In his latest video, synthesist Espen Kraft takes a look at Roland’s forgotten touchpad computer music system from the ’80s.
The Roland Computer Music modules are a range of devices, designed for use with any computer that can be fitted with a MIDI port. These include:
- The MPU401 MIDI interface;
- The MT-32 multi timbral module from 1987;
- The LA-based CM-32L, the RS-PCM CM-32P, and putting the two together in the same box gives the CM-64;
- The CF10 Digital Fader;
- The CN20 Music Entry Pad;
- The CA30 Intelligent Arranger; and
- The CP-40 Pitch to MIDI Converter.
While these modules would have been cutting-edge in their day, they’re now largely forgotten.
Check out the video and share your thoughts on the Roland Computer Music modules in the comments!
Absolutely fantastic video – really brings back memories of those early pioneering times before PCs became the musical mainstays they are now.
The weird little CF10 and CN20 were released in late 1990, at a time when Atari ST and Mac based sequencers were already mainstays of music studios around the globe.
My first “real” keyboard was the Roland E-20, so those sounds and arrangements definitely bring back memories.
I had my hair-pulling days, wrestling with clunky interfaces and lack of clues about basic operations. I wanted to kill a couple of hexadecimal displays with a big hammer. At least Roland kept showing real progress and earning my cash.
I don’t see it as curious or quaint; I see it as another reason to worship my DAW, because its left 98% of that crap in the dust of history, along with a log of the times I screamed like a giant chicken, strangled by fussy wiring. We’ve all been there at some point, I’m sure. 😛
Those touch pads remind me of the ZX81, my first computer. Amazing how these things are still working.
Try reading this aloud while listening to the musical examples:
“Your call is important to us. Please remain on the line and the next available representative will be right with you.”