priced synth on the planet. Nothing special about it other than it can make good pads - but OBX and Prophet-5 sounded better.

 

If it's only one, then for me it's gonna be a Jupiter 6 that I had for several years, shame I had to sell it because I was moving countries.

Now, people say that Jup 8 sounds better and fatter, and perhaps it does but since I never used one I couldn't say.

I could go on about other Rolands I've known and loved, but let's leave it at this.

 

Thank you for your feedback phumb-reh , .... sure , you can go for more .... I am interested in your experience ... I would be happy to learn more

 

One of my fave "setups" was a TR-909, an 101 and a Korg DSM-1 sampler.

Now, the 909 has actually two sequencers in parallel, one for the internal sounds, and one that spits out MIDI. Trigger some samples with the Ext. Inst (or whatever it was called) mode and then use the trigger out to, well, trigger the 101 arpeggiator. Then use the indy outs and just whack the gain on a cheap-o Soundcraft mixer. Good times.

 

I own both Jupiter 6, and Jupiter 8, they are both awesome but different. I also own a Juno 106, Juno 60, Juno 2,
two sh 101s (blue) a D-50, D-70, an SH 3, SH 3a, a W-30, MKS 7, MKS 30, MKS 100, and a FA 08. I guess you can say I'm a Roland guy.
I do have a Oberhiem OBXa, Yamaha Motif 7, and a Korg Triton also, for variety, and a couple other assorted rack gear, Casio VZ 10m and VZ 8m, and an Ensoniq ESQ M. Oh, and an MT 32.

 

The real MVP!

 

Mighty setup

 

wooow , impressive

 

I should have noted that I bought all that stuff many years ago, and most of it is not set up (at the moment),
The MT 32 was pretty cool in its day, and there are some hidden features built into it.
The D-50 will always have a special place in my heart.

 

If only Roland couldn't some how bring out modern advanced hardware versions of their classic analog synths of yesteryear using modern components, stylish minimalist looks, full modern rotary encoders, multi coloured LED's modern switches and sliders with added extras. Maybe wouldn't sound identical to their old analog classics though it would be amazing to see the Juno's Jupiter's etc brought back to life with all new advanced features extra oscillators, effects etc at sensible pricing. We can all dream........

 

Lots of cools stuff to pick from, but the Boss DS-1 holds a special place in my heart. True, there are better options on the market nowadays but that thing has never let me down.

 

Boss pedals are built like brick shithouses, still love the couple that I still have.