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Roland TR-808

Roland TR-808

Introduced in late 1980, the Roland TR-808 was one of the first programmable drum machines. ("TR" stands for "Transistor Rhythm"). Roland originally intended the TR-808 as a tool for studio musicians to create demos. Like earlier Roland drum machines, it does not sound very much like a real drum kit. Indeed, since the TR-808 came out a few months after the Linn LM-1 (the first drum machine to use digital samples), people gererally considered its sound inferior to sampling drum machines; a 1982 Keyboard magazine review of the Linn Drum indirectly referred to the TR-808 as sounding like "marching anteaters". One of the earliest uses of the TR-808 for a live performance was by YMO (or Yellow Magic Orchestra) in December 1980, in the song "1000 Knives", composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto in 1978. The outstanding "Hand Clap" sound was later publicized by YMO's innovative album BGM released in March 1981 in Japan, used on "1000 Knives" as well as in another of Sakamoto's songs, "Music Plans". The TR-808 was an important step forward from Roland's previous CR-78 drum machine. Its sounds were much more punchy and powerful. It featured better controls to allow the user to control the sounds in real time: volume knobs for the level of each sound, and tone-shaping controls for the more important sounds. The memory capacity for storing patterns was increased substantially: 32 pattern locations were available, and furthermore, these could be "chained" together to produce "songs", 12 of which could also be stored in memory. The memory was non-volatile (maintained by three AA-size batteries!). The programming interface was hugely improved: a row of 16 buttons allowed to user to employ a very intuitive "step programming" method—the pattern is divided up into 16 steps, and, and the buttons and LEDs indicate whether a drum sound plays on each step. The unit also feature Roland's new "DIN-Sync" clock interface for synchronization with other equipment, plus various analogue clock-outputs for slaving other devices. The TR-808 predated the invention of the MIDI interface, however such is the TR-808's enduring popularity that several third-party manufacturers provided MIDI-retrofit kits for it over the years. It was only in the mid-to-late 1980s, years after the TR-808 was discontinued, that its sound became popular. One factor leading to its popularity was its kick drum sound, which could produce a very deep sub-bass. By the end of the 1980s, the TR-808 was very popular within electronic music and Hip-Hop generes. The TR-808 also was the inspiration for the name of the British electronic outfit 808 State. The sounds of the TR-808 were and still are very often used in Hip-Hop, R&B, House, Electro and many forms of electronic dance music.

Features


- Number of memory locations for user-programmable rhythm patterns:
  - two banks of 12 (or these can be combined to give 1 bank of 12 double length patterns)
  - plus: an additional two banks of 4 for use as "Intro / Fill-in" (again, these can be combined to give 1 bank of 4 double length patterns)
- Number of song memory locations (ie lists patterns chained together)
  - 12 'tracks' each storing a list of up to 64 patterns (tracks themselves can also be chained together)
  - song and pattern memories maintained by three 1.5 volt AA batteries (dry cell) [http://www.rolandus.com/support/product_manual.asp?Letter=T Roland Manuals (T)]
- Divisions per pattern:
  - maximum of 32 steps per pattern
- Sound Sources:
  - Bass drum
  - Snare drum
  - Low Tom or Low Conga (selectable)
  - Mid Tom or Mid Conga (selectable)
  - Hi Tom or Hi Conga (selectable)
  - Rimshot or Claves (selectable)
  - Handclap or Maracas (selectable)
  - Cow bell
  - Cymbal
  - Open hi-hat or Closed hi-hat (selectable)
  - Accent (NOTE: Accent isn't a sound. Instead it lets you place 'accents'—i.e. increase the loudness—on certain beats in the bar. All sounds playing on these beats are accented.)

