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Sister Bliss, Richie Hawtin, Orbital and more featured in Roland’s 50 years of music history book

Inspire The Music features 70 interviews with revered artists and Roland designers

Roland 808

Sister Bliss, Richie Hawtin, Orbital and more are to be featured in a new book celebrating 50 years of Roland.

Inspire The Music: 50 Years of Roland History is a 400-page full-colour hardcover "visual story" exploring the history and impact of the electronic music manufacturers who gave us the TR-808, TB-303, TR-909 and other staples.

Getting "up close and personal" with reputable artists "and their relationship with Roland products, production, and performances", the book also features interviews with "innovators who helped design the gear that made Roland what it is today", according to Roland.

Among the other artists interviewed are Thomas Dolby, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Ali Stone, Omar Hakim, Howard Jones, Peaches, Swizz Beatz, Jean-Michel Jarre, Egyptian Lover, and many more.

Inspire The Music will be published this summer by the Kim Bjørn-founded Bjooks — the publishers of modular synthesis tome Path & Tweak.

Last month, Roland announced a new plugin as part of their Roland Cloud subscription service. The new plug mimics the famous Juno-60 chorus effect, which became a staple part of the sound of the whole Juno range, famously heard on Mr Fingers’ ‘Can You Feel It?’.  

Check out Roland's 50th-anniversary site here.