Timeline of Main Roland Products
Instruments, Roland* 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.
* 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.
* 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: One of the world’s first user programmable drum machine.
* 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.
* 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 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 TB-303: Defined the “acid” sound for house 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 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 analog sound synthesis combined with digital sample playback.
* 1984 - Roland TR-707 and Roland TR-727: The former was used extensively in the early days of house music 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.
* 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. 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 [2].
* 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). The D-50’s descendants include the D-5, 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 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 G-70.
* 1989 - Roland Octapad: A set of visually distinctive electronic drum triggers.
* 1989 - Roland W-30: A sampling Workstation Keyboard (DAW).
* 1990 - Roland HP-3700: Roland digital piano [3].
* 1991 - Roland SC-55 Sound Canvas: The world’s first General MIDI synthesizer.
* 1991 - Roland JD-800: Digital synthesizer with analog style knobs and switches.
* 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 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 2001 - Roland AX-7: Successor to the AX-1. A keytar noted for it’s aesthetics and design.
* 2002 - Roland MC-909: Successor to the MC Groovebox series featuring a full 16 track sequencer and built-in sampling.
* 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 MV-8000 : Production Station with 24-bit sampling capabilities. Designed to rival Akai’s legendary MPC series, specifically, the MPC-4000.
* 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-Xa: Entry-level Fantom-X. The “a” stands for “access”. (Discontinued)
* 2006 - Roland SH-201 : The first affordable analog modeling synthesizer that can be bought for under £450.
* 2006 - Roland Juno-G: Entry-level workstation based on the Fantom-X
* 2007 - Roland V-Synth GT: an updated V-Synth


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