Roland System 700 Explained

The Roland System 700 was a professional monophonic^[1] modular synthesizer for electronic music manufactured by the Roland Corporation and released in 1976 and was followed by the Roland System-100M in 1978.^[2]

Modules

The System 700 range included the following modules:^[3]

• 701A  - Keyboard controller
• 702A  - VCO-1
• 702B  - VCO-2
• 702C  - VCO-3
• 703A  - VCF-1
• 703B  - VCF-2
• 703G  - VCF (Block 8)
• 704A  - VCA-1
• 704B  - VCA-2
• 704D  - VCA (Block 8)
• 705A  - Dual envelope generator
• 706A  - LFO-1
• 706B  - LFO-2
• 707A  - Amplifier / envelope follower / integrator
• 708A  - Noise / ring generator
• 709A  - Sample and hold
• 710A  - Multiple jacks
• 711A  - Reverberator / panning / standard oscillator / phase shifter
• 712A  - Monitor / external keyboard controller / voltage processor / keyboard CV output / gate output
• 713A - Gate delay
• 714A  - Interface
• 715A  - Multi-mode filter/Audio mixer
• 716A  - Mixer (Signal/CV)
• 717A  - Analog sequencer
• 718A  - Power Supply
• 720B  - 2 Channel Phase Shifter
• 721A  - 2 Channel Audio Delay
• 723A  - Analog Switch

Blocks

The following blocks were offered, as suggested combinations of modules:

• Block 1: The main console  - 702A, 702B, 702C, 708A, 703A, 703B, 704A, 704B, 711A; 712A, 705A, 706B, 709A, 707A, 705A, 716A, 710A, 718A
• Block 2: Keyboard controller  - 701A
• Block 3: Analog sequencer  - 717A
• Block 4: VCO bank  - 3x 702D, 3x 702E; 716A, 710A, 706B, 709B, 705A
• Block 5: VCF / VCA bank  - 2x 703C, 3x 704C; 713A, 2x 705A, 710A
• Block 6: Interface / mixer  - 714A, 704C, 715A
• Block 7: Phase shifter / audio delay  - 710B, 723A, 720B, 721A
• Block 8: 'Lab' configuration  - 702A, 702B, 702C, 708A, 703G, 704D, 716A, 706A, 709A, 705A, 718A

Documentation

• 101  - Synthesizer instruction manual
• 101  - Synthesizer patch book
• 102  - Expander unit instruction manual
• 102  - Expander unit patch book
• 103  - Audio mixer instruction manual
• 104  - Sequencer instruction manual
• System 700 Synthesizer Service Notes
• System 700 Synthesizer Service Supplement

Notable users

The System 700 was used by many artists, including:^[4]

• Rhett Lawrence
• Isao Tomita
• Matthias Becker
• Eric Carmen
• Vince Clarke
• Paul Davis, singer/songwriter and owner of Monarch Sound Atlanta GA
• Eloy Fritsch
• Depeche Mode
• The Human League
• Visage
• Hans Zimmer
• Giorgio Moroder^[5]
• Richard Barbieri of Japan

Notes and References

1. Web site: Roland System 700. Encyclotronic. en-US. 2018-07-14.
2. Book: Forrest . Peter . The A-Z of Analogue Synthesizers, Part Two: N-Z . 1996 . Susurreal . Devon, England . 0-9524377-1-6 . 96–98.
3. Web site: Roland: System 700 Synthesizer Instruction Manual.
4. Mark Jenkins (2007), Analog Synthesizers, page 91, Taylor & Francis
5. http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/article/5916-giorgio-moroder-gear-guide-inc-new-novation-morodernova-.html Giorgio Moroder Gear Guide