Roland "Enter the world of MIDI" three-page fold-out, Keyboard 1984

                                         

Roland "Enter the world of MIDI" three-page fold-out featuring the TR909 drum machine, Jupiter-6, Juno-106, and JX-3P synthesizers, MSQ-700 sequencer, MD-8 MIDI/DCB interface, MPU-101 computer interface, MM-4 MIDI through box, and GR-700 guitar synthesizer, attached between pages 18 and 19 in the July 1984 issue of Keyboard Magazine.

1984 was a good year. Two words - Sixteen Candles.

Another reason is that Roland officially announced it *hearts* MIDI with this promotion fold-out piece.

Really what else is there to say?

Okay - a lot actually.  :)

What a nice surprise to open up the July 1984 issue of Keyboard and find this tucked nicely between pages 18 and 19. Its a pull-out, but stuck so tightly in there that its more of a fold-out. So that's what I called it. Sure, Roland had a few ads before this featuring MIDI gear, but I think this really was Roland's defining moment - proprietary DCB is out and the MIDI standard is definitely in. So long, suckas!

I hope the scan makes sense. Basically, when you flipped to page 18, rather than viewing page 19 on the  opposite page, you would be presented with that first lovely front page with the inviting welcome message "Enter the World of MIDI". Flip the page and you really do enter that strange new world, greeted with  two and a half pages of inner-promo-goodness. Then, if you flipped that over, you could view the back-side page and a half fold-out.

This is Roland announcing to the world that it has embraced MIDI. And indeed it has. Just look at that list of gear Roland has pumped out since MIDI was introduced to the word - TR-909, Juno-106, Jupiter-6, JX-3P, MSQ-700, MD-8, GR-700, MM-4 and MPU-101. And, lets not forget a few walk-on appearances by none other than the grand-daddy of 'em all - the Jupiter-8, but also a Juno-60 and even an Apple II computer (and PC - both using special Roland software).

And if putting all that gear together in one place isn't enough, Roland tied it all together with a gorgeous bow by including an infographic - before the word "infographic" even existed.

Just look at the design. Gorgeous black background with a pre-Photoshop neon glow. It's so soothing. I want to just bathe in the glowing light.

And best of all - Roland includes not one, but two diagrams. I loooooove diagrams. The first includes imagery of each group of instruments, and the second is more of a classic diagram illustrating Roland gear used in a basic set-up, multi-keyboard set-up, guitar set-up and home computer set-up.

To make it easy on us readers, Roland colour-coded everything and included a legend on page three under the heading "Choose your weapon!".

• MIDI keyboard - blue
• MIDI guitars - purple
• MIDI drums - green
• MIDI computers - orange
• MIDI keyboard interfaces - red

 Another nice touch.

 Roland - it doesn't get much better than this.

Roland Juno-106 "Synful" ad, Keyboard August 1984

Roland Juno-106 synthesizer "Synful" full page colour advertisement from page 7 in the June1984 issue of Keyboard Magazine.

This ad ended up running in Keyboard Magazine for five months starting in the June1984 issue of Keyboard (skipping July). I had a subscription to Keyboard, but I ended up going down to my favourite gear store and buying a second copy just so I could cut out the big colour front cover photo of the Thompson Twins as well as a few of the black and white photos from the feature article on Tom Bailey. I remember being particularly angry when, coincidentally, a girl with the last name of Bailey drew a moustache on both Tom and Alannah Currie when I put up that photo in my locker at school.

True story - you can't make that sh!t up.

Roland had regularly advertised on the coveted inside front cover of Keyboard Magazine from around March 1980 (starting with a Jupiter-4 ad) until around January 1983 (ending with a Jupiter 8/MC-4 ad). Then it more sporadically took over the page 7 spot with ads for the Juno-60, SH-101 and this ad for the Juno106.

If the inside front cover of a 1984 issue of Keyboard Magazine was equivalent to living on a private island, then page 7 was like living in the South of France. Still a pretty good gig if you can swing it. And early on it was clear the Juno-106 deserved a nice little property in the South of France.

