Roland synths and workstations (from the Juno to the Boutique series mini synthesizers) are a favorite of gigging pros and professional producers. Roland synthesizers pack powerful sound, sequencing, and audio recording features into one amazing instrument, suited to the serious musician. Checkout these competitively priced and full-featured synthesizers from Roland.
Introduction
Roland makes a wide range of professional keyboards and synthesizers, that can be used in the studio and on stage.
Roland keyboards are sturdy & built like a tank making them perfect for gigging. Musicians in general prefer the Roland synths for their reliability, flexibility and convenience.
The sound engine provides amazing sounds, the interface is laid out well that makes it easy to access the various controls (fast patch changes, arpeggio control, etc). The sounds are great out of the box, but you can easily tweak them to your liking. If you like to create your own unique sounds, you’ll enjoy the deep editing and sound design features (made easier by the iPad app).
Roland Synthesizers are known for their great analog sounds, ethnic styles, & robust build quality. These Synths come with extra-large display, and have dedicated knobs and buttons to access the various functions, making them great for live performances as well.
Checkout Roland synthesizers on zZounds.
Roland Keyboard Synths: Various Products
Here are the popular synth models.
Roland Juno Synths
Built for the live keyboardist, the JUNO-Di synth is a great alternative to a heavy, expensive workstation board, with hundreds of playable onboard sounds & effects. Impressive sound , reliable Roland construction. Read more…
Roland Jupiter-X Series
Roland JUPITER-X Series include JUPITER-X (61-key) and JUPITER-Xm (compact 37-key version) synthesizers. These provide an entire electronic production and performance environment at your fingertips. These come with advanced sound technologies, and are built from premium materials. Get access to Roland’s legendary synths and genre-defining sounds. If you are looking for a monster synth with some killer sounds (from pianos to synths), this is the one to consider.
- Roland Jupiter-Xm: Buy on zZounds
Roland V-Synth GT Synthesizer
Price: Around $3500. Roland’s original V-Synth set a new standard in expressive synthesis and sound design. It won awards and acclaim around the world, as it forever changed the way sounds were created and performed. But just when you thought V-Synth technology had reached its peak, Roland raised the bar even higher with the new flagship V-Synth GT! This unique instrument injects the V-Synth’s famous Elastic Audio Synthesis engine with revolutionary Articulative Phrase Synthesis technology. Its expression and realism is unprecedented, as is its ability to make never-before-heard sounds. Read more…
Roland System-8 Synthesizer
Roland System-8 Plug-Out (49-key) Synthesizer is a polysynth based on Roland’s Analog Circuit Behavior (ACB) circuit-modeling technology. This 3-osc, 8-voice virtual-analog synth lets you split and layer internal and Plug-Out sounds, with hands-on control.
- Pros: Lots of controls and features, plug-ins, better sound quality
- Cons: Only 8 voices, Only Roland System-8 Synthesizer (Specs & Pricing)49 keys (has no aftertouch).
PLUG-OUT Expansion
The System-8 features three expansion slots for hosting and controlling Roland’s Plug-Out software synths. Jupiter-8 and Juno-106 synths are included (which means you can use these Roland classic sounds). Optional Plug-Outs such as the SH-2, SH-101, PROMARS, and others are supported as well. You can even combine the internal synth engine and hosted Plug-Outs to create ‘super-synth’ patches, with layered voices, custom splits, and more.
This video, via MrFirechild, gives us the sonic possibilities with the new Roland System-8 synthesizer. The track uses sounds from the Roland System-8 Plug-Out Synthesizer only, including drums and vocoder.
This synth comes with many more creative tools. Here are the key features:
- Polyphonic step sequencer with classic TR-REC style interface
- Arpeggio, vocoder, and polyphonic Chord Memory functions
- CV/Gate outputs for interfacing with modular synths and vintage gear
The Roland System-8 Synthesizer is priced around $1.5k and considering all the controls and features, it seems to be reasonably priced.
