Roland RS202

images via this auction

"Vintage Roland synths can be divided into two categories 1970's (System 100, SH-5, RS-101, RS-102, RS-505, JP4) and 1980's (JP6, Juno etc) The 70's gear is considered to have warm high end -80's Roland more harsh

link

The thing thats so special about this string synth is Roland's 'ensemble' effect. (basically a mono Dimension D) No fewer than three delay lines based on a 512-stage BBD chip called the MN3002 generated the Ensemble.However, like the developers of the ARP Solina before them, Roland's engineers got it just right -- the RS202 in full flight sounded gorgeous. Because of the complexity of the sound generated by the Ensemble, the RS202 could dominate a mix, filling every space in the spectrum. However, its greatest strength lay in its ability to produce thinner, more subtle timbres that had a character all of their own. Distinguishable from the Solina and the rash of Italian jobs that appeared around that time, these sounds had a transparent quality that sat beautifully in a mix, complementing other instruments, yet never proving uninteresting.

link

Unlike the first string synths, which had monophonic envelope shapers, the Roland RS202 offered separate envelope articulation for each note link
It can be heard prominently on David Bowie's album 'LOW'.
Also used by Tomita 'the planets'
This is a 100v japan version
PS--The real thing is far better than the virtual machine emulation of RS-202
http://www.gforcesoftware.com/ins_vsm.php"


Tweet