Artists Who used the TR-808


- 808 State
- Arthur Baker
- Aurora
- Afrika Bambaataa
- Aphex Twin
- Beastie Boys
- Bomb the Bass
- Chris Carter
- Phil Collins
- D.A.V.E.
- DDR
- DJ Jazzy Jeff
- D-Nice
- Dr.Dre
- The Drummer
- Electronic Dream Planet
- Warren G
- Marvin Gaye
- Paul Hardcastle
- Whitney Houston
- Jean Michel Jarre
- Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
- Tom Jones
- Kleer
- KL
- KMFDM
- Chris Liberator
- Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam
- Lil Jon
- Midnight Star
- Guy McAffer
- DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill
- N.W.A
- Orbital
- Panic On The Titanic
- Plastik Man
- Public Enemy
- John Robie
- Rowland The Bastard
- Thighpaulsandra
- Scott Storch
- Insom Shalom
- Sir Mix-A-Lot
- The Sisters of Mercy
- Skinny Puppy
- Snoop Doggy Dogg
- Too $hort
- The Troutboys
- Mark Tyler
- Uberzone
- XSUPERMODELS
- Vangelis
- Yazoo

External links

[http://www.synthmuseum.com/roland/roltr80801.html The TR-808 at SynthMuseum.com] Category:Drum machines ja:Roland TR-808

1980

1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. It is equivalent to 2733 a.U.c., and to 1359 AH.

Events

January-February


- January 1–April 1 - National steel strike in the United Kingdom.
- January 1 - Changes to the Swedish Act of Succession creates Victoria of Sweden, Crown Princess over her younger brother.
- January 4 - American president Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
- January 5 - Hewlett-Packard announces release of its first personal computer.
- January 7 - President Jimmy Carter authorizes legislation giving $1.5 billion in loans to bail out Chrysler Corporation.
- January 9 - In Saudi Arabia, sixty three Muslim fanatics are beheaded for their part in the siege of the Great Mosque in Mecca in November, 1979.
- January 11 - Nigel Short, fourteen years old, is the youngest chess player to be awarded the degree of International Master.
- January 22 - Andrei Sakharov, a Russian scientist and human right activist, is arrested in Moscow.
- January 26 - Israel and Egypt establish diplomatic relations.
- February 2 - Abscam: Reports surface that FBI personnel were targeting members of the U.S. Congress in a sting operation.
- February 4 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini names Abolhassan Banisadr as president of Iran.
- February 15 - In Vanuatu, followers of John Frum's cargo cult on the island of Tanna declare secession as the nation of Tafea.
- February 23 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran's parliament would decide the fate of the American embassy hostages.
- February 25 - Coup in Surinam ousts government of Henck Arron. Leaders Desi Bouterse and Rou Horb replace it with National Military Council.
- February 27 - M-19 guerrillas begin the Dominican embassy siege in Colombia, holding sixty people hostage, including fourteen ambassadors.

March


- March 1 - Voyager 1 probe confirms the existence of Janus, a moon of Saturn.
- March 3 - Pierre Trudeau returns to office as Prime Minister of Canada.
- March 4 - Robert Mugabe is elected Prime Minister of Zimbabwe.
- March 10 - Jean Harris shoots doctor Herman Tarnower, the inventor of the Scarsdale diet.
- March 14 - In Poland, a plane crashes during an emergency landing near Warsaw, killing a 14-man American boxing team and 73 others.
- March 18 - Fifty people are killed at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia when a Vostok-2M rocket explodes on its launch pad during a fueling operation.
- March 20 - The pirate radio station Radio Caroline sinks.
- March 21 - President Jimmy Carter announces that the United States will boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
- March 21 - Mafioso Angelo Bruno assassinated in Atlantic City.
- March 24 - Australia Olympic Committee announces it will send an Olympic delegation to Moscow, despite objections by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser.
- March 24 - Archbishop Óscar Romero is killed by gunmen while celebrating Mass in San Salvador.
- March 26 - A mine lift cage at the Vaal Reef gold mine in South Africa falls 1.2 miles, killing twenty-three.
- March 27 - The Norwegian oil platform Alexander Kielland collapses in the North Sea, killing 123 of its crew of 212.

