13 Facts About Roland D-50

Roland D-50 is a synthesizer produced by Roland and released in April 1987.

Roland D-50 was used in popular music by many artists including Jean-Michel Jarre, Prince, Sting, Michael Jackson and Enya.

Roland D-50 was the first affordable synthesizer to combine sample playback with subtractive synthesis.

The engineers at Roland D-50 determined that the most difficult component of an instrument's sound to simulate realistically is the attack.

Roland D-50 did incorporate a number of "texture" samples that could be mixed into the synthesized sustain-part of a patch.

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Roland D-50 was awarded a TEC Award for outstanding technical achievement in musical technology in 1988.

Each Roland D-50 sound was made up of 2 "tones" and each tone was made up of 2 "partials".

Not only was the synthesis method new; the Roland D-50 was arguably the first commercial synthesizer to include digital effects such as chorus and reverb, adding to the characteristically bright, rich, lively and sometimes realistic sound, featured on countless records of the period.

Roland D-50 was fully MIDI-compatible, though it transmits on only one channel.

Furthermore, in 2004, Roland D-50 released a VC-1 expansion card for V-Synth and VariOS synthesizers.

Roland D-50 was introduced in 1987 as the popularity of the Yamaha DX7 was starting to decline, resulting in the Roland D-50 becoming the most popular synthesizer on the market until the introduction of the Korg M1 the following year.

The Roland D-50's synthesizer-on-top-of-samples-and-through-effects innovation was an influence on the M1, which went on to become Korg's top selling keyboard, until the release of the Korg Triton.

Presets of the Roland D-50, authored by Eric Persing and Adrian Scott, were well received by the artists' community, and most of them can be heard on numerous commercial albums of the late 1980s.