Osaka, Japan, founded 1972 by Ikutaro Kakehashi · 1972 to present

Vintage Roland synthesizers

Ikutaro Kakehashi founded Roland in Osaka on 18 April 1972, a month after leaving Ace Electronic, the organ and rhythm-box maker he'd started in 1960. He picked the name from a phone book because it was easy to say anywhere in the world. Roland's first product was a drum machine, and its 1973 SH-1000 was the first compact synthesizer made in Japan. The 1978 CR-78 let players program their own beats, and Kakehashi later worked with Dave Smith of Sequential Circuits to unveil MIDI in 1983. Many of the machines collectors chase now failed on release. The TR-808, TB-303 and TR-909 were sold off cheaply within a few years, then became the backbone of hip-hop, house, techno and acid. The Juno-106 was the exception, and it sold well enough that many still work in studios. Every model here keeps its memory on backup batteries, so check for leaks whichever one you buy.