Roland System 100

The Model 101 can be used standalone...

We look back at the trend‑bucking Roland modular synthesizer that will still flap your trousers today.

In the 1960s and early ’70s giant modular synthesizers designed by pioneers such as Moog, Buchla, ARP and EMS began to make the transition from the weird fringes of music‑making into the mainstream via the bands and film composers that employed them. As these companies sought to produce smaller, simpler, portable and more affordable versions of their technology to throw out a wider net into the ocean of musicians, a new company in the East was doing the opposite.

...but with the addition of the Model 102 expander...

Osaka 101

Formed in 1972, the Roland Corporation really has roots that go back much further. Ikutaro Kakehashi (or ‘Mr K’) had been in the music game for many years with his company Ace Tone creating organs, amplifiers, effects and rhythm machines, most notably the Rhythm Ace units. Disgruntled by a change in the shareholding situation, Kakehashi left Ace Tone and founded Roland. The two companies coexisted for a number of years, but Mr K had left the Ace Tone building and it was his new project that ultimately won out.

Roland started where Kakehashi had left off at Ace Tone and their first product was basically the same as one of the final products he was involved with at his former company. If you don’t believe me, take a Roland TR‑77 (aka Rhythm 77) and sit it next to an Acetone FR‑8L. Snap!

However, Mr K’s ambition was not to just rehash his Ace Tone work, and Roland quickly began producing new instruments including some of the earliest mass‑produced synthesizers seen in Japan. The first models (SH‑1000, SH‑2000) were simple and portable and influenced by products such as the ARP Soloist and Pro Soloist, which were designed to sit on top of organs with preset tabs below the keyboard for the player to switch on the fly.

Whilst Roland continued to make more modest instruments throughout the next decade, they arguably defied logic by simultaneously moving towards large, expensive and complex modular synthesizers as the ’70s unfolded. This was broadly the opposite direction that Western companies were going. For example, whilst Moog still sold modular systems later into the 1970s and the early ’80s, they were no longer designing new ones and were, instead, focusing on portable synths such as the Minimoog, Sonic Six, Satellite, Micromoog, Multimoog, Prodigy, Rogue and Source, along with polyphonic instruments such as the Polymoog and Opus 3. Likewise, ARP were on a shrinking trajectory ever since their 1970 2500 as they moved through the 2600 to the 2800 (better known as the Odyssey) and 2300 (better known as the Axxe). In fact, their biggest success was reportedly the Omni, which was largely down to it being polyphonic, portable and very easy to use.

...and a couple of sidecar units like the Model 104 Sequencer...

System 101

Against this backdrop came the development of Roland’s analogue modular synthesizer systems that were in production from 1975 all the way to 1984! In this article we’ll take a look at the system that started it all, the System 100.

The 100 is as vintage as vintage gets; a shade of green that somehow left the light spectrum after about 1981, the use of the quintessential sci‑fi ‘Data 70’ font, chunky silver knobs, oval switches, dice‑sized buttons, illuminated volume meters, a smattering of patch points and more tolex and trim on display than a furniture shop.

The System 100 is a semi‑modular analogue synthesizer with two monophonic voices (Model 101 with keyboard and Model 102 expander without keyboard), a four‑channel stereo mixer with a built‑in spring reverb (Model 103), a dual‑channel sequencer (Model 104) and a pair of speakers (Model 109).

....the Model 103 Mixing Amplifier...

Roland were shrewd and designed and marketed the system such that it could be bought one piece at a time. They made an effort to advertise the most basic bit (the Model 101) as a standalone product with the strap line “The sensible way to start your own studio”, no doubt in the hope that they could lure in first‑time synthesizer customers with an entry product that could lead to them subsequently buying the rest. The Model 101 was also affordable, or at least it was in the context of the era; it was the equivalent of around £2000 in today’s money, which was very obtainable compared to the competition. Understandably then, there are quite a few standalone Model 101 units still floating around that probably began life with a starry‑eyed, young musician who fancied duelling Rick Wakeman at the synthesizer crossroads.

...there are quite a few standalone Model 101 units still floating around that probably began life with a starry‑eyed, young musician who fancied duelling Rick Wakeman at the synthesizer crossroads.

Less common are the other parts of the system, with the 102 expander being moderately difficult to find, the sequencer and mixer harder still, and the speakers very difficult indeed. Although, the part that’s impossible to find is the branded System 100 stand that could be ordered from the Roland catalogue at the time. (If anyone has one, please get in touch!)

