In celebration of her 50th anniversary, Roland has collaborated with sound designer Yuri Suzuki to create Roland 50 Studio, a digital reworking of some of Roland’s most famous and influential devices. Explore the unique TB-303 sound right now, along with the TR-808 drum machine and SH-101 synthesizer. You can even save the results to share with the world!
Go to the Roland-50-studio here and play with these three machines.
Back in 1981, the tools used to create electronic music were fewer, and less evolved, than those used today. The technologies used in electronic musical instruments were primarily analog circuits that generated its sound. Digital technology was just starting to make an appearance in instrument design which sparked the beginning of a new era of innovation and experimentation. At the time, Roland was less than 10 years old, and still based in Osaka, Japan.
Roland created some nice pages with the history and influences of the Roland machines.
