Roland System-8 – historic turning point?
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Part of the problem has nothing to do with Roland, of course, but with the heightened expectations of the users. For
many musicians, Roland and musical life are two sides of the same self-minted coin — accountable for the
characteristic sounds of whole bands and entire generations.
Up to a few years ago, unique accoustical behaviour conveyed the (former) Roland rock-bottom concept of always
giving the artist the very best. Juno-60, Jupiter-4, Jupiter-6, Jupiter-8 … SH-5, SH-7, VP-330 Vocoder and the great
Modular-Synthesizer Systems 100, 100M und System 700: every one a posh instrument, every one Crème de
la Crème. And even the small Roland analog aynths — as for instance the SH-2 and the cute SH-09 — are of
exceptional musical and constructional quality (underlined by the fact that a lot of them are still doing good service
today). Later digital classics like the Roland D-50, D-70, JD-800, JP-8000 or V-Synth – all the way up to the Jupiter-80
– round off the generally positive picture of the noble synth smithy from Japan.
