1.
Osaka
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Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Japan. Historically a merchant city, Osaka has also known as the nations kitchen. Some of the earliest signs of habitation in the Osaka area at the Morinomiya ruins comprise shell mounds, sea oysters. It is believed that what is today the Uehonmachi area consisted of a land with an inland sea in the east. During the Yayoi period, permanent habitation on the plains grew as rice farming became popular, by the Kofun period, Osaka developed into a hub port connecting the region to the western part of Japan. The large numbers of increasingly larger tomb mounds found in the plains of Osaka are seen as evidence of political-power concentration, in 645, Emperor Kōtoku built his Naniwa Nagara-Toyosaki Palace in what is now Osaka, making it the capital of Japan. The city now known as Osaka was at this time referred to as Naniwa, although the capital was moved to Asuka in 655, Naniwa remained a vital connection, by land and sea, between Yamato, Korea, and China. Naniwa was declared the capital again in 744 by order of Emperor Shōmu, and remained so until 745, in 1496, Jōdo Shinshū Buddhists established their headquarters in the heavily fortified Ishiyama Hongan-ji, located directly on the site of the old Naniwa Imperial Palace. Oda Nobunaga began a siege campaign on the temple in 1570 which ultimately resulted in the surrender of the monks. Toyotomi Hideyoshi constructed Osaka Castle in its place in 1583, Osaka was long considered Japans primary economic center, with a large percentage of the population belonging to the merchant class. Over the course of the Edo period, Osaka grew into one of Japans major cities and returned to its ancient role as a lively and its popular culture was closely related to ukiyo-e depictions of life in Edo. By 1780 Osaka had cultivated a vibrant arts culture, as typified by its famous Kabuki, in 1837 Ōshio Heihachirō, a low-ranking samurai, led a peasant insurrection in response to the citys unwillingness to support the many poor and suffering families in the area. Approximately one-quarter of the city was razed before shogunal officials put down the rebellion, Osaka was opened to foreign trade by the government of the Bakufu at the same time as Hyōgo on 1 January 1868, just before the advent of the Boshin War and the Meiji Restoration. Osaka residents were stereotyped in Edo literature from at least the 18th century, jippenisha Ikku in 1802 depicted Osakans as stingy almost beyond belief. Edo writers aspired to samurai culture, and saw themselves as poor but generous, chaste, Edo writers by contrast saw zeeroku as obsequious apprentices, stingy, greedy, gluttonous, and lewd. The modern municipality was established in 1889 by government ordinance, with an area of 15 square kilometres, overlapping todays Chūō. Later, the city went through three major expansions to reach its current size of 223 square kilometres, Osaka was the industrial center most clearly defined in the development of capitalism in Japan. It became known as the Manchester of the Orient, the rapid industrialization attracted many Korean immigrants, who set up a life apart for themselves
2.
Ace Tone
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Ace Electronic Industries Inc. or Ace Tone was a manufacturer of musical instruments, including electronic organs and analogue drum machines, and effects pedals. Founded in 1960 by Ikutaro Kakehashi with an investment by Sakata Shokai, Ace Tone can be considered an incarnation of the Roland Corporation. Ace Tone began manufacturing amplifiers in 1963, canary S-2 — Vacuum tube clavioline, exhibited on 1964 Summer NAMM, but not released. X-3/X-3W — although model name evokes Hammond X series, it was shipped under Ace Tone brand, Ace 3000 has built-in cassette recorder on the lower right. National SX-601 Hammond VS-300 Cadette — although early Cadettes was built in Japan by Yamaha/Nippon Gakki, later models in the United Kingdom was built by Ace Tone/Nihon Hammond. Hammond F1000 /2000 /3000 — these models built in England in the 1970s, were variations of Ace 1000 /2000 /3000 designed & built in Japan, Ace Tone model also shipped from Hammond. Ace Tone FR-2L ⇒ Hammond Auto Ace Tone FR-3 ⇒ Hammond Rhythm 2 Hammond shipped far improved model based on Rolands improved model, Ace Tone FR-7L ⇒ Roland Rhythm 77 ⇒ Hammond Auto-Vari 64 Hammond models manufactured by Nihon Hammond. In the 1970s, possibly several models were distributed under Multivox brand by Sorkin Music. On the other hand, late-1970s models such as Multivox FR-3 seem to share similarities with Korg Minipops. Multivox models Also shipped from Multivox In the mid-1970s, “ACE TONE” brand was taken over by Sakata/Nihon Hammond, Sakata/Nihhon Hammond models Also shipped from Sakata/Nihhon Hammond. In 1972, Kakehashi left Ace Electronics and established Roland Corporation, Ace Tone Professional Amplifiers Catalog 1971. Ace Tone Guitar Amplifiers Catalog 1976, for example, production years of early product/prototype, and the later mass-production models are mysteriously confused. Archived from the original on 2008-06-30, — List of products and some corporate history. — Profiles of organs and corporate history, harmony Central, Ace Tone, Reviews — Reviews of Ace Tone products. Orgel Wiki, Ace Tone — more pictures of organ models, vintageSynth. hu, Ace — more pictures of products. Ace-tone lh-100 stereo phasor - LH-100 Stereo Phasor photo and audio examples, effectsdatabase. com, Ace Tone WM-1 Wah Master. The Dave Howard Singers PAGE - A band that popularized the sound of the Acetone Top 5, the Dave Howard Singers Wikipedia PAGE
3.
