is a
Japanese manufacturer of
electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment and
software. It was founded by
Ikutaro Kakehashi in
Osaka on April 18, 1972, with ¥33 million in capital. In 2005 Roland's headquarters relocated to
Hamamatsu in
Shizuoka Prefecture. Today it has factories in
Japan, the
United States,
Italy, and
Taiwan. As of March 31, 2010, it employed 2,699 employees. It has existed in different forms since 1960, making it relatively old among still-operating manufacturers of musical electronics.
Origin of the Roland name
Kakehashi founded
Ace Electronic Industries in
1960, a manufacturer of numerous
combo organs,
guitar amplifiers, and
effects pedals. He was also contracted by
Hammond to produce
rhythm machines for the company's line of home organs. In
1973, Kakehashi cut ties with both companies to found Roland.
As with many Japanese start-ups of the period, the name Roland was selected for export purposes as Kakehashi was interested in a name that was easy to pronounce for his worldwide target markets. Rumour has long circulated that he named his company after the French epic poem La Chanson de Roland. In reality, the name Roland was found in a telephone directory. Kakehashi opted for it as he was satisfied with the simple two-syllable word and its soft consonants. The letter "R" was chosen because it wasn't used by many other music equipment companies, therefore it would stand out in trade show directories and industry listings. Kakehashi didn't learn of "The Song Of Roland" until later.
Brands
Roland markets products under a number of brand names, each of which are used on products geared toward a different niche.
The Roland brand is used on a wide range of products including synthesizers, digital pianos, electronic drum systems, dance/DJ gear, guitar synthesizers, amplifiers, and recording products.
BOSS is a brand used for products geared toward guitar players and is used for guitar pedals, effects units, rhythm and accompaniment machines, and portable recording equipment.
Edirol is a line of professional video-editing and video-presentation systems, as well as portable digital audio recorders. Edirol also has Desktop Media (DTM) products, more production-oriented, and include computer audio interfaces, mixers, and speakers.
RSS is a line of commercial audio products including the V-Mixing System.
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.
Cakewalk music software company is a long-term partner of Roland’s. In January 2008, Roland announced the purchase of controlling interest in the company.
Roland DG produces computerized plotters, vinyl cutters, and printers for the production of commercial signwork and point-of-sale materials.
At one point, Roland acquired the then-defunct Rhodes name, and released a number of digital keyboards bearing the Rhodes brand, but it no longer owns the name.
International Distributors
Roland Corp. operates a warehouse in Cromer, Sydney, Australia, where it employs approximately 30 people and makes around $2 million net profit a year.
Timeline of noteworthy products
1972 –
Roland TR-77/
TR-55/
TR-33: Roland's first products. TR-77 is known as an updated version of
Ace Tone Rhythm Ace FR-7L.
1973 – Roland SH-1000: Japan's second or third commercial keyboard synthesizer.
1973 – Roland RE-201: The renowned space echo machine, one of the most popular tape delay-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-inch (30 cm) 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 35 years.
1976 – Roland System-700: Roland's first professional-quality modular synthesizer.
1976 – Roland DC-50 Digital Chorus: An analog chorus ensemble similar to Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble|Boss CE-1.
1977 –
Roland MC-8 Microcomposer: A groundbreaking digital
sequencer. Roland's first product to utilize a
microprocessor.
1977 –
Roland GR-500: Roland's first commercial guitar synthesizer.
1978 – Roland CR-78: A user-programmable drum machine.
1978 – Roland Jupiter-4: Roland's first self-contained polyphonic synthesizer.
1980 – Roland CR-8000
1980 – Roland VK-1: Roland's first attempt to clone the Hammond B3.
1981 – Roland TB-303 The Bass Line is a synthesizer with built-in sequencer manufactured by the Roland corporation from late 1981[1] to 1984 that had a defining role in the development of contemporary electronic music.
1981 – Roland System-100M: Semiprofessional modular synthesizer, successor of System-100.
1981 – Roland Jupiter-8: Roland claims this synthesizer put Roland in the forefront of professional synthesizers. A successful 8-voice programmable analog synthesizer after the hugely successful Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 and Oberheim's products.
