Roland System-100M

System-100M
System-100M
	A Roland System-100M (top left) controlled by a Commodore 64
Manufacturer	Roland Corporation
Dates	1979-c.1984
Price	£1242 for 5-module system with monophonic keyboard
Technical specifications
Polyphony	Depends on chosen modules. Usually monophonic or 4-voice polyphonic.
Oscillator	Each VCO has triangle, falling sawtooth, and pulse output (110, 112 modules)
LFO	Each voltage-controlled LFO has sine, triangle, square, rising sawtooth, and falling sawtooth output (140, 150 modules); the manually set LFO has triangle output only (172 module)
Synthesis type	Analog subtractive
Filter	low-pass (110, 121 modules)
Effects	Phase shifter and BBD-based audio delay available (172 module)
Input/output
Keyboard	32 keys, monophonic (180 keyboard); 49 keys, monophonic (181 keyboard); 49 keys, 4-voice polyphonic (184 keyboard)
Left-hand control	Pitch bend (181 and 184 keyboards only); portamento on/off (181 only); automated arpeggio (184 only)

The Roland System-100M was a modular analog synthesizer manufactured by the Roland Corporation in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was the successor of the Roland System-100, a semi-modular keyboard.

In the 1980s, shortly after its introduction, Richard Burgess of Landscape called the 100M "one of the best synthesisers on the market, with so many control functions available independently, whereas most synths only have one or two LFOs to do all the modulating."^[2] Ian Boddy considered the System 100M "an almost ideal introduction to the world of modular synthesis,"^[3] and praised its oscillator sync sound, especially when sampled to achieve polyphony.^[4]

By the 1990s, although digital synthesizers were starting to replace analog ones, several prominent musicians still enthused about their 100Ms. Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto said "the best thing about it is that it's modular and it uses a patchbay, so you can send things back on themselves and get, like, analogue feedback, you really can... You can do cross-modulation, too. It's pretty good for external sound sources, as well."^[5] Chris Carter called it "as versatile, expandable, and affordable a system as you can get without going the DIY route" in 1995.^[6]

Components

Model	Type	Released^[7]	Description
110	Module	1979	VCO / VCF / VCA
111	Module	Prototype	VCO / VCF
112	Module	1979	Dual VCOs
120	Module	Prototype	VCF / VCA
121	Module	1979	Dual VCFs
130	Module	1979	Dual VCAs
131	Module	1980	Output Mixer / Tuning Oscillator / Headphone Amp
132	Module	1980	Dual CV / Audio Mixers & Voltage Processors
140	Module	1979	Dual ADSR Envelope Generators / LFO
141	Module	Prototype	Dual Envelope / Gate Delay / Inverter-Adder
150	Module	1979	Ring Mod / Noise / S&H / LFO
160	Module	Prototype	Computer Interface
165	Module	1983	Dual Portamento Controller
170	Module	Prototype	Pitch to Voltage converter / Envelope Follower / Amp
172	Module	1980	Phase Shifter / Audio Delay / Gate Delay (with LFO)
173	Module	1983	Signal Gate & Multiple Jacks
174	Module	1983	Parametric EQ
180	Keyboard	1979	32-key Controller Keyboard
181	Keyboard	1979	49-key Controller Keyboard
182	Module	1980	Analog Sequencer
184	Keyboard	1981	49-key 4-note Polyphonic Controller Keyboard
190	Rack	1979	Three-Module Rack
191J	Rack	1979	Five-Module Rack

New Modules

Model	Type	Released	Description
185	Module	2009/2021^[8]	Multi-stage Sequencer by RYK Modular. Updated version released 2021
175	Module	2022	Triple Vactrol Resonator by RYK Modular

2020 Clones

The original Roland schematics being fully available online, Behringer has planned^[9] respective released their own versions (either straight copies or adaptions) of the Roland 100M series of modules in Eurorack format. As of July 2020, the following modules are available for (pre-)ordering:^[10]

110 VCO/VCF/VCA
112 Dual VCO
121 Dual VCF
130 Dual VCA
140 Dual Envelope/LFO
150 Ring Mod/Noise/S&H/LFO
172 Phase Shifter/Delay/LFO
173 Quad Gate/Multiples
182 Sequencer
297 Dual Portamento/CV Utilities (combination of 132 Dual CV / Audio Mixers & Voltage Processors & 165 Dual Portamento Controller)
305 EQ/Mixer/Output (combination of 131 Output Mixer / Tuning Oscillator / Headphone Amp & 174 Parametric EQ)

Notable users

References

^ ^a ^b Forrest, Peter (March 2003). The A-Z of Analogue Synthesisers, Part Two: N-Z, Revised and Expanded. Susurreal. pp. 137–139. ISBN 0-952437-73-2.
^ ^a ^b Beecher, Mike (Nov 1981). "Landscape Explored". Electronics & Music Maker. United Kingdom: Music Maker Publications (UK), Future Publishing. pp. 6–10. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
^ ^a ^b Boddy, Ian (Mar 1984). "Roland System 100M". Electronics & Music Maker. United Kingdom: Music Maker Publications (UK), Future Publishing. pp. 80–82. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
^ ^a ^b Gilby, Paul (Dec 1986). "Ian Boddy: Phoenix". Sound On Sound. United Kingdom. pp. 37–41. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
^ ^a ^b ^c Ward, Phil (May 1993). "Message In A Sample". Music Technology. United Kingdom: Music Maker Publications (UK), Future Publishing. pp. 36–42. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
^ Carter, Chris (April 1995). "Roland System 100M". Sound On Sound. United Kingdom. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
^ Reid, Gordon (December 2004). "The History Of Roland: Part 2: 1979-1985". Sound On Sound. United Kingdom. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
^ gearnews.com
^ musicradar.com
^ thomann.de
^ Robinson, Dave (Apr 1993). "The Aphex Effect". Future Music. United Kingdom. pp. 22–23.
^ Murphy, Scott (February 2003). "Nick Launay Interview". Fodderstompf. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
^ Industrial music pioneer Chris Carter with gear, 1980, Boing Boing