The Roland X0x Series: A History of Early Roland Synthesizers and Drum Machines from Sh-101 to Tr-909

The Roland x0x Series: A History of Early Roland Synthesizers and Drum Machines from SH-101 to TR-909 offers an authoritative but accessible investigation of how the design of these most influential musical instruments is shaped by technological factors, institutional contexts, market forces and imagined users and uses. Drawing on the perspectives of designers and engineers along with musicians and producers from around the world, the book explores how these iconic instruments both enable and constrain the creative work made with them.

Providing detailed analysis of these seminal instruments, this book combines archival research that draws on contemporary reviews, instruction and service documentation, advertising and marketing materials, and technical analysis of the underlying analogue and digital circuits, with discussion of creative composition and performance practice, hardware and software modifications and modern remakes, emulations and clones. The Roland x0x Series is dedicated to demystifying these mainstays of popular music, and revealing the ’hidden histories’ of the creation, lives and afterlives of these most important, recognisable, yet often misunderstood, synthesizers and drum machines.

This is an essential reference for music producers and music technology enthusiasts, as well as those studying music technology, instrument design and human interaction in the context of electronic music.

James Newman is Research Professor and Senior Teaching Fellow at Bath Spa University, UK. He is also an External Affiliate of the School of Public and Applied Humanities at the University of Arizona and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Over the past 20 years, he has written widely on histories of technology, media preservation, digital games, sound and music and has worked with museums across the world on exhibition and interpretation. He is an avid collector and user of synthesizers, drum machines and music technology.