Autobiography of Ikutaro Kakehashi (who? you ask...read on)

I have just finished reading "I Believe in Music", the autobiography of Ikutaro Kakehashi, founder of Roland. It was an excellent read. Inspiring, even.

I first found out about this book after seeing it cited as a reference in the Wikipedia article on Roland. My first thought was that it was probably a vanity project by a millionaire industrialist surrounded by sycophants telling the boss what a great writer and philosopher he was.

But on the off chance it might have an interesting tidbit or two, I visited the Amazon page to check out the book. There, I read the first chapter online and was immediately drawn into Mr. Kakehashi's story. Turns out, although he really is an astute businessman he also has a deep respect for music and musicians. And he has an interesting personal story.

His fondness for musicians has led to lifelong friendships with many of them, including Isao Tomita. That alone makes him one cool CEO in my book.

There is an interview with Tomita that's well worth a read all by itself. Those of us who have been wrapped up in the world of synthesizers from the beginning can appreciate just what a monumental achievement Tomita's first record was. Using the same model Moog Modular synth that Walter Carlos made his primitive Nintendo-grade bleeps with, Tomita managed incredibly expressive tones that still hold up well today. And he did it all with tape and razor blade, no computers, no sequencers. And unlike most synth composers of the day, he did all his own programming. What a frickin' genius.

Tomita talks about buying the synthesizer without actually ever having seen one. Nobody else in Japan was doing electronic music so he was a true pioneer. Japanese customs officials refused to release the synth until he could prove it was a musical instrument. It took a photo of Keith Emerson playing one to convince them. With no mentor and no books, Tomita taught himself to not only use the synth but to pull sounds out of it that no one else had ever managed to do. It took a full year to complete his first album, "Snowflakes are Dancing". This was, IIRC, 1971 or 1972.

But then none of the Japanese record companies would touch it, saying it was too weird. So he contacted the person (at RCA America) who had published Carlos' Switched on Bach and finally got the record released. It went on to be a worldwide hit and earned 4 Grammy nominations, a first for any Japanese artist. To this day it is still my all-time favorite all-synth recording.

Sorry to go on and on about Tomita, it's just that I think he's quite literally a genius of the first order.

And that's just one chapter in this book.

Although the book was published prior to Roland's acquisition of Cakewalk, it does offer insights into the types of relationships Roland creates with other companies. Roland does not buy companies, it forms partnerships with them. They share technology with them, but financially the partner companies have to sink or swim on their own. Roland does not bail them out or sink large amounts of cash into them. Since this has been the primary business model practiced by Roland since its founding, I think we can assume that this also describes the relationship CW has with Roland. Sink or swim.

Although Kakehashi's book is a bit dry in places, I think many regulars hereabouts will find the less-dry parts very interesting. The book is out of print so it must be purchased second-hand, but I had no problem finding a used copy via Amazon for, IIRC, $10 or so plus shipping.

Thanks Bit!!!

Bit's post sparked a search for Roland. I didn't know it was a Japanese company, and I wondered where they got the name. I assumed it was from "The Song Of Roland".
Seems they picked it out of a phone book.
Also, I didn't know that I had once owned a 'Roland', an Acetone electronic organ way back in 1973.
 
From Wiki:
 
Kakehashi founded Ace Electronic Industries in 1960, a manufacturer of numerous combo organs, guitar amplifiers, and effects pedals. He was also contracted by Hammond to produce rhythm machines for the company's line of home organs. In 1973, Kakehashi cut ties with both companies to found Roland.
As with many Japanese start-ups of the period, the name Roland was selected for export purposes as Kakehashi was interested in a name that was easy to pronounce for his worldwide target markets. Rumour has long circulated that he named his company after the French epic poem La Chanson de Roland. In reality, the name Roland was found in a telephone directory. Kakehashi opted for it as he was satisfied with the simple two-syllable word and its soft consonants. The letter "R" was chosen because it wasn't used by many other music equipment companies, therefore it would stand out in trade show directories and industry listings. Kakehashi didn't learn of "The Song Of Roland" until later.[2]

This is what's great about the Coffee House.

Guys like Dave et. al. find interesting things to turn us on to while we just post drivel talk about becan.

Tomita was a pioneer in multichannel sound, too. He produced an early stereophonic radio show in Japan where listeners tuned in two separate stations to get the left and right sides of the broadcast. That was in the 50's.

Later, he got into quadraphonic but of course that format never caught on. Still, he created Snowflakes for quad and later remixed it for surround. Now that would be a rare garage-sale find! Of course, you wouldn't be able to play it...