SOUND ON SOUND
If you need an easy-to-use controller keyboard Roland's latest mid-ranger master could be the one for you. Nicholas Rowland takes a spin down the A33.
Much hard graft has been put in by electronic instrument manufacturers over the years in an attempt to transfuse the essence of the tonewheel organ into a MIDI-compatible keyboard. Nick Magnus dissects Roland's latest virtual modelling approach, and pronounces the operation a complete success.
Roalnd's D50 became the sound of the late '80s. Does it still have a place in the late '90s? Paul Ward takes a trip around LA...
Paul White tries out Roland's MBD1 Bass and Drums Sound Expansion module and discovers a wealth of really useable off-the-peg sounds.
The price remains the same, but Roland's VS880 is now different in many ways. Original 880 owner Paul Nagle's movin' on up...
Few electronic instruments are still as desirable, 16 years after their launch, as the 808, and even fewer become famous enough to have a band named after them. Chris Carter hits the perfect beat.
Roland's JV1080 was a great success with serious synthesists, and recognising that if it ain't broke there's no need to fix it, Roland have provided more of the same with the new 2080. Derek Johnson's spoilt for choice.
Roland's SC88 could be described as a Rolls-Royce in the world of General MIDI sound modules. So is the new upgraded SC88 Pro a luxurious stretch limo complete with mini-bar and luxuriant walnut veneer? Derek Johnson dons his chauffeur's cap and takes it for a drive...
Roland's MC8 began electronic music's move away from the limited compositional scope of the analogue sequencer, and left its stamp on some of the seminal pop of the 1980s. Chris and Cosey's Chris Carter, a pioneering MC8 user himself , fires up the 20 candles on the MC8's birthday cake...
When Roland announce a new synth, endowed with a new breed of synthesis, it's time to sit up and take notice. The 'Analogue Modelling' JP8000 appears to offer the power and flexibility of digital control applied to analogue-type sounds. Can it be too good to be true? Paul Ward tries to stop tweaking long enough to tell us.
