POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

'Roland SH-101' monophonic synthesiser with accessories

Object No. 2021/45/1

The Roland SH-101, manufactured from 1982 to 1986, was one of the last monophonic synthesizers. While some other manufacturers were about to release enormously popular and expensive digital synthesizers, Roland’s 101 came in at the more affordable end of the market. Fortunately, it was also a great sounding instrument. The same year as its release we heard its solid, punchy bass line on the Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams”, played by Annie Lennox. However, the pop charts of the 1980s went on to be dominated by another great synthesiser, Yamaha’s DX7. We had to wait for fatigue of digital Frequency Modulation (FM) additive synthesis sound to set in, which took until 1989, before the impact of the Roland SH-101 began to be heard. The sounds of the SH-101 became a staple of electronic music in the 1990s, finding particular favour when applied to house music. The rediscovery of the SH-101 along with a swathe of instruments abandoned in the mid-1980s, at discount prices, by an emerging cluster of musicians, led to its elevation to being considered one of the 14 most important synthesizers in history. Many famous musicians have used a Roland SH-101, including: Aphex Twins, Nitzer Ebb, Vince Clarke of Erasure, Paul Frick from Tangerine Dream, Future Sound of London, Orbital, Überzone, The Prodigy, 808 State, Devo, Union Jack, Luke Vibert, Dirty Vegas, Skinny Puppy, Pig, Josh Wink, The Crystal Method, Astral Projection, The Grid, Cirrus, Eat Static, Jimmy Edgar, Apollo 440, Les Rythmes Digitales, Sense Datum, Squarepusher, KMFDM, Freddy Fresh, Lab-4, The Chemical Brothers, Boards of Canada, and The Knife. Campbell Bickerstaff, Curator, 2021 FACT Magazine: Tech, Make Music, John Twells, "The 14 most important synths in electronic music history - and the musicians who use them" retrieved 29/03/2021