By design, the System 100 is pretty simple as modular systems go, but the patching ability allows for a lot of variation from the hardwired signal path, so it’s much more flexible than it first seems. Roland dubbed it “The economical system synthesizer for serious musicians” in their catalogue and that’s a pretty accurate assessment. The usual suspects are found in the synthesizer voices, with oscillators, filters, amps, envelopes, LFOs, a noise generator, audio mixers, a tuning oscillator, sample and hold and a ring modulator. The 101 contains the glide and portamento controls as well as CV and gate outputs, which makes sense as it’s the bit with the keyboard in it. The upright, keyboardless 102 slides neatly behind the 101 and its main CV and gate input ports are lined up so that the player can connect the pair with two short cables and play them both from one keyboard within a matter of seconds.

Whilst this pair can yield a reasonably broad number of timbres through patching, what immediately hits you is the raw sound of the System 100 even when using simple setups. It just sounds huge, outrageously analogue and deeply satisfying! A big factor is the filter design, which is a 24dB/octave diode ladder filter. The System 100 doesn’t lose significant amounts of bass or amplitude as the resonance is increased, in fact it sounds better and better until it finally starts to get whistley and painful right at the top of the range! In my opinion, it’s the best analogue filter that Roland ever made and having two available in stereo is the kind of power that is associated with great responsibility (namely loosening fixtures, fittings and anything that’s not screwed down).

The mixer also saturates and drives in an amazing way that suitably complements the bulbous tones coming out the synthesizer voices, whilst the built‑in spring reverb creates an atmosphere so ’70s that it flares your trousers, puts a cigarette in your hand and changes your name to Kenneth via deed poll.

The sequencer is a great complement to the noisy bits of the system as it can control the 102 whilst you play along on the 101, or it can control both at the same time. There’s no quantisation so the user ends up looking a bit like a safe cracker whilst dialling in pitches, but this was the norm in the early days. The sequencer is also based around 12 or 24 steps, a choice that was employed by both Roland and Korg in the ’70s and one that eventually lost out to the US paradigm of 16, 32 or 64 steps. Roland probably employed 24 steps to allow for compound time signatures, similar to the ‘Pre‑scale’ options seen on the later TR‑808 front panel.

The external clocking also allows for a trick where the sequencer can be run so fast that it becomes a third oscillator, with the voltage registers controlling the shape of the wave!

Finally, the speakers are surprisingly decent given that they’re more of a convenience than a crucial part of the instrument’s sound. Some artists even used to mic up the speakers, guitar amp style, for an alternative sound.

Roland made sure to highlight the potential of their new instrument in the brochure saying “The System 100 lets you realise the entire scope of your talents by making it possible to do multitrack recording and a professional mix right in your own home.” Brushing aside flattery about “talents” and the hyperbolic suggestion of a “professional mix”, this was actually a pretty big deal for 1975 when recording studios were mysterious and unobtainable to many.

...and a pair of 109 speakers, it could grow into a world‑conquering synth behemoth! OK, world‑conquering may be going a bit far, but it was still pretty good.

Name Drop 101

The System 100 has had a modest but important influence on popular culture through the artists that used it. Firstly, Vangelis was a user of the Model 101 and had two Model 104 sequencers (they can be crudely chained together via start and end triggering). A prominent use of his 101 with 104 driving it is ‘Spiral’ from his 1977 album of the same name. Pressing a key on the Model 101 keyboard as it’s sequenced transposes the sequence, and this can be heard to great effect as the opening ‘Spiral’ sequence whizzes along at galactic speeds. It’s also interesting to note that Vangelis had no issue with using the more affordable synthesizers alongside some of the most expensive equipment on the market.

One of the best‑known uses of the System 100 is by the first iteration of the Human League. ‘Being Boiled’ was produced with just the System 100, a miniKORG 700S and Phil Oakey’s vocals. The distinctive drum beat was created entirely on the 100 and employed a trick described in the instruction manual where one of the sequencer channels can be used to modulate the speed of the sequencer clock. If dialled in correctly, this allows for different rhythmic values, rather than just a repetitive flow. Using continuously variable, analogue voltage registers to alter the frequency of an analogue clock is about as precise as it sounds, but that’s part of the charm. The Human League continued to use the System 100 on Reproduction and Travelogue and it can be seen in the videos for ‘Circle Of Death’ and ‘Empire State Human’.

Many analogue Roland products have a similar story; they were quickly superseded and discontinued and were rediscovered and given many new lives in the subsequent decades. The System 100 is no exception and can be heard in the music of Meat Beat Manifesto, Vince Clarke, Aphex Twin, Orbital, Steve Mac, La Roux, Mathew Johnson and others. Inevitably, this led to Roland producing a plug‑in version of it that can be loaded on to their Plug‑Out capable synthesizers.

The System 100 has become yet another classic Roland synth that captures the spirit of the era whilst still being potent and relevant 50 years later.

In time the System 100 has become yet another classic Roland synth that captures the spirit of the era whilst still being sonically potent, creatively interesting and musically relevant 50 years after its release.