Roland founder and electronic music products pioneer Ikutaro Kakehashi has died at the age of 87. Mr Kakehashi was an engineer, an entrepreneur, and the founder of Ace Tone, Roland Corporation and ATV, Japanese manufacturers of electronic musical instruments. He was known for his role in the development of Ace Tone and Roland drum machines.
Under his leadership, Roland introduced many of the most iconic gear in electronic music, including: The System 700 modular synthesizer; TB-303 bassline synthesizer; TR-808 and TR-909 drum machines; and Jupiter-8 & D-50 synthesizers.
Kakehashi, along with Dave Smith, was presented with a Technical GRAMMY in 2013 for contributions to the development of MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) technology. Dave Smith – Kakehashi’s co-winner – told the BBC he “was just an amazing man, a good friend, a very good competitor of course and just innovative continually all that time”.
In more recent years, Kakehashi remained active, founding a new company, ATV Corporation, dedicated to creating expressive electronic instruments, including the aFrame electronic percussion instrument.
In 2002 to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Roland Corporation, a heartfelt memoir of Ikutaro Kakehashi’s life was published titled, I Believe In Music.
The electronic music world has begun paying tribute to the great Ikutaro Kakehashi.
