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39-547: The Roland S-10 Digital Sampling Keyboard is a 8-voice polyphonic synthesizer, produced by Roland Corporation in 1987. In the following year of 1988, an upgraded rack-mounted version, the Roland S-220 was released. The upgrade doubles the voice amount to 16, with 5 audio outputs, and only a 30 kHz sample rate. The sampling specs consist of a 12-bit sample rate of both 15 kHz and 30 kHz, an auto-loop function, and MIDI control. The keyboard contains 256 KB of internal memory, which

78-672: A clip-on pre-amp and a pickup to amplify acoustic guitars. At this point the Boss company had not been formed and it was still a Beckmen Musical Instruments product (as seen on the B-100 box ). The first proper Boss foot pedal effect, the CE-1 Chorus Ensemble, was released June 1976, which was a stand-alone unit of the chorus/vibrato circuit found in the Roland JC-120 amplifier. It was a fairly large, AC-powered unit. Other foot pedals of that year are

117-560: A cornerstone of the emerging electronic and hip hop genres. It has been described as hip hop's equivalent to the Fender Stratocaster guitar, which dramatically influenced the development of rock music . The 808 was followed in 1983 by the TR-909 , which, alongside the TB-303 synthesizer, influenced the development of dance music such as techno , house , and acid . Roland released

156-445: A metal screw securing the battery compartment; later models retained the metal screw, adding a plastic knob for tool-less battery removal. The labels on the bottom of the pedals come in several different colours including black, silver, green, pink and blue. Apart from this the basic external design has remained unchanged for almost half a century. The DS-1 Distortion circuit design has changed significantly twice throughout its lifetime;

195-451: A semi-parametric three-band EQ section. The pedal's thick, saturated, tight tone and the extreme sounds the pedal was able to produce thanks to its powerful EQ controls made the MT-2 divisive both upon its release and throughout its ongoing production. Guitar World characterized the general reaction to the pedal as "inspiring or confusing," and the pedal is often lampooned on the internet as

234-498: A tone control, Boss began including a "Tone" knob on its pedals with the 1981 SD-1 and the OD-1 was discontinued in 1985. Boss continued the OverDrive line with the four-knob OD-2 Turbo OverDrive, produced from 1985 to 1995, and subsequently the three-knob OD-3, which is still in production. The Super OverDrive was released in 1981 as Boss's second overdrive pedal, adding a tone control to

273-626: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Roland Corporation Roland Corporation ( ローランド株式会社 , Rōrando Kabushiki Kaisha ) is a Japanese multinational manufacturer of electronic musical instruments , electronic equipment, and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on 18 April 1972. In 2005, its headquarters relocated to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture . It has factories in Malaysia , Taiwan , Japan , and

312-506: Is divided into 4 banks (equal to 64 KB per bank). All 4 banks can be utilized simultaneously. The maximum sample time allotted is 4.4 seconds (1.1 seconds per bank). Effects are stackable and can be combined for up to five effects to be used at the same time. Samples can be stored and loaded through a built-in 2.8" floppy disk called the Quick Disk drive. The unit runs on AC power only. This article relating to electronic musical instruments

351-529: The Marshall JCM800 into higher-gain sounds. The SD-1 has long been popular as an affordable pedal for new players, as well as professionals. Notable fans include Jimmy Page , John Frusciante , Josh Homme , Jonny Greenwood , David Gilmour , Joe Satriani , Zakk Wylde , The Edge , and Prince . In 2021, Boss released a 40th anniversary edition of the pedal, with the original circuit having remained unchanged since its introduction. Guitar dubbed

390-482: The Roland Jupiter-8 in 1981. Roland played a key role in the development of MIDI , a standardized means of synchronizing electronic musical instruments manufactured by different companies. Kakehashi proposed developing a standard with representatives from Oberheim Electronics , Sequential Circuits , Yamaha , Korg , and Kawai . He and Dave Smith of Sequential Circuits unveiled MIDI in 1983. It remains