1981 – Roland TR-808: One of the most popular programmable analog drum machines; its distinctive analog sounds, such as its cowbell sound and its kick drum, 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.)
1982 –
Roland G505 – G202: The 3rd generation of Roland electric guitar synthesizer controllers, popularized by
Eric Clapton,
Dean Brown,
Steve Hackett,
Andy Powell,
Adrian Belew,
Mike Rutherford,
Yannis Spathas,
Jeff Baxter and
Andy Summers. Both are faithfully copied 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 cable socket. By 1984, these Strat-style guitars came with the matching
GR-700 and PG-200 pedal boards, which also work as a regular guitar effector as well as a MIDI synthesizer bank.
1982 – Roland TB-303: Defined the acid sound of house music. Note that TB-303 is not the origin of this type product. For example of precedence from others, Multivox Firstman SQ-01 was released in 1981.
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.
1983 – Roland MC-202: (MicroComposer) is a monophonic analog synthesizer/sequencer. It is similar to the TB-303 and SH-101 synthesizers, featuring 1 voltage-controlled oscillator with simultaneous saw and square/pulse-width waveforms.
1984 – Roland MKS-80: Rack-mounted 8-voice analog synthesizer, commonly used with the MPG-80 programmer unit.
1984 – Roland Juno-106: Very popular programmable (128 patch memory locations), digitally controlled 6-voice analog synthesizer, with MIDI and the ability to transmit button and slider information through SysEx.
1984 – Roland TR-909: An extremely popular drum machine during the early 1990s, the sounds of which (particularly the kick drum and open hi-hat) are still essential components of modern electronic dance music. The first Roland drum machine to use digital sample playback combined with analog sound synthesis.
1984 – Roland TR-707 and Roland TR-727: A pair of popular drum machines, the TR-727 was essentially the same as the TR-707, except it had Latin-style sounds. The TR-707 was used extensively in the early days of house music and is still used in non-Western pop music around the world. The TR-727 is still used extensively in polyrhythmic non-Western pop music.
1985 – Roland Alpha Juno: Two analog polyphonic synthesizers, the Alpha Juno 1 (JU-1) and the Alpha Juno 2 (JU-2), notable for their 'Alpha Dial' that simplified the user interface.
1985 – Roland Octapad: A set of visually distinctive electronic drum triggers.
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. One notable musician for this is Elton John from 1988 to 1994.
1986 – Roland HS-80: Same as the Roland Alpha Juno 2 (JU-2), but with built-in speakers. Branded as "Synth Plus 80."
1986 – Roland S-10: Basic 12-bit sampler and keyboard combo. Sounds were stored on QuickDisks and it was capable of sampling up to 6 seconds of sound. It also had rudimentary analog filtering and ADSR.
1986 – Roland MKS-100: Rack Mounted version of the Roland-S10 sampler.
1986 – Roland MC-500: stand-alone sequencer and midi recorders. There's 4-track recording in real or step time and 16 midi channel multitimbrality, a dedicated rhythm track, a built-in 3½-inch DS/DD Floppy disk drive with 100,000 note capacity and a large LCD screen.
1987 – Roland D-50: One of the popular digital synthesizers in late 1980s; Roland's first all-digital synthesizer implementing its Linear Arithmetic synthesis (a form of sample-based synthesis combined with subtractive synthesis). The D-50's descendants include the D-5, D-10, D-110 (rack unit), and D-20 synthesizers.
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 U-110: Roland's first "rompler", the U-110 was a rack module based on Roland's large sample library and contained good representations of acoustic instruments. Designed to compete with E-mu's Proteus line, the U-110's successor U-220 found its way into many professional studio racks of the day.
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, G-70 and the current E-80.
1988 – Roland MC-500mkII: Successor to the Roland MC-500, with Turbo software. Now with 8 tracks of recording, 100,000 note capacity, real-time track muting and more. Storages on 3½-inch DS/DD Floppy disk drive.
1989 – Roland W-30: A sampling workstation keyboard (DAW).
1989 – Roland D-70: 76-key synth. Successor to the U-20. This synth combines the U-20 ROM with improved D-50 filters.