Roland Corporation
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The Roland Corporation is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on April 18,1972, in 2005, Rolands headquarters relocated to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture. Today it has factories in Italy, Taiwan, Japan, as of March 31,2010, it employed 2,699 employees. It has existed in different forms since 1960, making it relatively old among still-operating manufacturers of musical electronics, known for hundreds of popular synthesizers, drum machines, and other instruments, Roland has been one of the top names in professional music equipment since the late 1970s. In 2014, Roland Corporation was subject to a management buyout by Rolands CEO Junichi Miki, Kakehashi founded Ace Electronic Industries in 1960, a manufacturer of numerous combo organs, guitar amplifiers, and effects pedals. He was also contracted by Hammond to produce machines for the companys line of home organs. In 1973, Kakehashi cut ties with companies to found Roland. As with many Japanese start-ups of the period, the name Roland was selected for export purposes as Kakehashi was interested in a name that was easy to pronounce for his worldwide target markets. Rumour has long circulated that he named his company after the French epic poem La Chanson de Roland, in reality, the name Roland was found in a telephone directory. Kakehashi opted for it as he was satisfied with the simple two-syllable word, the letter R was chosen because it was not used by many other music equipment companies, and would therefore stand out in trade show directories and industry listings. Kakehashi did not learn of The Song Of Roland until later, Roland markets products under a number of brand names, each of which are used on products geared toward a different niche. The Roland brand is used on a range of products including synthesizers, digital pianos, electronic drum systems, dance/DJ gear, guitar synthesizers, amplifiers. BOSS is a used for products geared toward guitar players and is used for guitar pedals, effects units, rhythm and accompaniment machines. Edirol was a line of professional video-editing and video-presentation systems, as well as digital audio recorders. Edirol also had Desktop Media products, more production-oriented, and included computer audio interfaces, mixers, Roland Systems Group is a line of professional commercial audio and video products. Rodgers was founded in 1958 as a company and survives today as a subsidiary of Roland, still manufacturing high-quality electric, electronic. Cakewalk music software company is a partner of Roland’s. In January 2008, Roland announced the purchase of controlling interest in the company, in 2013, ownership of Cakewalk passed from Roland to Gibson Guitar Corporation
4.