The Juno-106 is kind of a big deal and it really is amazing just how iconic it has become. There are a number of ways to measure the popularity of a vintage synthesizer. Some use the new-to-now price ratio, others the number of times it pops up in interviews with artists in magazines. And of course, you can measure it by looking at the number of comments that can be found on such sites as Vintage Synth Explorer. In the case of that latter measurement, the number of comments would be 176 at the time of this writing.

Let me throw out another number at you: 11. That would be the number of comments that the Siel DK600 (another synth that came out around 1984) has managed to pull together on VSE.

Poor thing.  :)

If you believe the ad-copy for this Juno-106 advertisement, you would think this thing was packed to the brim with features.

"Roland's JUNO synthesizers are known for packing them in. More features, (and followers) than you can count. But this time, the JUNO has outdone even itself"

Wait... what? More features than I can count?   Like multiple oscillators? Nope. Just one. Loads of modifiers like ADSRs and LFOs? Nope. Again, just one of each. Arpeggiator? Sequencer? Nope. Nope.

Truly, not feature-rich. In fact, if all I had were the specs of the machine written on a piece of paper, I would more likely turn my nose up at this single-oscillator synth. And many readers only had just that when the Spec Sheet promo for the Juno-106 appeared the following month in the July 1984 issue of Keyboard. More than a few probably stopped reading after that second sentence:

"Roland Synthesizer. The Juno-106 polyphonic synthesizer is the latest addition to the Juno line, which includes the Juno-60 and Juno-6. The 106 features a 61-note, 5-octave keyboard with six DCOs - one per voice. each voice has its own VCF, VCA, and envelope generator. There is also an LFO and a chorus circuit. Performance controls include a portamento section, pitch-bend, LFO trigger sensitivity control, and master volume. The instrument features 128 user-programmable memory positions, arranged in two groups of eight banks each. Each bank holds eight patches. Hands-free switching between memory positions can be accomplished via a rear panel patch shift jack. A cassette interface for off-loading programs is also included. The unit is equipped with MIDI in, out and thru ports. The instrument can receive note event, pitch-bend, LFO modulation, and program change information via MIDI. Stereo and mono outputs as well as a headphone jack are provided. Measurements are 29.68" wide, 4.6" high, and 12.6" deep. Price is $1,095.00. RolandCorp., 7200 Dominion Circle, Los Angeles, CA 90040."

But, to cast aside the Juno-106 based purely on specs misses the point I'm trying, and as yet, to make.

The rest of the ad-copy doesn't hit this point either, but does tell readers a few other things.  The 106 includes 128 programs - double that of the Juno-60. It has polyphonic portamento. And MIDI (This is 1984! A new era!).   

But like I said. It still doesn't really get to the real point of the Juno-106.

Keep on reading that August 1984 issue of Keyboard Magazine, and you will eventually hit page 78 with a Keyboard Report on the Juno-106 by Dominic Milano.

Right at the beginning, he points out what could have been the Juno-106's Achilles heel. But quickly puts that myth to rest - well, at least as far as the Juno-106 is concerned.

"Polyphonic synthesizers that feature a single oscillator per voice have been looked on with disdain for years by experienced synthesists. the contention is that somehow they don't sound as good as the "standard" two-oscillator-per-voice instruments... But it's also true that there are single-oscillator instruments that offer a lot more than just relatively low cost. Roland's new Juno-106 is one of them."

And finally we get to the point.

THE SOUND!

The Juno-106 offers sweet sweet sound. Enough to make this $1095 synthesizer worth every penny. And more. And to help get that sound, the Juno-106 includes low and high pass filters, a noise source, a stereo chorus unit built in, and a juicy sub-octave generator. As Dominic states:

"For a single-oscillator instrument, it really punches."

Got that right. Super yummy punchy bass!

End note: Oh. And like I mentioned before - this thing has sweet sweet MIDI as well. Or as Dominic puts it in his keyboard Report:

"...the instrument packs more control over MIDI functions than any instrument we've seen to date". 

In fact, apparently one little known feature of the Juno-106 even among my fellow 106-fanatics is the ability to hook two 106s together with MIDI such that the front panel controls of the master can affect the controls of the slave. And even though I tend to use my Juno-106 mostly for bass sounds - never holding down more than one note at a time - I'm always on the look out for another realistically-priced 106 just so I can hook them together and try this out.