1990 – Roland HP-3700: Roland digital piano.
1990 – Roland MC-50: is dedicated sequencer similar to the popular Roland MC-500 series. It featured 40,000 note capacity, up to 8 songs, 8 phrase tracks, a 3½-inch DS/DD Floppy disk drive, separate rhythm track and temp tracks, 32 channel MIDI and FSK sync.
1991 – Roland SC-55 Sound Canvas: The world's first General MIDI synthesizer.
1991 – Roland JD-800 and Roland JD-990: Digital synthesizers with analog style knobs and switches.
1992 – Roland DJ-70: A DJ sampling music workstation and synthesizer keyboard that featured the first scratch wheel pad. Storages on 3½-inch DS/DD Floppy disk drive.
1993 – Roland MC-50mkII: Successor to the Roland MC-50. Equipped with slightly advanced features for editing and general use. 40,000-note internal capacity, with the built-in disk drive, you can store approximately 150,000 events on a 3½-inch DS/DD Floppy disk drive.
1993 – Roland JV-1000: Sort of a combination of the MC-50mkII and the JV-80.
1994 – Roland RD-500: The RD-500 is a professional digital piano with 88 weighted keys, 121 high quality sounds and built-in digital effects.
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.
1994 – Roland JV-90: 76-note expandable synthesizer.
1994 – Roland AT-70: The first Roland's home organ, "Music Atelier" and its little brother AT-50.
1995 – Roland XP-50: Roland's first music workstation that featured Roland's MRC-Pro sequencer.
1995 – Roland VG-8: Roland's first Guitar/Amp modeler
1996 – Roland DJ-70mkII: Successor to the DJ-70, with more powerful features, including a DJ sampling music workstation, which featured a scratch wheel pad. It is essentially an Roland S-760 sampler with a keyboard. Storages on 3½-inch DS/DD Floppy disk drive.
1996 – Roland MC-303 Roland's first non-keyboard drum machine, sample-based synthesizer, and sequencer combination bearing the now-generic term Groovebox. Featuring a full 8-track sequencer.
1996 – Roland XP-80: 64-voice music workstation.
1996 – Roland AT-90: The highest model of Roland's home organ "Music Atelier" and smallest brother AT-30.
1997 – Roland RD-600: Successor to the Roland RD-500. The RD-600 surpasses the tradition of superb sound, ease of operation and reliability set by the legendary Roland RD-500 digital stage piano. New levels of playability and performance control have been achieved in a simple, easy to use, versatile stage piano.
1997 – Roland VK-7: Groundbreaking Hammond organ clone, which introduced the "Virtual ToneWheel" physical modeling technology.
1997 – Roland JP-8000: Roland's first virtual analog style synthesizer. The technology used in this model was conventional digital synthesizer technology like a JD-800, which lacked enough analog modeling.
1997 – Roland V-Drums: Digital drums incorporating silent mesh drum heads that realistically reproduce both the natural feel and sound of acoustic drums.
1997 – Roland JV-2080: 64-voice, 3-effects-processor, 8-expansion-slot synthesizer module.
1997 – Roland AT-80: Top-class home organ in Roland's home organ.
1998 – Roland JP-8080: Rack-mountable version of the JP-8000, lacking a keyboard, but featuring 10-voice polyphony, where the JP-8000 had 8. The JP-8080 also has a vocoder and SmartMedia support.
1998 – SP-808: Table-top sampler, multi-track recorder, and effects processor.
1998 – Roland MC-505: Successor to the MC-303 with a more powerful synthesizer and sequencer.
1998 – Roland JX-305: Similar to the MC-505, but with 61 keys.
1999 – Roland MC-09: A Roland TB-303 emulator featuring an effects processor and a phrase sampler.
1999 - Roland AT-90R: Successor models. AT-60R, AT-80R, and AT-30R.
2000 – Roland VG-88: Roland's 2nd Guitar/ Amp modeler
2001 – Roland AX-7: Successor to the AX-1. A keytar noted for its aesthetics and design.
2001 – Roland RD-700: Successor to the Roland RD-600. RD-700 is Roland's first Expandable Stage Piano
2001 - Roland AT-90S: Successor models. AT-80S, AT-60S, AT-20S and AT-10S.