429-618: The SH-1000 , as well as their first nonpreset synthesizer, the SH-3 . The company was also manufacturing effects pedals , introducing the RE-201 Space Echo in 1974, and expanding into guitar amplifiers the following year with the JC-60 and JC-120 Jazz Chorus , whose chorus circuit would become the first Boss Corporation product, the CE-1 Chorus Ensemble, the following year. In 1976, Roland introduced

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468-510: The United States . As of December 2022, it employed 2,783 people. In 2014, it was subject to a management buyout by its CEO, Junichi Miki, supported by Taiyo Pacific Partners. Roland has manufactured numerous instruments that have had lasting impacts on music, such as the Juno-106 synthesizer, TB-303 bass synthesizer, and TR-808 and TR-909 drum machines . It was also instrumental in

507-472: The 1980s and 1990s, Roland released several instruments that have had a lasting influence on popular music. After Kakehashi realized microprocessors could be used to program drum machines, Roland launched the TR-808 drum machine, its first programmable drum machine, in 1980. Although it was not an immediate commercial success, the 808 was eventually used on more hit records than any other drum machine and became

546-472: The CE-1 Chorus Ensemble. The DS-1 uses two hard-clipping diodes for an aggressive edge, similar to the ProCo Rat , released the same year. This type of circuit became known as "distortion," as opposed to the soft-clipping "overdrive" of Boss's later overdrive pedals. The DS-1 uses a preamplifier instead of the conventional op-amp for a gritty, warm tone. When the original Toshiba TA7136AP preamp became scarce,

585-604: The CE-1, in 1975 after the "chorus" effect proved popular among guitarists with its use in the JC-120 and JC-60 Jazz Chorus amplifiers, released by Boss's parent company Roland Corporation . The pedal was housed in a large enclosure, typical for effects at the time, and featured two footswitches for on/off and to toggle between the unit's vibrato and chorus effects. The pedal worked in mono and stereo, and its "thick, spatial, and multidimensional" quality inspired numerous other companies to copy

624-603: The DD-2 digital delay. A subsequent drop in component costs allowed the pedal to be sold for a lower price in 1986 as the rebranded DD-3, which has gone through three distinct versions, with latest still in production. Music Radar dubbed the DD-3 the "gold standard" in compact digital delays and fans include Radiohead , Blur , and The Cult . Introduced in 1978, the DS-1 was Boss's first distortion pedal, and second pedal release overall, following

663-538: The DM-2W Analog Delay, CE-2W Analog Chorus and DC-2W Dimension C. "Waza" means "art" and "technique" in Japanese. In 2017 Boss released the 500 series pedals as their flagship design, complete with digital display and preset banks, similar to the design of Strymon pedals featuring presets, programmable algorithms and customizable midi options. In 2019, Boss discontinued the twin format 20 series pedals and replaced

702-527: The DS-1. In 2021, Boss released a grey-on-black variant, the MT-2-3A, celebrating the pedal's 30 years in production. With the 1977 release of the OD-1 OverDrive, Boss coined the term "overdrive," a reference to the pedal's asymmetrical-clipping, tube-like distortion in comparison to the brash sound of "fuzz" pedals available. The OD-1's layout was simple—with only "Level" and "OverDrive" controls. The OD-1

741-767: The FBM-1 '59 Fender Bassman pedal and FDR-1 '65 Fender Deluxe Reverb pedal, introduced at the Winter NAMM show in January 2007. All Boss compact pedals use a "buffered bypass" type of silent foot switching utilizing Field Effect Transistors (FETs) to avoid clicks and pops. While not "true" bypass, the buffered bypass has the advantage of preventing signal loss due to long runs of cable, while keeping original guitar tone intact. Boss compact pedals were originally produced in Japan, until circa 1990 when production moved to Taiwan. Earlier units came with

