Synths | Roland SH-1000 Analog Synthesizer (1973)

The Roland SH-1000, introduced in 1973, was the first compact synthesizer produced in Japan, and the first synthesizer produced by Roland.

It resembles a home organ more than a commercial synth, with coloured tabs labelled with descriptions of its presets and of the "footage" of the divide-down oscillator system used in its manually editable synthesizer section.


It produced electronic sounds that many professional musicians sought after whilst being easier to obtain and transport than its western equivalents.


Notable SH-1000 users:

- Jarvis Cocker (Pulp)

- Blondie

- The Human League

- The Band

- Fad Gadget

- Giorgio Moroder

- Imagination: "Music and Lights" (1982), bass instrument

- Jethro Tull

- Eddie Jobson (with Roxy Music)

- Jolley & Swain: Backtrackin' (1985), bass instrument

- Tetsuya Komuro

- Omar Rodriguez Lopez

- Radio Massacre International

- Steve Roach

- Barry White: Change (1982), bass instrument

- Vangelis



Roland