I'm still waiting.   :)

Boss Play Bus HA-5 "A rough audience" ad, Keyboard 1984

Boss Play Bus HA-5 portable amp and PA system "A rough audience" full page colour advertisement from page 7 in the February 1984 issue of Keyboard Magazine.

Two boss ads in a row... and you can see why.

Even though I don't really have that much of an interest in portable amps, I do really enjoy these Boss ads. I have to say that the Dr. Rhythm advertisement that can be found in the December 1984 and January 1984 almost pales in comparison to this HA-5 ad that immediately followed in the February and March 1984 issues. Its almost disappointing that each ad only received two months of ad space. They both deserved so much more.

The Dr. Rhythm ad featured only one frame, but we get five gorgeous frames of story line with the studly Mr. Play Bus and his... er... Playbus. I'm comfortable enough in my heterosexuality to say that's one good-looking man.

Everything about this ad leads back to the pop-culture of the moment. The kid's clothing looks right out of a Duran Duran poster with their bright shirts and sports jackets. And the reference to Dallas, a show popular amongst the not-so-hip adults, rocks. And kicking them out of the garage for being too loud cracks me up. Even the Betty and Veronica look-a-likes sitting in the sand adoring the boys screams pop culture.

The details within each frame are also a pure joy to discover. The one guy stepping in kitty litter. The cat freaking out because of the noise. The one kid with "The Kools" t-shirt. And.... a TR-808! Go Roland/Boss!

I'm guessing this was Boss's answer to Yamaha's portable "Producer Series" of gear that included the portable MA10 headphone amplifier and MM10 Mic Line Stereo Portable Mixer. And its interesting that Boss also chose to use artwork in their ads.

The Boss Area Web site is a good resource for many Boss products, the HA-5 included. Some good specs for the HA-5 as well as the RH-11M can be found there.

Like I said at the beginning - not much of an interest in portable amps... and not much else to say.

This awesome ad speaks for itself anyways.  :)

Boss Dr. Rhythm DR-110 "Lousy guitar playing" ad, Keyboard 1983

Boss Dr. Rhythm DR-110 drum machine "Lousy guitar playing" full page colour advertisement from page 7 in the December 1983 issue of Keyboard Magazine.

Wow, if my blog labels are any indication, this is my first ever Boss post. It's even more of a wonder this ad hasn't been posted yet since I have such an infatuation with vintage (and not so vintage) drum machines. My drum machine shelf is overflowing but the collection just keeps growing. Its a good thing that many of these 80s drum machines are so small.  :)

I distinctly recall this ad from 1983 - that's gotta say something. Maybe I identified with the teen struggling as a bedroom musician. Or maybe I was already infatuated with drum machines. Or maybe it was the comic-style artwork used to market to its target audience with pin-point accuracy. Probably a bit of all three. And those are the exact same reasons I like this ad today. Especially the artwork (see the blog's "artwork" label for other ads based around artwork).

The DR-110 seems to be at or near the beginning of what I call the third "wave" of compact drum machines. I don't know if you can actually call it "waves", but my mind always wants to categorize everything.  In my head, the initial wave included first gen machines like the Ace Tone FR7L or Roland TR-33/55/77 series. Then the second wave included more compact machines like the Boss DR-55, Korg KR-55 (1981), Sound Master SR-8 (1982) and Clef Master Rhythm (1982).  And the third wave included drum machines like the Roland TR-606 (1982) or Korg KPR-77 (1983).

Well then, you may ask, where does the LinnDrum fit in? Or the Roland TR-808?

That's the thing - they don't fit into those waves. To me it seems like after that first wave or so, drum machines split off into two streams. The first stream consisting of lower-priced drum machines like those above. The second stream consisting of higher-priced professional drum machines like the Linn LM-1 (1980) and the Linn Drum, as well as the Roland TR-808 (1981), and Oberheim DMX (1981). And then later drum machines like the Sequential DrumTraks (1984).  But as higher-end technology such as sample memory got cheaper, the two streams merged again later in the 80s to bring us drum machines like the Korg DDD-1 (1986), Roland TR-505 (1986) and Kawai R-100 (1986).