780-578: The French epic poem The Song of Roland until later. With seven employees from his former company, a rented shed, and $ 100,000, Kakehashi built on his experience at Ace, introducing a drum machine, the TR-77 or Rhythm 77, as Roland's first product, followed by the TR-33 and TR-55 released that same year. In 1973, Roland introduced the first compact synthesizer produced in Japan and the first synthesizer produced by Roland,

819-606: The GE-10 (a graphic equalizer), the BF-1 (a flanger unit) and the DB-5 (a distortion unit). Boss's line of compact pedals began in 1977 with the release of six pedals, all of them discontinued: an overdrive pedal (OD-1), a phaser pedal (PH-1), a parametric equalizer called the Spectrum (SP-1), a 6-band graphic equalizer (GE-6), a compressor pedal (CS-1) and an automatic wah pedal (TW-1). The Boss DS-1

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858-472: The Roland SRX racks) and new additions such as original sampled instruments. Throughout 2022, Roland celebrated their 50th anniversary by releasing two new editions of their Space Echo tape delay through their Boss brand, along with selling commemorative merchandise and clothing through their online streetswear shop Roland Lifestyle . Later on, a collaboration with Dais Records was announced on 8 June ahead of

897-460: The circuit was redesigned in 1994, introducing several "quirks"—lower volume levels, noise at higher gain levels, and a "waspy" edge due to higher frequencies not being filtered out. These issues led to the pedal being popular among modifiers. The DS-1 is Boss's bestselling pedal of all time. The Metal Zone was released in 1991, following the discontinuation of the earlier HM-2 Heavy Metal , which failed to sell well during its production run, but

936-662: The development of MIDI , a standardized means of synchronizing electronic instruments manufactured by different companies. In 2016, Fact wrote that Roland had arguably had more influence on electronic music than any other company. Having created Ace Electronic Industries Inc in 1960, Ikutaro Kakehashi founded Roland in Osaka on 18 April 1972. While rival companies Moog and ARP targeted professional musicians and academics, Kakehashi, who had no musical training, wanted to appeal to amateurs and hobbyists, and focused on miniaturization, affordability, and simplicity. The "Roland" name

975-452: The earlier OD-1 design, while continuing to replicate the sound of tube amp-style overdrive via an asymmetrical clipping circuit and an inherent midrange-focus, but with less bass roll-off. The asymmetrical clipping lent the pedal a more aggressive character compared to the rival Tube Screamer, and it became popular in the growing hard rock and heavy metal subgenres with guitarists frequently using it to boost already-overdriven amplifiers like

1014-707: The first time was around 1994 when the Toshiba TA7136AP op-amp was replaced with a Rohm BA728N. In 2000 the op-amp was again changed. This time it was replaced with the Mitsubishi M5223AL. The latest op-amp change occurred in 2007, when new DS-1 pedals began shipping with the NJM3404AL op-amp. In 2014, Boss released the Japanese-made "Waza-Craft" line of premium pedals, built with higher-end components featuring reissues of highly sought after vintage Boss effects such as

1053-690: The industry standard. In, 1991 Roland released the JD-800 , a digital synthesizer with many sliders. In 1993, they released the JD-990 , which is the rackmount version of the JD-800. In 1994, Kakehashi founded the Roland Foundation and became chairman. In 1995, he was appointed the chairman of Roland Corporation. Roland instruments were also featured in the "There Goes A . . . " series of videos by Dave Hood. In 2001, Kakehashi resigned as chair of Roland Corporation and

1092-539: The line with the 200 series. As of 2019 around the launch of the DD3T and DD8 Digital Delays, Boss moved production from Taiwan to Malaysia. The Malaysian black label on the bottom looks similar to the modern era Taiwan label, verifying the new location of manufacturing. In 1995, Boss released the BD-2, an overdrive pedal aimed at blues players who sought to add distortion while maintaining their amp's signal clarity and dynamics. At

