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Roland founder Ikutaro Kakehashi dies
By Andy Malt | Published on Monday 3 April 2017
The founder of the Roland electronic musical instrument company, Ikutaro Kakehashi, has died, aged 87.
Under his direction, the company had a massive influence on electronic music through equipment such as the TR-808 drum machine and TB-303 bass synthesiser. Kakehashi was also the first person to propose the standardisation of protocols between electronic instruments, which became MIDI.
In a post on Facebook, Japan-based musician and former advisor to Roland, Tommy Snyder, said: “Ikutaro Kakehashi, founder of Roland, father of the TR-909, TR-808, godfather of MIDI, and someone who I have collaborated with for 38 years, and also considered as my second father, passed away at the age of 87. He was a super funny, wonderful and gifted human being, and his contributions to the musical instrument world, and music, touched millions of people worldwide”.
Numerous musicians have paid tribute since the news of Kakehashi’s death broke. Among them, Marc Almond said: “A man who changed music, Ikutaro Kakehashi, the man behind the Roland Synth, 808 and more has sadly passed. Thanks for the electro sounds”.