2002 – Roland MC-909: Successor to the MC Groovebox series and also the flagship to all MC Groovebox series machines, featuring a full 16-track sequencer, SRX board upgrading, Built-in larger LCD Display Screen and built-in sampling. Supports 1 SRX Expansion card.
2002 - Roland AT-15: Baby of the "Music Atelier" home organ product range. And AT-5.
2003 – Roland V-Synth: Elastic Audio Synthesizer
2003 – Roland MV-8000: Production Station with 24-bit sampling capabilities. Designed to rival Akai's legendary MPC series, specifically, the MPC-4000.
2004 – Roland Fantom-X: Music workstation and professional synthesizer expandable to 1 gigabyte of sounds.
2004 – Roland Juno-D: Popular entry-level synthesizer.
2004 – Roland V-Accordion FR-7: World's first completely digital accordion.
2005 – Roland Micro Cube: Roland's first portable amplifier. Allowed for AC adapter or battery use. Seven input effects, delay, and reverb options.
2005 – Roland Fantom-Xa: Entry-level Fantom-X. The A stands for access.
2006 – Roland MC-808: The latest MC-series, featuring a full 16-track sequencer and 512 MB more memory, and double the polyphony of the MC-909. First MC Groovebox series with motorized faders and built-in sampling, no Velocity sensitive pads, no SRX board as an add-on as seen on MC-909.
2006 – Roland SH-201: Roland's first affordable analog modeling synthesizer.
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.
2007 – Roland VG-99: Roland's third Dual channel Virtual Guitar bodies, Pickups, Amplifier and effects modeler.
2007 - Roland AT-900: The Roland's home organ "Music Atelier" product line. AT-900C and AT-800.
2008 – Roland RD-300/700GX: A new series of digital pianos for performers on stage.
2008 – Roland Juno Stage: 128 voice expandable synthesizer based on the Fantom-x engine. Designed primarily for stage players.
2008 – Roland Fantom-G: Music workstation with onboard graphical MIDI sequencer.
2008 - Roland AT-500: Middle- to lower class "Music Atelier" product line. And AT-300, AT-100, AT-75.
2008 – Roland GW-8: Workstation with "intelligent backing-track functionality".
2009 – Roland AX-Synth: A keytar, successor for the AX-7. The most notable change is the addition of an internal synthesizer.
2009 – Roland V-Piano: Digital piano generating sound by modeling technology (most other digital pianos use sampling).
2009 – Roland FR-7x/FR-7xb: Accordion with the versatility of a modern digital musical instrument.
2009 – Roland SP-404SX: Performance sampler.
2009 – Roland BA-330: Portable PA system.
2009 – Roland Juno-Di: Lightweight, battery-powered synthesizer.
2010 – Roland V Combo VR-700: Stage keyboard/organ with drawbars and digital Leslie effect.
2010 – Roland SH-01 GAIA: Lightweight, affordable analog modeling synthesizer. Successor to the Roland SH-201.
2010 - Roland AX-09 Lucina: 37-key "shoulder synth" keytar. Like the AX-Synth, the Lucina uses an internal synthesizer. The Lucina also adds an onboard USB Audio Player and the included strap has a pouch intended to hold a wireless transmitter.
2010 - Roland Juno-Gi: Mobile Synthesizer with Digital Recorder. An updated Juno-G.
2010 - Roland RD700-NX: Digital Stage Piano with SuperNATURAL sounds.
2010 - Roland OCTA-CAPTURE: Hi-Speed USB Audio Interface.
References
External links
Roland Global Portal
Audio demos on synthmania.com
Sound On Sound Magazine – The History of Roland (five parts)
Roland Piano Sound Sources (HP-series)
Roland UK Website
Roland Romania Website
Roland Central Europe Website
Category:Guitar manufacturing companies
Category:Guitar amplifier manufacturers
Category:Percussion instrument manufacturing companies
Category:Synthesizer manufacturing companies
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Category:Audio equipment manufacturers
Category:Companies based in Shizuoka Prefecture
Category:Companies established in 1972
Category:1972 establishments in Japan