1131-470: The pedal. With the introduction of Boss's compact pedal format in 1977, the CE-1 was replaced by the CE-2 in 1979. Andy Summers of The Police was a notable fan, using the pedal on songs like " Message in a Bottle " and " Don't Stand So Close To Me ." In the early '80s, Boss was able to fit the circuitry of its best-selling SDE-3000 digital rack delay into the form factor of its analog DM-2 delay, branded as

1170-476: The release of the JUNO-X synthesizer the following month. A new Jupiter-4 emulation for Roland Cloud and an NFT collection also materialised in the summer and autumn respectively. Roland markets products under a number of brand names, each of which is used on products geared toward a different niche. Boss Corporation The earliest Boss product was called B-100 The Boss , released in 1974. This came with

1209-571: The semimodular System 100 and the modular System 700 synthesizers. In 1977, the company introduced one of the earliest microprocessor-driven music sequencers , the MC-8 MicroComposer , and the first guitar synthesizer , the GR-500 . Just one year later, they introduced the CompuRhythm CR-78 , the first drum machine that enabled users to program and store their own drum patterns. During

Roland S-10 - Misplaced Pages Continue

1248-512: The time, blues was experiencing a resurgence thanks to Eric Clapton and Gary Moore . The pedal has a clear, punchy tone and features a flatter EQ-curve for a more amp-like tone than similar pedals, like the Ibanez Tube Screamer . Notable players who use the BD-2 include Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day . Boss released its first pedal,

1287-477: The worst distortion ever made. Many in the metal community embraced the sound, however, with Nathan Weaver of Wolves in the Throne Room favorably describing the MT-2 as a "fucked-up, corpse-grinding type sound." Despite this, the pedal has found fans like Prince when used on lower gain settings or as a boost. The Metal Zone has sold over a million units, making it the company's best-selling pedal behind only

1326-478: Was an immediate success, as the pedal afforded players more amp-like distortion at lower volume levels no matter what amp was being used. Within a few years, however, the pedal's voicing was considered overly "sweet" as rock music became more aggressive and the fixed frequency limited its versatility. With the surging popularity of the OD-1-influenced Ibanez Tube Screamer and its addition of

1365-402: Was an integral part of the guitar sound of many styles of heavy metal music ever since. The pedals all share the same 'footprint', for compatibility with pedal boards. Boss introduced COSM (Composite Object Sound Modeling), Roland's proprietary version of digital modeling technology, into their AC-3 Acoustic Simulator pedal in 2006. Boss has since released several pedals using COSM, including

1404-638: Was appointed as a special executive adviser. In 2002, he published an autobiography , I Believe in Music. His second book, An Age Without Samples: Originality and Creativity in the Digital World , was published in 2017. In 2018, Roland launched a subscription service called Roland Cloud . Users of the service can download and emulate a number of Roland synthesizers (modelled through a proprietary paradigm called ACB ) and drum machines in audio plugin formats. This collection also includes orchestral modules (namely

1443-422: Was popular among death metal players, since amplifiers of the time were not capable of the amount of distortion players wanted without being boosted with a pedal. With the MT-2, Boss sought to appeal to that market with an improved pedal as death metal's popularity surged. The MT-2 sported a complex design for a distortion pedal, with a dual-stage gain circuit, seven filters for both pre- and post-distortion, and

1482-535: Was released the next year, in 1978. Their first compact chorus pedal (CE-2) came in 1979, and their first flanger pedal (BF-2) in 1980. In 1983 Boss released the DD-2 Digital Delay, the first mass-produced digital delay in a compact pedal format. The Metal Zone (MT-2) was released in 1991. In 1992 Boss released nine new pedals, including the Turbo Distortion (DS-2). The Heavy Metal (HM-2) distortion pedal

1521-451: Was selected for export purposes, as Kakehashi was interested in a name that was easy to pronounce for his worldwide target markets. The name was found in a telephone directory, and Kakehashi 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, so would stand out in trade-show directories and industry listings. Kakehashi did not learn of

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