ROLAND SH-01A SYNTHESIZER ANNOUNCED

The Iconic SH-101 Synth has been recreated in the new Roland Boutique Format as the new SH-01A.

Alongside the announcement of the new TR-08 (read more about that here) Roland has just announced the new SH-01A Synthesizer, a new addition to the Roland Boutique electronic instrument lineup. The SH-01A is a compact reproduction of the Roland SH-101, one of the most popular analog synthesizers from the 1980s. Building on the iconic sounds and creative immediacy of the original, the SH-01A offers exciting new polyphonic capabilities, inspiring new performance features, and a level of authenticity that could only come from Roland.

In comparison with more complex instruments available at the time, the SH-101 was a seemingly unremarkable monophonic synthesizer when first launched in 1982. However, it quickly became prized for its rich, musical sound and simple-to-program synth structure. Legions of artists found it quick and easy to create fat basses, edgy leads, and exciting sound effects with the SH-101, and these hallmark sounds continue to be revered by electronic musicians over 30 years later.

The new Roland SH-01A recreates the oscillator, filter, and envelope behaviors of the vintage SH-101 with extreme accuracy. Roland’s Analog Circuit Behavior (ACB) technology fully realizes all the sonic details and quirks of the SH-101, modeling each analog circuit right down to the component level. And though scaled-down in size, the panel interface offers all the hands-on controls found on the original hardware.

Expanding on the SH-101’s huge monophonic voice, the new Roland SH-01A now supports four voices and four modes for more sound-creation possibilities. Mono mode produces the classic SH-101 sound, while Poly mode allows four notes to be played simultaneously, making SH-101 sounds available for pads and other chordal work. Unison mode stacks four voices for super-fat basses and leads, and Chord mode layers any four pitches together for playing in semitone steps. The SH-01A also offers 64 patch memories for storing sounds, a feature not available on the SH-101.

The Roland SH-01A is equipped with an intuitive 100-step sequencer like the one found on the SH-101, but now adds the ability to save and recall 64 sequence patterns for any performance situation. The sequencer can also be used to control modular synths, hardware modules, and software plug-ins via CV/Gate, MIDI, and USB.

Like all Roland Boutique modules, the SH-01A is extremely portable, runs on USB bus power or batteries, and includes a built-in speaker for monitoring the sound in mobile situations. When mounted in the optional K-25m Keyboard Unit, the SH-01A can be used as a compact, all-in-one synth with 25 velocity-sensitive keys.