Keyboard Kountry carries a large collection of parts for many Roland keyboards. Most of our parts are used but, unless otherwise stated, all electrical parts have been tested for proper functionality. I've added a little history of the Roland products that are of significant importance to Keyboard Kountry.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 was not used by many other music equipment companies, and would therefore stand out in trade show directories and industry listings. Kakehashi did not learn of "The Song Of Roland" until later.[2]
Timeline of noteworthy products
1973
Roland EP10 Combo Piano: Japan's first fully electronic piano
Roland EP20 Combo Piano: Japan's first fully electronic piano
Roland SH3 Synthesizer: the earliest Japanese example of a 'classic' synthesizer. Infringing Bob Moogs filter patent.
Roland SH-1000 Synthesizer: Japan's first commercial keyboard synthesizer.
1974
Roland EP-30 Roland Piano: The world's first touch-sensitive electronic piano.
Roland SH-3A Synthesizer: Monophonic synthesizer with a new VCF and VCA
Roland SH-2000 Synthesizer: a pressure-sensitive preset synth designed to compete directly with the ARP Pro Soloist
1975
Roland SH-5 Synthesizer: a splendid synthesizer, packed with innovative features.
Roland System-100 Synthesizer: Roland's first attempt at a modular synthesizer.
1976
Roland System-100 Synthesizer:
Roland System-700 Synthesizer: Roland's first professional-quality modular synthesizer.
1977
Roland MP700 Piano:
Roland VK-6 Organ: Analog organ
Roland VK-9 Organ: Analog organ
Roland MC-8 MicroComposer : A groundbreaking digital sequencer. Roland's first product to utilize a microprocessor.[8]
1982
Roland Juno-6 Polyphonic Synthesizer: Roland's first synthesizer with digitally controlled oscillators.
Roland Juno-60 Programmable Polyphonic Synthesizer:Roland's first synthesizer with digitally controlled oscillators with memory
Roland SH-101 Keytar: 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 JX-3P Programmable Preset Polyphonic Synthesizer: First Roland synthesizer to support MIDI.
Roland Jupiter-6 Synthesizer: Second Roland synthesizer to support MIDI.
1984
Roland Juno-106 Programmable Polyphonic Synthesizer: 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.
Roland TR-707 and Roland TR-727 Drum Machine: 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.
Roland JX-8P: One of Roland's last true analog synths, the JX-8P was Roland's replacement for the Jupiter 8 but featured a sleek, low profile appearance to compete with the popular digital Yamaha DX-7.
1985
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.
1986
1986 – Roland JX-10 Polyphonic Synthesizer JX-10: Roland's last true analog synth, the JX-10 (or "Super JX") was ostensibly the circuitry of two JX-8Ps in a single synth. However, subtle differences in sonic architecture and electronic components give the JX-10 a slightly different sound than the 8P.
1986 – Roland RD-1000 Digital Piano: Roland's first digital piano to feature their SA Synthesis technology. One notable user of this is Elton John from 1988 to 1993.
1986 – Roland HS-80: Same as the Roland Alpha Juno 2 (JU-2), but with built-in speakers. Branded as "Synth Plus 80."[10][11]
1986 – Roland S-10 Digital Sampling Keyboard: 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 rudimentaryanalog filtering and ADSR.
1986 – Roland MKS-100 Digital Sampler: Rack Mounted version of the Roland-S10 sampler.
1986 – Roland MC-500 Sequenzer: 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
1987 – Roland D-50 Linear Synthesizer: 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 synthesiscombined with subtractive synthesis). The D-50's descendants include the D-5, D-10, D-110 (rack unit), and D-20 synthesizers.
1989
Roland W-30 Music Workstation: A sampling workstation keyboard (DAW).
Roland D-70 Synthesizer: 76-key synth. Successor to the U-20. This synth combines the U-20 ROM with advanced D-50-like filters.
1996
1996 – Roland XP-80 Music Workstation, 64 Voice, 4x Expansion: JV2080 with a MRC Pro Sequencer . 64-voice music workstation. 4x expansion instead of the 8x the JV2080 has. This is the pinnacle of the JV Series in Keyboard version.
SYNTHS & HI-TECH
Fantom X6/X7/X8 keyboard workstations.
Fantom XR synth module.
Juno D synth keyboard.
Roland Fantom-X Synthesizer: Music workstation and professional synthesizer expandable to 1 gigabyte of sounds.
2005 – Roland Fantom-Xa: Entry-level Fantom-X. The A stands for access.
2006
2006 – Roland Juno-G: Entry-level workstation based on the Fantom-X.
2008
2008 – Roland Fantom-G: Music workstation with onboard graphical MIDI sequencer.
2008 – Roland Juno Stage & Juno-Di: Entry-level workstations based on the Fantom-G and the successors of the Juno-G
2010
2010 - Roland MPX-90: desktop metal printer strikes metallic surfaces with a precision diamond-tipped stylus
2010 - Roland Juno-Gi : The older brother of the Juno-Di