I Believe in Music: Life Experiences and Thoughts on the Future of Electronic Music by the Founder of the Roland Corporation

Ikutar_ Kakehashi

Hal Leonard Corporation, 2002 - Music - 300 pages

(Book). Published to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Roland Corporation, this is the inspiring and heartfelt memoir of Ikutaro Kakehashi, a pioneering figure in electronic music instruments and the company's visionary founder. From war-torn Japan to his first watch repair business to the dawn of and subsequent enormous leaps of electronic musical instruments, Kakehashi's story is sometimes wry, sometimes touching, always wise. Through it all, Kakehashi has believed in music above else: his first priority has always been an unwavering passion for expanding the potential for artistic expression. Everyone from music aficionados to those looking for time-tested business savvy will enjoy his unique story. The book features fantastic photos throughout, including an 8-page full-color section. Ikutaro Kakehashi founded the Roland Corporation in 1972. He lives in Hosoe-cho, Hamamatsu City, Japan. Robert Olsen worked for 25 years in the international music trade before switching careers to become a college instructor and free-lance author. He lives in Northbrook, IL.

Contents

• BEGINNINGS: 1
• AN UNLIKELY EDUCATION: 13
• MUSIC IS A VENTURE: 22
• CHOOSING MY PATH: 29
• ENTERING THE WORLD OF MUSIC: 39
• THE SMALL UNIVERSE OF TRADE SHOWS: 51
• COMMENCEMENT: 57
• JAPAN AN IMPORTER OF SOFTWARE: 67
• REACHING OUT: 80
• A LONGER VIEW: 91
• FOUNDING A FAMILY: 99
• MOVING TO HAMAMATSU: 115
• CRISIS: 119
• OUT OF THE ASHES: 126
• VIVA ITALIA: 141
• THE BIRTH OF ELECTRONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS: 159
• THE DEVELOPMENT OF MIDI: 186
• THE FUTURE OF ELECTRONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS: 202
• KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS THE MONARCHS OF MUSIC: 224
• SHORTCUT TO A MUSIC PARADISE: 234
• GRACE NOTES: 237
• ORGAN JOURNEYS: 247
• INTERVIEW WITH REMO BELLI: 269
• INTERVIEW WITH DON LESLIE: 276
• INTERVIEW WITH ISAO TOMITA: 286
• BIBLIOGRAPHY: 300

About the author

Ikutaro Kakehashi was born in Japan in 1930. While in high school during World War II, he built his own shortwave radios. After the war, he started a clock- and watch-repair business that moved into radio repair. He began experimenting with making musical instruments in the 1950s, and eventually his radio shop became Ace Electronics, which started making electric organs in 1960. In 1964, he developed the FR-1 Rhythm Ace, an early drum machine. An improved version was picked up by the Hammond organ company in 1967 as a module for its instruments. He entered a partnership with Hammond, but left after a management change. In 1972, he founded Roland Corporation. He created the drum machine the Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer. He ran the company for four decades before founding ATV Corporation in 2013. He collaborated with Dave Smith, the president of Sequential Circuits, to develop MIDI, the Musical Instrument Digital Interface that allows the majority of electronic instruments built since the early 1980s to interconnect. In 2013, they received a Technical Grammy Award for their work on MIDI. Kakehashi was the author of I Believe in Music and An Age Without Samples: Originality and Creativity in the Digital World. He died on April 1, 2017 at the age of 87.

Bibliographic information

• Title: I Believe in Music: Life Experiences and Thoughts on the Future of Electronic Music by the Founder of the Roland Corporation; Biographies and Commentary
• Author: Ikutar_ Kakehashi
• Contributor: Robert Olsen
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation, 2002
• ISBN: 0634037838, 9780634037832
• Length: 300 pages
• Subjects: Music / Printed Music / General