The Roland RS-202 was a polyphonic

string synthesizer A string synthesizer or string machine is a synthesizer designed to make sounds similar to those of a string section. Dedicated string synthesizers occupied a specific musical instrument niche between electronic organs and general-purpose synthes ...

, introduced by Roland in 1976. It was the successor to the Roland RS-101, released in 1975. The synthesizer operated using sawtooth wave oscillators, which used a frequency divider in a similar manner to an

electronic organ An electric organ, also known as electronic organ, is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the pump organ, harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally designed to imitate their sound, or orchestral sounds, it has si ...

to provide full

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chord ...

across a five-octave keyboard. The signal was then fed through a single envelope shaper, making the instrument paraphonic. The front panel had two separate controls for the top and bottom of the keyboard, which could have independent sounds. Each note could be assigned a separate envelope articulation, which was necessary to avoid re-triggering the attack if an extra note was added to an existing chord being played. To achieve a more realistic sound of an ensemble of string players, the output was fed through a chorus effect using a number of delay lines triggered by low frequency oscillators. An American company called Multivox manufactured a clone of the RS-202, called the MX-202. It used similar internal components, though the sound was weaker. Notable users of the RS-202 include Genesis' Tony Banks,

Camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...

's Peter Bardens,

Los Bukis Los Bukis (English: the Bukis; ''buki'' meaning "kid" in the Purépecha language) are a Mexican Grupera, grupero band. Formed in Ario de Rosales, Michoacán in 1973, the band's current lineup consists of singer and songwriter Marco Antonio Solís, ...

and Tomita.

References

Citations Sources * {{Roland Roland synthesizers String synthesizers Analog synthesizers Musical instruments invented in the 1970s

See also

References