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XLR MAG

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On the calendar

· Trade shows and launch events, this week's stories from each corner of the industry, and what its press is covering.

On view

This week, from that corner the newest stories from the corner of the industry you picked

The wire their own posts, translated

How records get made in 2026 from the industry's own reports

Sources

Fetched every three hours, linked to the original

About

Three pins, and nearly every signal in this business passes through them.

The magazine is named after the cable: the microphone in the booth, the line to the desk, the DMX run that fires the lights. Studio, stage and rig share the same cable. Most magazines pick one of the three. This one covers all of it, because the people we read do too — the engineer mixing a record on Tuesday is on front of house by Saturday.

Around a hundred and sixty sources, in English, Japanese, Spanish, German, French, Chinese and Italian: makers and their release notes, reviewers who put a hand on the thing, studios and touring crews, the producers and collectives surfacing this month and the scenes they came out of. Synths and modular, plugins and DAWs, guitars and drums, microphones, monitors, PA and lighting. What the trade is talking about is counted and plotted. The editor's letter has just started; it will find its rhythm.

For each story: a headline, a short excerpt, one picture and the link out. We never reprint the article, and the picture belongs to the maker or the photographer. A German review appears in German and a Japanese one in Japanese, as the writer published it; the link goes to the original.

Nothing is sold on this site. When a link leads to a shop, it is the maker's shop, not ours.

Library / Makers / Roland

ROLAND

Founded: 19721
City: Osaka2
Founder: Ikutaro Kakehashi3
In the library: 8 machines (draft)

The machines

In order of release

19804Drum machineTR-808

19815Drum machineTR-606

19816Bass synthesizerTB-303

19827SynthesizerSH-101

19838Drum machineTR-909

19849SynthesizerJuno-106

198510Drum machineTR-707

199611SynthesizerJP-8000

Roland
in the news

From the live feed

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Sources

Corporate Profile, Roland CorporationEstablished April 18, 1972 · checked 2026-10-07
Our History, Roland CorporationFounded in Osaka, 1972; TR-808, 1980 · checked 2026-10-07
Roland founder Ikutaro Kakehashi & Dave Smith honored with Technical GRAMMY Award (press release, 2013), Roland CorporationKakehashi as Roland's founder · checked 2026-10-07
The TR-808 Story, Roland Corporation1980; analog synthesis; a row of 16 step buttons · checked 2026-10-07
TR-606 (Roland Cloud), Roland Corporationprogrammable drum machine released in 1981 · checked 2026-10-07
TB-303 (Roland Cloud), Roland Corporationreleased 1981 as a bass machine · checked 2026-10-07
SH-101 (Roland Cloud), Roland Corporationintroduced 1982 · checked 2026-10-07
The TR-909 Story, Roland Corporationsuccessor to the TR-808, 1983; analog drums with digital hi-hats and cymbals; Roland's first drum machine with MIDI; 16-step sequencer · checked 2026-10-07
JUNO-106 (Roland Cloud), Roland Corporationintroduced 1984 as an affordable polysynth · checked 2026-10-07
TR-707 (Roland Cloud), Roland Corporationreleased 1985; uses the original TR-707 sample ROM · checked 2026-10-07
Listening Guide: Essential Early Trance, Roland Articlesthe JP-8000 synthesizer, released in 1996 · checked 2026-10-07