Roland

Roland
Established in 1972, the Roland Corporation occupies a distinct position in Japan’s musical instrument industry. It produced Japan’s first keyboard synthesizer, the Roland SH-1000.

Why does Roland have such a western name? “Founder and President of Roland, Ikutaro Kakehashi, was also the founder of Ace Electronics, but eventually left after a business disagreement with his partner. When he decided to start a new firm, he chose the name Roland because Acetone [the organ they manufactured] got pronounced differently in different places, while Roland was pronounced the same everywhere. Ironically, Roland isn’t that easy to pronounce if you’re Japanese, since Japanese doesn’t have an L sound.”—-Timothy Guegen