Roland D-50
| Roland D-50 | |
|---|---|
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|
| Manufacturer | Roland Corporation |
| Dates | 1987-1990 |
| Price | US$1,895 UK£1,445 JP¥238,000 |
| Technical specifications | |
| Polyphony | 16 voices, 8 voices (Dual or Split mode) |
| Timbrality | 2-part |
| Oscillator | 32 partials with 2 per voice; 4 per voice in Dual or Split mode |
| LFO | 3 |
| Synthesis type | Linear Arithmetic synthesis |
| Filter | low-pass resonant filter referred to as a Time Variant Filter (TVF) |
| Attenuator | ADSR envelope referred to as Time Variant Amplifier (TVA) |
| Aftertouch expression | Yes |
| Velocity expression | Yes |
| Storage memory | 64 patches |
| Effects | reverb, chorus, EQ |
| Input/output | |
| Keyboard | 61 keys |
| Left-hand control | Pitchbend / modulation lever |
| External control | MIDI in/out, pedal switch |
The Roland D-50 is a polyphonic 61-key synthesiser produced by Roland and released in 1987. Its features include Linear Arithmetic synthesis, on-board effects, a joystick for data manipulation, and an analogue synthesis-styled layout design. The external Roland PG-1000 (1987-1990) programmer could also be attached to the D-50 for more complex manipulation of its sounds. It was also produced in a rack-mount variant design, the D-550 (1987-1990), with almost 450 user-adjustable parameters.
The D-50's capabilities could be modified through the addition of third-party products by Musitronics, most notably the M-EX which made the D-50 multitimbral (the D-50 was bi-timbral), as well as a chip that improved the D-50's response to incoming MIDI commands and a system for burning custom PCM cards with user samples for playback in the D-50.
The D-50 was the first affordable synthesizer to combine sample playback with digital synthesis, a process that Roland called Linear Arithmetic synthesis. The engineers at Roland determined the most difficult component of a realistic instrument to simulate is the attack, so the D-50 included almost 100 sampled attacks in ROM. The synthesizer played back an attack and used the synthesizer section to create the sustain of the sound. This dual-use method was required in 1987 since RAM was so expensive. Roland did, however, incorporate a number of "texture" samples that could be mixed into the synthesized sustain-part of a patch. These sustain samples gave many D-50 patches a lush and airy quality, particularly with its heavy use of choir, wind and string samples. The D-50 is probably the first virtual analog synthesizer; the D50 was also the first digital synthesizer to integrate onboard digital effects.
The Roland D-50 was awarded a TEC Award for outstanding technical achievement in musical technology in 1988.
Although the D-50 was among the first non-sampling machines to be able to produce sounds with sample-based characteristics, it was not long before many synthesizers on the market began using similar methods to create sounds. Roland later released a series of lower-priced keyboards and modules that allowed musicians who couldn't afford the relatively expensive flagship D-50 to have some of these sounds (Roland D-10 (1988), D-110 (rack version of D-10) (1988) D-20 (1988), D-5 (1989), MT-32). Though these lower priced D-series synthesizers did not contain the full "LA" synth engine, each was 8 part multi-timbral, and Roland doubled the number of onboard PCM samples. Roland also produced the 76-key, 6-octave "Super-LA" D-70 (1989-1990). With the D-70 Roland removed the digital synthesis section, which was replaced with full-length, more realistic and natural sounding samples, including an acoustic piano, which the D-50 lacked. The D-70 also had an expanded filter and effects section and was 5 part multi-timbral. Even with its improvements, however, the D-70 was unable to catch up with the dominant workstation of the time—the Korg M1—and failed to become the next Roland flagship synthesizer.
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