Land of the Rising Sound | A Roland Retrospective

Land of the Rising Sound: A Roland Retrospective.

The story of Roland is one of the most expansive and influential in the world of music technology. This feature length documentary sets out to tell it through their iconic inventions.

Roland: https://www.roland.com/global/

General Thanks:

First of all, a huge and heartfelt thank you to some anonymous synth experts who not only leant me a jaw dropping array of rare equipment, but who also gave up time from their busy schedules to show me how to use it and who even helped record it on location. I owe you a debt of gratitude, but the entire community at large does too. Thank you!

I also need to thank Gordon Reid for answering my tedious questions and for helping with the explanations of some trickier technical aspects. Furthermore, both Gordon and Sound on Sound need crediting for having already gone the whole 9-yards on the subject:

https://www.soundonsound.com/music-business/history-roland-part-1

Named Thank yous: Paolo @ SynthMania, Dan, Michael and Joe @ Reverb.com, Conny @ Asteroid Killer Music, Gordon Reid, Paul & Ian Gilby @ Sound on Sound, Peter Venuto @ Synth Palace, Sanj Sen @ Ropey Sound, Pea Hicks, Brandon @ Zibby Bone, Marko Ettlich @ RetroSound, Ra Smith @ madFAME, JP Geersing @ synthsandstuff, Synth4ever, Reuben Jones, Patrick Gill, Woody @ Piano Shack, Andrew Pimblott @ Roland, David Åhlund @ Roland Artist Relations Centre, Romain Segaud, Pendle Poucher @ Sound Dust, Pablo and James @ The Toy Rooms, Paul Hartnoll @ Orbital, Paul @ M&S Organ Parts, Richard @ Retro Synth Ads, Rob Nicholls, Synthetic Machines, Ed Lewis, Joseph Hecht, Jason Scammell @ Now and then FX. Ian Livingstone. Some other people who know who they are!

Links:

SynthMania: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/SynthManiaDotCom
Reverb.com: https://www.youtube.com/user/reverbmarket
Joe George: http://www.joegeorgemusic.net/
Asteroid Killer Music: https://www.youtube.com/user/AsteroidKillerMusic
Synthetic Machines: https://www.youtube.com/user/SyntheticMachines/
Ropey Sound: http://www.ropeysound.com/
Synth Palace: https://www.synthpalace.net/
SynthPalace YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaVBqY38AFRgmEqqopYHggQ
Peter Venuto: https://www.youtube.com/user/electricrainbowness
Pea Hicks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtJfsUa_J6DMp-p2eS7hp5w
MC-8 website: https://rolandmc8.wordpress.com/
Zibby Bone: https://www.youtube.com/user/zibbybone
RetroSound: https://www.youtube.com/user/retrosound72
madFAME: https://www.youtube.com/user/madfameltd
Linn LM-1 video referenced in the film: https://youtu.be/qesonxgLv-8
JP Geersing: https://www.youtube.com/user/synthsandstuff
Synth4ever: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNsgT_XxwSPdjRka1LD7RRw
Woody: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC27jRFKGzztB9u9T5GkPH_g
Liam Howlett’s W30 original video: https://youtu.be/_PF_ZIkwyeI
Reuben Jones: https://www.youtube.com/user/tucker10
Patrick Gill: https://www.youtube.com/user/PatrickGillMusic
Anders Enger Jensen: https://www.youtube.com/user/HariboOSX

Some soundtrack excerpts from this film: https://soundcloud.com/alex-ball-1/sets/land-of-the-rising-sound-score-excerpts/s-2zI3u

Additional incidental music provided by Joseph Hecht:
https://soundcloud.com/josephhecht/sets/polygonimbus

Other Image Credits:

Title image by Romain Segaud
http://www.romainsegaud.com/

The three System 100m cases, the red and blue Roland SH-101s and the Devil Fish 303 are photos I took at Curve Pusher Studios in Hastings last year. You can book time to record with those here:
http://www.curvepusher.co.uk/studio/recording-studio-analogue-heaven

Several press release photos and manuals from Roland.com
https://www.roland.com/global/products/

Several images (JV80, VG-8, VS-880, UA-100) by Sound on Sound Ltd
https://www.soundonsound.com/

ATV A Frame images
http://www.aframe.jp/

Various advert scans by Retro Synth Ads
http://retrosynthads.blogspot.com/

Ace Tone R-1 images by M&S Organ Parts
https://msorganparts.com/

Ace Tone FR-1 images from Encyclotronic
https://encyclotronic.com/drum-machines/ace-tone/fr-1-r57/#images

Ace Tone FR-6 images by Rob Nicholls
http://provincialparcs.bandcamp.com

Some creative commons Ace Tone images from Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace_Tone

Some GS-500 print ads from Wayne Scott Joness superb archive
https://www.joness.com/gr300/GS-500.html

MC-8 photos by Pea Hicks
Behind-the-scene photos at Roland from Ralph Dyck’s collection
https://rolandmc8.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/exclusive-interview-with-ralph-dyck-godfather-of-the-mc-8/

Additional 727 logo image from here:
http://djjondent.blogspot.com/2017/08/roland-tr-727.html

CMU 800R photos:
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/electronic-music-instruments-and-electronic-music-production/1123374-roland-cmu-800r.html

https://www.matrixsynth.com/2018/05/roland-cmu-800r-compu-music-classic-80s.html

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Видео Land of the Rising Sound | A Roland Retrospective канала Alex Ball