Boss Corporation
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Boss is a manufacturer of effects pedals for electric guitar and bass guitar. It is a division of the Roland Corporation, a Japanese manufacturer that specializes in musical equipment, in more recent times, Boss expanded their product line by including Digital Studios, rhythm machines and other electronic music equipment. The earliest Boss product was called B-100 The Boss, released in 1974 and this came with a clip-on pre-amp and a pickup to amplify acoustic guitars. At this point the Boss company had not been formed and it was technically a Beckmen Musical Instruments product. The first proper Boss foot pedal effect, the CE-1 Chorus Ensemble, was released June,1976 and it was a fairly large, AC-powered unit. Other foot pedals of that year are the GE-10, the BF-1, the Boss DS-1 was released the next year, in 1978. Their first compact chorus pedal came in 1979, and their first flanger pedal in 1980, in 1983 Boss released the DD-2 Digital Delay, the first mass-produced digital delay in a compact pedal format. The Metal Zone was released in 1991, in 1992 Boss released nine new pedals, including the Turbo Distortion. The Heavy Metal distortion pedal was a part of the guitar sound of many styles of heavy metal music ever since. The pedals all share the same footprint, for compatibility with pedal boards, Boss introduced COSM, Rolands proprietary version of digital modeling technology, into their AC-3 Acoustic Simulator pedal in 2006. Boss has since released several pedals using COSM, including the FBM-159 Fender Bassman pedal and FDR-165 Fender Deluxe Reverb pedal, all Boss compact pedals use a buffered bypass type of silent foot switching utilizing Field Effect Transistors to avoid clicks and pops. While not true bypass, the bypass has the advantage of preventing signal loss due to long runs of cable, while keeping original guitar tone intact. Boss compact pedals were originally produced in Japan, until circa 1990 when production moved to Taiwan, earlier units came with a metal screw securing the battery compartment, later models retained the metal screw, adding a plastic knob for tool-less battery removal. The labels on the bottom of the come in several different colours including black, silver, green, pink. Apart from this the design has remained unchanged for over 25 years. The DS-1 Distortion, however, is an exception, the design has changed twice throughout its lifetime. The first time was around 1994 when the Toshiba TA7136AP op-amp was replaced with the Rohm BA728N, in 2000 the op-amp was again changed. This time it was replaced with the Mitsubishi M5223AL, the latest op-amp change occurred in 2007, when new DS-1 pedals began shipping with the NJM3404AL op-amp
5.
Electronic musical instrument
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An electronic musical instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound using electronics. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical signal that ultimately drives a loudspeaker. An electronic instrument might include a user interface for controlling its sound, often by adjusting the pitch, frequency, all electronic musical instruments can be viewed as a subset of audio signal processing applications. Simple electronic musical instruments are called sound effects, the border between sound effects and actual musical instruments is often hazy. Electronic musical instruments are now used in most styles of music. Development of new musical instruments, controllers, and synthesizers continues to be a highly active. In the 18th-century, musicians and composers adapted a number of instruments to exploit the novelty of electricity. The former instrument consisted of an instrument of over 700 strings. The latter was an instrument with plectra activated electrically. However, neither instrument used electricity as a sound-source, the first electric synthesizer was invented in 1876 by Elisha Gray. The Musical Telegraph used steel reeds oscillated by electromagnets and transmitted over a telephone line, Gray also built a simple loudspeaker device into later models, which consisted of a diaphragm vibrating in a magnetic field. A significant invention, which later had an effect on electronic music, was the audion in 1906. This was the first thermionic valve, or vacuum tube and which led to the generation and amplification of signals, radio broadcasting. Other early synthesizers included the Telharmonium, the Theremin, Jörg Magers Spharophon and Partiturophone, Taubmanns similar Electronde, Maurice Martenots ondes Martenot, only two models of this latter were built and the only surviving example is currently stored at the Lomonosov University in Moscow. It has been used in many Russian movies—like Solaris—to produce unusual, Hugh Le Caine, John Hanert, Raymond Scott, composer Percy Grainger, and others built a variety of automated electronic-music controllers during the late 1940s and 1950s. In 1959 Daphne Oram produced a method of synthesis, her Oramics technique, driven by drawings on a 35 mm film strip. In 1897 Thaddeus Cahill patented an instrument called the Telharmonium, using tonewheels to generate musical sounds as electrical signals by additive synthesis, it was capable of producing any combination of notes and overtones, at any dynamic level. This technology was used to design the Hammond organ
6.
