Roland Founder RIP.

Ikutaro Kakehashi who founded Roland, Boss and Ace Tone has just passed on at 87. He started with watches etc but envisioned electronic music in the 50s when there was very little electric hardware about beside the theremin and a few very big university projects. I think he was largely behind the TR-808 used in sexual healing and lots of other pop songs. There are so many explosions of musical genius that come from Mr Kakehashi: Space Echo, Jupiter 8, programmable rhythm, sequencing, Boss pedals, the first electronic drum kits, sample based synthesis, Jazz Chorus amps, MIDI. I hope he is dancing with Delia Derbyshire in some sort of ringing after-tone musical beyond somewhere over the rainbow.

RIP A huge influence on music.

RIP indeed - a legend.