{"id":477355,"date":"2025-10-06T04:28:22","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T04:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/477355\/"},"modified":"2025-10-06T04:28:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T04:28:22","slug":"roland-is-finally-honoring-its-legacy-instead-of-just-cashing-in-on-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/477355\/","title":{"rendered":"Roland is finally honoring its legacy instead of just cashing in on it"},"content":{"rendered":"

If the only thing Roland ever released was the TR-808, the company would still deserve a place in the music gear hall of fame. The 808 is arguably the most important instrument since the creation of the electric guitar. It\u2019s been a cornerstone of hip-hop, electronic, and pop music for 45 years now, used by everyone from Rihanna and Whitney Houston, to Outkast, Talking Heads and RP Boo. Roland was undeniably one of the most<\/a> innovative<\/a> companies in music technology during the 1980s and \u201890s, releasing iconic analog synths and pioneering drum machines.<\/p>\n

But for much of the 2000s the company seemed lost, pumping out forgettable all-digital products like the D-2 Groovebox<\/a> and VariOS<\/a>. And for the last 10 years or so, it\u2019s been primarily focused on trying to remind everyone of its glory days, often in ways that felt misguided<\/a> or, at worst, exploitative<\/a>, pushing a subscription service and running away from its analog roots.<\/p>\n

Roland constantly invoked its heritage with its naming schemes, but these instruments had almost nothing in common with their namesakes.<\/p>\n

Now, for the first time in a long time, it feels like Roland is actually taking its legacy seriously with the TR-1000 Rhythm Generator<\/a>, rather than simply treating it like fodder for a marketing deck. The TR-1000 is a serious (and seriously expensive) instrument that embraces Roland\u2019s heritage with real analog circuits.<\/p>\n

By the end of the 1980s, Roland had gone all-in on digital, almost completely abandoning the analog technology that powered its most iconic instruments. Roland wasn\u2019t alone in deciding that the future wasn\u2019t analog. But emerging musicians started shifting away from digital<\/a> in the 2000s. This was in part a reaction to the cold and clinical sounds that dominated late \u201890s and early \u201800s pop, but it was also because analog gear<\/a> could be bought<\/a> for cheap<\/a> on the used market. Despite this shift in tastes<\/a> and the burgeoning vintage synth market, Roland stuck to its guns.<\/p>\n

Eventually Roland realized what people really wanted wasn\u2019t some glorified toy keyboard with the Juno name slapped<\/a> on it, or a gimmicky groovebox<\/a> with what appears to be a sniper reticle on it. But, rather than deliver modern takes on analog sounds or reissue faithful versions of classic instruments, Roland decided to focus on digital modeling, trying to capture the analog sound through code. The company had been investing in its digital technology for decades and seemed reluctant to shift gears. Additionally, analog circuits are harder to work with and many of the engineers who had mastered the art in the 1980s no longer worked for the company.<\/p>\n

Roland constantly invoked its heritage with its naming schemes: MC-808, SP-808<\/a>, SH-201, SH-01, and more varieties of Jupiters and Junos than should be legally allowed. But these instruments had almost nothing in common with their namesakes.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until 2014 that the company finally seemed to get the hint and released the TR-8<\/a>, which it billed as a spiritual successor to the 808. But this wasn\u2019t some retro analog throwback. It was a garish all-digital affair that marked the beginning of what I like to call Roland\u2019s \u201cclose enough\u201d era. Using its Analog Circuit Behavior<\/a> (ACB) modeling technology Roland released a slew of instruments that attempted to recreate its analog classics through emulation. Consensus<\/a> is that they<\/a> sound<\/a> good<\/a>, but people clamored for rereleases of the real thing.<\/p>\n

Behringer happily cashed in on the demand by building analog recreations of the TR-606, TR-808, TR-909, and TB-303<\/a>. Meanwhile Korg was delivering modern<\/a> classics<\/a> like the Minilogue, the playfully affordable Volcas, and reissuing vintage icons like the Arp Odyssey and 2600.<\/p>\n

But Roland seemed content to sell $500 pintsized emulations of its most popular synths as part of its Boutique<\/a> line (and charge you an extra $150<\/a> if you had the audacity to want to play your new synth with a keyboard).<\/p>\n

Then in 2018 it introduced Roland Cloud. This subscription-based collection of virtual instruments and soundpacks is certainly the front runner for Roland\u2019s most hated<\/a> product. Customers felt<\/a> burned<\/a> by disappearing licenses<\/a>, buggy software<\/a>, and complicated membership<\/a> structures. And, if your subscription lapsed, it could cut off access<\/a> to addons<\/a> for hardware synths like the Gaia 2.<\/p>\n

Which brings us to the TR-1000, Roland\u2019s first analog drum machine since the TR-909 in 1983. The company painstakingly recreated the analog circuits of 16 of the sounds from the TR-808 and TR-909 using modern components. While there is a companion app, there\u2019s no need to authorize your instrument through a subscription service to get access to the circuit bent digital 808 engine. There\u2019s no distractingly gaudy lightshow like you\u2019d find on the Aira family. And there are a ton of hands-on controls which hopefully means diving into Roland\u2019s notoriously arcane <\/a>menus<\/a> should be kept to a minimum.<\/p>\n

The TR-1000<\/a> feels like Roland actually listened to its customers for once. It\u2019s delightfully devoid of gimmicks, serious looking and, based on the demo videos at least, sounds great. Initial reaction from reviewers and fans has been overwhelmingly<\/a> <\/a>positive<\/a>. People on Reddit calling it \u201cbeautiful, focused, professional<\/a>,\u201d \u201cthe last drum machine you\u2019ll ever need<\/a>,\u201d and declaring \u201cI have zero complaints, this thing looks fucking epic<\/a>.\u201d Now, if Roland really wants to make its customers happy, it will build a stripped down version that skips the ACB and samples, focuses only on the analog sounds and maybe costs less than $2,699.99.<\/p>\n

Update October 5th, 2025:<\/strong> The description of addons for the Gaia 2 was corrected.<\/p>\n

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