MIDI
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A single MIDI link can carry up to sixteen channels of information, each of which can be routed to a separate device. These messages are sent via a MIDI cable to other devices where they control sound generation, a simple example of a MIDI setup is the use of a MIDI controller such as an electronic musical keyboard to trigger sounds created by a sound module. This MIDI data can also be recorded into a hardware or software device called a sequencer, advantages of MIDI include compactness, ease of modification and manipulation and a wide choice of electronic instruments and synthesizer or digitally-sampled sounds. MIDI technology was standardized in 1983 by a panel of industry representatives. In June 1981, Roland founder Ikutaro Kakehashi proposed the idea of standardization to Oberheim Electronics founder Tom Oberheim, in October 1981, Kakehashi, Oberheim and Smith discussed the idea with representatives from Yamaha, Korg and Kawai. Smith proposed this standard at the Audio Engineering Society show in November 1981, MIDIs development was announced to the public by Robert Moog, in the October 1982 edition of Keyboard magazine. By the time of the January 1983 Winter NAMM Show, Smith was able to demonstrate a MIDI connection between his Prophet 600 analog synthesizer and a Roland JP-6, the MIDI Specification was published in August 1983. The MIDI standard was unveiled by Ikutaro Kakehashi and Dave Smith, MIDIs appeal was originally limited to professional musicians and record producers who wanted to use electronic instruments in the production of popular music. The standard allowed different instruments to speak with other and with computers. This interoperability allowed one device to be controlled from another, which reduced the amount of hardware musicians needed to own, MIDIs introduction coincided with the dawn of the personal computer era and the introductions of samplers and digital synthesizers. The creative possibilities brought about by MIDI technology have been credited as having helped to revive the industry in the 1980s. MIDI introduced many capabilities which transformed the way musicians work, MIDI sequencing made it possible for a user with no notation skills to build complex arrangements. A musical act with as few as one or two members, each operating multiple MIDI-enabled devices, could deliver a performance which sounds similar to that of a larger group of musicians. By performing preproduction in an environment, an artist can reduce recording costs by arriving at a recording studio with a song that is already partially completed and worked out. Educational technology enabled by MIDI has transformed music education and those new to the subject of MIDI might confuse it with digital audio. MIDI symbolically represents a note, whereas digital audio represents the sound produced by the note, MIDI was invented so that musical instruments could communicate with each other and so that one instrument can control another. Analog synthesizers that have no digital component and were built prior to MIDIs development can be retrofit with kits that convert MIDI messages into analog control voltages. When a note is played on a MIDI instrument, it generates a signal that can be used to trigger a note on another instrument
7.
Amplifier
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An amplifier, electronic amplifier or amp is an electronic device that can increase the power of a signal. An amplifier functions by taking power from a supply and controlling the output to match the input signal shape. In this sense, an amplifier modulates the output of the power supply based upon the properties of the input signal, an amplifier is effectively the opposite of an attenuator, while an amplifier provides gain, an attenuator provides loss. An amplifier can either be a piece of equipment or an electrical circuit contained within another device. Amplification is fundamental to modern electronics, and amplifiers are used in almost all electronic equipment. Amplifiers can be categorized in different ways, another is which quantity, voltage or current is being amplified, amplifiers can be divided into voltage amplifiers, current amplifiers, transconductance amplifiers, and transresistance amplifiers. A further distinction is whether the output is a linear or nonlinear representation of the input, amplifiers can also be categorized by their physical placement in the signal chain. The first practical device that could amplify was the triode vacuum tube, invented in 1906 by Lee De Forest. Vacuum tubes were used in almost all amplifiers until the 1960s–1970s when the transistor, invented in 1947, today most amplifiers use transistors, but vacuum tubes continue to be used in some applications. Before the invention of electronic amplifiers, mechanically coupled carbon microphones were used as amplifiers in telephone repeaters. After the turn of the century it was found that negative resistance mercury lamps could amplify, the first practical electronic device that could amplify was the Audion vacuum tube, invented in 1906 by Lee De Forest, which led to the first amplifiers around 1912. The terms amplifier and amplification were first used for this new capability around 1915 when triodes became widespread, the amplifying vacuum tube revolutionized electrical technology, creating the new field of electronics, the technology of active electrical devices. It made possible long distance lines, public address systems, radio broadcasting, talking motion pictures, practical audio recording, radar, television. For 50 years virtually all electronic devices used vacuum tubes. Early tube amplifiers often had positive feedback, which could increase gain but also make the amplifier unstable, much of the mathematical theory of amplifiers was developed at Bell Telephone Laboratories during the 1920s to 1940s. Other advances in the theory of amplification were made by Harry Nyquist, the vacuum tube was the only amplifying device for 40 years, and dominated electronics until 1947, when the first transistor, the BJT, was invented. Today most amplifiers use transistors, but vacuum tubes are used in some high power applications such as radio transmitters. All amplifiers have gain, a factor that relates the magnitude of some property of the output signal to a property of the input signal
8.