Roland Boutique Line Synthesizers
Roland boutique line synthesizers include the TR-09 Rhythm Composer, TB-03 Bass Line synthesizer and VP-03 Vocoder, each extending on the originals’ capabilities, adding enhanced features and modern connectivity.
Each of these Roland Boutique synths run on 4 x AA batteries or USB bus power, and include a powered mini-speaker.
Roland TB-03 Bass Line Synthesizer
This compact synth now comes with built-in overdrive, delay, reverb, digital tempo display and more.
The unit comes with a new four-digit LED display allows for enhanced programming. The rotary dials give hands-on control over tuning, cutoff, resonance, envelope mod, decay, and accent. The unit also features new overdrive, delay, and reverb effects.
The TB-03 looks cool, is aesthetically pleasing and has the right kind of specs for your acid-bass pleasure. It has lot more sounds than is visible on the surface.
Buying Links
Roland Arranger Keyboards
Roland also makes nice arranger keyboards (they call it as Live Performance Keyboards).
For musicians who cannot accommodate a group of musicians or background singers for their gigs or recording sessions, Roland Live Performance Keyboards can be the perfect companion.
Read more on Roland arrangers.
More Roland Synthesizer Keyboards
Roland Jupiter-80 76-Key Synthesizer Keyboard
The Roland Jupiter-80 is a live-performance powerhouse synth with user-friendly operation, features a color touchscreen, SuperNATURAL technology and much more. If you are looking for a monster synth with some killer sounds (from pianos to synths), this is the one to consider.
76 semi-weighted keys, 256 polyphonic voices.
Roland Synthesizers: Guide
Roland Synthesizers are generally known for their great analog-style sounds, their authentic ethnic styles, and ease of use.
Roland also have a very good reputation for quality. A Roland synthesizer is sturdy and well built, and you can expect all the knobs and buttons to be working normally even after a few years.
Most of these Roland Synths come with an extra-large display, making it much easier for you to look at the various selections at a glance. They also have lots of knobs and buttons, which give you quick access to the various functions without having to touch the LCD screen.
The dedicated category buttons simplifies the process of finding sounds and patches. It is much easier and faster this way. This makes them ideal for live performances as well.
In fact Roland keyboard synthesizer, like the SH-201, does not even have an LCD! You straight-away use the knobs, and forget about navigating through the LCD to a certain section.
The High end models give you almost unlimited power to create new sounds – layered, split, single patch, etc. Roland synthesizers pack enough sound, sequencing, and audio recording features into one instrument, for you to do your entire studio work.
On the other hand, the user interface is intuitive and with all those knobs and sliders, it is easy for a first timer as well. First timers, travelling musicians and professionals will fancy the user friendly, portable, and great-sounding synths from Roland.
Roland produces some of the most powerful synthesizer keyboards for professional use. These are strongly built, and make you less dependent on the screen by providing various knobs and sliders. You can find some very powerful sound creation and audio recording features on these keyboards.
Checkout Roland website for more details.
Supersaw Technology
Supersaw is an oscillator that’s meant to sound like a bunch of sawtooth waves put together, a very large and textured sound, something that electronic music producers always strive for. Roland introduced this technology that allowed producers to create huge leads with ease.
Modern Supersaws
These days, DAWs make building layered sounds quite manageable, and while it’s not true Supersaw tech, a handcrafted, multi-layer oscillator is still commonly referred to as a Supersaw.
Although computers make your job easy, recreating a fat sound requires good understanding of building a stereo image.
You can accomplish this by splitting your sounds into four groups (give or take), one for each section of the spectrum: the low sub frequencies, the lo-mid bass, the mid lead, and the top end.
KeytarHQ editorial team includes musicians who write and review products for pianists, keyboardists, guitarists & other musicians. KeytarHQ is the best online resource for information on keyboards, pianos, synths, keytars, guitars and music gear for musicians of all abilities, ages and interests.
Leave a Reply