A keyboard instrument is the set of levers or keys on a musical instrument family, particularly the piano. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the interval of an octave.
Roland Corporation was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on April 18, 1972, with $33 million in capital. Today it has factories in Japan, the United States, Italy, and Taiwan. It has existed in different forms since 1960, making it one of the oldest still-operating manufacturers of musical electronics, and has survived changes in technology to become one of the most noteworthy and widely-used brands in electronic music and production today.
Roland involves in the development, manufacture and sale of electronic musical instruments including keyboards and synthesizers, guitar products, electronic percussion kits, digital recording equipment, amplifiers and audio processing devices.
Roland offers a full range of keyboards and synthesizers that lead the industry in performance, features, and ease of use. From the beginner to the professional, Roland keyboards and synths are among the most popular in the world.
Roland Keyboard includes:
Synths & Samplers: Professional keyboards, synthesizers and music workstations.
Arrangers: A wide range of arranger-style keyboards for playing or composing with ease.
Controllers: MIDI controller keyboards and pedalboards.
Sound Modules: Professional tabletop and rackmount synthesizer modules.
Accordions: Roland is pleased to introduce a revolutionary new family of instruments - the V-Accordions.
VIMA: Video Interactive keyboard products for Recreational Music Making.
Amplifiers: The ultimate compliment to any performance or studio keyboard.
MIDI Interfaces: Devices for connecting your MIDI instrument(s) to a computer.
Timeline of noteworthy products
1973 - Roland SH-1000: Claimed by Roland to be Japan's first commercial keyboard synthesizer.
1988 - Roland E-20: Roland's first entry into the auto-accompaniment keyboard market, going head to head with Yamaha and Casio. The E-20's descendants include the E-70, E-86, G-800, G-1000, G-70 and the current E-80.
1989 - Roland W-30: A sampling workstation keyboard
1992 - Roland DJ-70: A DJ sampling music workstation and synthesizer keyboard that featured the first scratch wheel pad.
1996 - Roland DJ-70mkII: Successor to the DJ-70, with more powerful features, including a DJ sampling music workstation, which featured a scratch wheel pad. It is essentially an S-760 sampler with a keyboard.
You can learn more about Roland Keyborads at Gigasonic.com, a Roland authorized dealer.
