The Roland Alpha Juno 1, introduced in 1985, is an analog polyphonic synthesizer. Produced until 1987, it was priced at US$895/ UK£575. It uses soft touch buttons and a single dial for programming, but the optional Roland PG-300 programmer made every...
The Rise of a Hip-Hop Legend: The E-mu SP-1200 Story In August 1987, E-mu Systems released a machine that would help define the sound of hip-hop's golden age - the SP-1200 sampling drum machine. Created by Dave Rossum, this unassuming piece of equipment...
Studio 440 is a further development of the idea first implemented in Prophet 2000. The wide possibilities allow Studio 440 to remain a relevant instrument today, with only a few limitations: a small amount of built-in memory (512 KB) and low resolution...
The Sequential Prophet 3000 was a groundbreaking 16-bit, 8-voice sampling system designed exclusively as a rackmounted unit. Released in 1987, it was remarkably innovative for its time, offering stereo sampling capabilities nearly two years ahead of...
Analog Rytm MKII is a top quality drum machine featuring hybrid architecture of analog and digital components with quick live performance control. The beat makers will be able to sample with Analog Rytm full-function drum device as well. The MKII version...
The Roland MKS-50 was an analog synthesizer module released by Roland in 1986. The MKS-50 was basically an 1U rack-mount version of the Alpha Juno. It has the same synth engine and architecture, with some added features like 16 programmable chord...
Matrix 1000 is a synthesizer module built on the basis of Matrix 6 (6R) architecture. Unlike the “6" models it doesn’t have external controls for tuning the sound; instead, there is a selection of 1000 preset patches, including 195 keys, 118 string, 130...
Juno-60 followed Juno-6 featuring a 61-note keyboard that same year (1982). The monotimbral instrument offers a 6-voice polyphony and one digitally controlled oscillator per voice. The oscillator generates pulse, saw and square. The main spec which...
Juno-106 is Juno-6 and Juno-60 successor. Though unlike its ancestors, it features 128 presets that can be saved and offer a quick switch between them – that might have determined its popularity. This synthesizer supports MIDI control and responds to...
Multi-Trak is an improved version of Six-Trak. The basic architecture remained unchanged: six voices based on CEM3394 controlled by Zilog Z80 microprocessor. Among the differences there are: Enlarged keyboard. In Multitrack, the number of keys has been...