Effects unit
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An effects unit or pedal is an electronic or digital device that alters how a musical instrument or other audio source sounds. In the 2010s, most effects use solid state electronics and/or computer chips, some vintage effects units from the 1930s to the 1970s and modern reissues of these effects use mechanical components as well or vacuum tubes. Musicians, audio engineers and record producers use effects units during live performances or in the studio, typically with electric guitar, electronic keyboard, while guitar effects are most frequently used with electric or electronic instruments, effects can also be used with acoustic instruments, drums and vocals. Rackmounted or audio console-integrated reverb effects are used with vocals in live sound and sound recording. Examples of common units include wah-wah pedals, fuzzboxes and reverb units. A stompbox or pedal is a metal or plastic box placed on the floor in front of the musician and connected to the instrument. Pedals are usually the least expensive format, a rackmount device mounts on a standard 19-inch equipment rack and usually contains several types of effects. Rackmount effects typically have buttons and/or knobs on the face of the chassis for controlling the effects, an effects unit is also called an effect box, effects device, effects processor or simply effects. In audio engineer parlance, a signal without effects is dry, the abbreviation F/X or FX is sometimes used. A pedal-style unit may be called a box, stompbox. When a musician has multiple effects in a rack mounted road case, Effects units are available in a variety of formats or form factors. Stompboxes are usually the smallest, least expensive, and most rugged effects units, rackmount devices are generally more expensive and offer a wider range of functions. An effects unit can consist of analog or digital circuitry or a combination of the two, during a live performance, the effect is plugged into the electrical signal path of the instrument. In the studio, the instrument or other sound-sources auxiliary output is patched into the effect, form factors are part of a studio or musicians outboard gear. Stompboxes are small plastic or metal chassis which usually lie on the floor or in a pedalboard to be operated by the users feet, pedals are often rectangle-shaped, but there are a range of other shapes. Typical simple stompboxes have a single footswitch, one to three potentiometers for controlling the effect, and a single LED that indicates if the effect is on, depending on the type of pedal, the potentiometers may control different parameters of the effect. For a chorus effect, for example, the knobs may control the depth, some pedals have two knobs stacked on top of each other, enabling the unit to provide two knobs per single knob space. An effects chain or signal chain is formed by connecting two or more stompboxes, effect chains are typically created between the guitar and the amp or between the preamplifier and the power amp
9.
Roland TR-808
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The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, often referred to simply as the 808, is a drum machine introduced by the Roland Corporation in 1980 and discontinued in 1983. It was one of the earliest programmable drum machines, with which users could create their own rather than having to use presets. Unlike its nearest competitor, the expensive and sample-based Linn LM-1 Drum Computer. Launched at a time when music had yet to become mainstream. It was succeeded in 1984 by the TR-909, over the course of the decade, the 808 attracted a cult following among underground musicians for its affordability, ease of use, and idiosyncratic sounds, particularly its deep, booming bass drum. It became a cornerstone of the electronic, dance, and hip hop genres, popularized by early hits such as Marvin Gayes Sexual Healing and Afrika Bambaataa. At the time, drum machines were most often used to accompany home organs, Lewis was known for performances using electronic instruments he had modified himself, decades before the popularization of instrument hacking via circuit bending. He made extensive modifications to the Ace Tone drum machine, creating his own rhythms and wiring the device through his organs expression pedal to accent the percussion, unique at the time. Lewis was approached by Ace Tone president and founder Ikutaro Kakehashi, in 1972, Kakehashi formed the Roland Corporation and hired Lewis to help design drum machines. By the late 1970s, microprocessors were appearing in such as the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 synthesizer. In 1978, Roland released the CompuRhythm CR-78, the first drum machine with which users could write, save, with its next machine, the TR-808, Roland aimed to develop a drum machine for the professional market, expecting that it would mainly be used to create demos. Though the engineers aimed to emulate real percussion, the prohibitive cost of memory drove them to design sound-generating hardware instead of using samples, Kakehashi deliberately purchased faulty transistors to create the machines distinctive sizzling sound. Roland engineer Makoto Muri credited the design of the voice circuits to Mr. Nakamura. The 808 generates 16 different sounds in imitation of acoustic percussion, bass drum, snare, toms, conga, rimshot, claves, handclap, maraca, cowbell, cymbal, and hi-hat. It is completely analog, meaning its sounds are generated via hardware rather than sampled, users can program up to 32 patterns using the step sequencer, each with a maximum of 768 measures, and place accents on individual beats, a feature introduced with the CR-78. Users can also set the tempo and time signature, including unusual signatures such as 5/4, the machine has multiple audio outputs and a DIN sync port to synchronize with other devices, considered groundbreaking at the time. The 808s sounds do not resemble real percussion, and have described as clicky and hypnotic, robotic, toy-like, spacey. Fact described them as a combination of tones and white noise