Now, like I said - this is how my mind categorizes them - and not necessarily how they should be categorized. Don't email me angry letters.   :)

So, like I said, I kinda fit that DR-110 into that third wave of cheaper drum machines that weren't necessarily made for professional use. You only have to look at this DR-110 ad to know Boss was also thinking along these lines. The whole theme of the ad is NOT one of a professional musician in a studio, recording a hit record. Nope. It's one of a father telling his "98 pound [bedroom] musician" that his rhythm sucks donkey balls. And although the ad-copy does describe the sounds of the DR-110 as "studio quality", even Boss doesn't go as far as saying it could be used on professional records. 

"Whether it's a bedroom jam, or a drum sketch for the studio..."

Luckily, myself and many others didn't listen to the ad and didn't stop at just using it to form drum sketches.

My DR-110 gets used regularly, either sampled clean or pumped through my modular, or my ever-growing Boss half-rack effects tower (see right with my 303). I bet they could make those effects racks even smaller now - maybe 1/3 or 1/4 racks with itty-bitty knobs. How adorable would *that* be attached to a Monotron.

 I really enjoy the sound of the DR-110 and often when I'm asked about it, I compare it favorably to the TR-606. And it looks like I'm not the only one that makes this comparison. Through Vintage Synth Explorer's DR-110 page, I came across a nice short video by AnalogAudio - a lovely way to end this blog post:

End note: You can also listen to my 303 being pumped through that Boss micro-effects rack tower on the Retro Synth Ads SoundCloud page. Scroll to the bottom and look for "Short bit" and "Boring stuff" (which includes a few notes so you can tell when each effect is applied).

Roland "The Creative Answer" Original Stickers, 1977 or 1978

Roland "The Creative Answer" Original Stickers from approximately 1977 or 1978.

If you haven't guessed by now, I don't just love old synth ads. I've posted brochures, catalogs, newsletters, sell sheets and even belt buckles. But I'm pretty sure this is the first sticker set. 

So.... like, awesome.  Where to begin?

Well, that small middle sticker is a good place to start. Yup - that's a circular System 100 sticker with an actual little System 100 photo. Looks almost like a poker chip. When I was first getting into synths, a good friend had a System 100 in his basement and I loved going over there to noodle on it. I think it was the modularity of it that interested me most. Especially the sequencer. It was in great condition too.

The dude with the headphones and the guitar are also fantastic because the imagery is a great reflection of the time period.  The bandana/scarf around the neck, the hair cut, the v-neck shirt. All of it.  Even the boots with the stars on them.

But, with no date included on the sticker sheet, I had to estimate the year it was printed.

The colouring is still so bright that a part of me is still not convinced this is from the 70s. I did a few Google searches to see if I could find anything similar and nothing came up. A few Roland Orzabal (Tears for Fears) stickers came up though. I almost got sidetracked looking for other 80s new wave band stickers.

I also decided a few MATRIXSYNTH searches were in order. LOTS of great stickers there from a lot of synth companies. I recommend doing a few searches yourself if you are interested. But again, nothing resembling this Roland sheet came up.

With my suspicion *almost* subsided, my first idea to estimate a print date was to look at the tag line found in some of the stickers - "The Creative Answer" - to narrow down the time period. But I'm writing this part of the blog post in a hotel room and don't have access to my library of documents. I tried a couple of quick Google searches with the tag line but it didn't bring up anything.

Reviewing other Roland ads already posted on the blog found that by 1979 Roland was already using the "We Design The Future" tagline in brochures and ads. Earlier ads like this 1977 MicroComposer ad, this 1977 System 100 ad, or this 1978 "You simply don't outgrow the best" family ad don't seem to mention "The Creative Answer" anywhere in the ad-title or ad-copy. But my blog posts still make up a small sample size of world-wide Roland ads, so that tag line could still very well have been used somewhere else in print. Very likely, I'd say.

In the end, I had only the few pieces of gear that were included on the sticker sheet to help me. And based on the System 100 - introduced around 1976, and the SB-100 - introduced around 1977,  I decided that most likely the sheet was printed in 1977 or 1978.

Even now I'm still a little suspicious that these stickers may not be from the 70s at all. But they look nice, especially that System 100 sticker.

And I'm keeping 'em.  :)