April


- April 1 - The Mariel boatlift begins.
- April 7 - The United States severs diplomatic relations with Iran and imposes economic sanctions following the taking of American hostages on Sunday, November 4, 1979.
- April 10 - Spain and United Kingdom agree to reopen the border between Gibraltar and Spain, closed since 1969.
- April 18 - Zimbabwe's formal independence from the United Kingdom. Robert Mugabe takes his post as a Prime Minister.
- April 21 - Rosie Ruiz wins the Boston Marathon, but is later exposed as a fraud and stripped of her award.
- April 24–April 25 - Operation Eagle Claw, a commando mission in Iran to rescue American embassy hostages, is aborted after mechanical problems ground the rescue helicopters. Eight United States troops are killed in a mid-air collision during the failed operation.
- April 27 - The Dominican embassy siege ends with all hostages released and the guerrillas flying to Cuba.
- April 30
  - Iranian Embassy Siege - Six Iranian-born terrorists take over Iranian embassy in London, UK. SAS retakes the Embassy on May 5 — one terrorist survives.
  - Luis Muñoz Marín, first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico, dies at the age of 82.
  - Queen Juliana of the Netherlands abdicates, and her daughter Beatrix ascends to the throne.

May


- May 7 - Paul Geidel, convicted of second-degree murder in 1911, is released from prison in Beacon, New York, after 68 years and 245 days - the longest-ever time served by an inmate
- May 9 - In Florida, a Liberian freighter named the Summit Venture hits the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay sending 35 people (most of whom were in a bus) to a watery death as a 1,400-foot section of the bridge collapsed
- May 17 - Florida court acquits 4 police officers of killing Arthur McDuffie. Three days of race riots follow
- May 18 - Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington killing 57 and causing US$3 billion in damage
- May 18 - Gwangju Massacre: Students in Gwangju, South Korea begin demonstrations, calling for democratic reforms.
- May 20 - Referendum in Quebec where the population rejects by a vote of 60% the proposal from its government to move towards independence from Canada.
- May 24 - The International Court of Justice calls for the release of U.S. embassy hostages in Tehran.
- May 26 - John Frum supporters in Vanuatu storm government offices in the island of Tanna. Vanuatu government troops land the next day and drive them away
- May 26 - In South Korea, military government forces and pro-democracy protesters clash - 2000 protesters die

June


- June 1 - Comedian Richard Pryor is badly burned trying to freebase cocaine.
- June 3 - A series of deadly tornadoes strikes Grand Island, Nebraska, causing over $300m in damage, killing five people and injuring over 250.
- June 10 - Apartheid: The African National Congress in South Africa publishes a statement by their imprisoned leader Nelson Mandela which says in part 'UNITE! MOBILISE! FIGHT ON! BETWEEN THE ANVIL OF UNITED MASS ACTION AND THE HAMMER OF THE ARMED STRUGGLE WE SHALL CRUSH APARTHEID!'[http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/mandela/64-90/anvil.html]
- June 10 - Unabomber bomb injures Percy Wood, president of the United Airlines in Lake Forest, Illinois
- June 19 - Iraqi security forces shoot dead three gunmen who attacked the British embassy in Baghdad. The unknown attackers were killed in the embassy gardens by Iraqi security men, sent at the urgent request of the British ambassador, Alex Stirling.
- June 22 - West Germany beat Belgium 2-1 to win Euro 80
- June 23 - Sanjay Gandhi, son of Indira Gandhi, dies in an air crash
- June 23–September 6 - Heat Wave of 1980
- June 25 - Muslim Brotherhood assassination attempt against Syrian president Hafez al-Assad fails. Assad retaliates by sending the army against them
- June 26 - A DC-9 belonging to the Italian Airline Itavia crashes into the sea near Naples after an explosion occurs in the air - 81 people dead - a bomb or a missile is suspected to be the cause of the accident but no culprits will ever be found
- June 29 - Vigdis Finnbogadottir becomes the president of Iceland

July-August


- July 9 - Pope John Paul II visits Brazil. Seven people crush to death in a crowd meeting him
- July 15 - A severe and destructive thunderstorm strikes four counties in western Wisconsin, including the city of Eau Claire. It caused over $250m in damage, and one person was killed.
- July 19 - Former Turkish Prime Minister Nihat Erim is killed by two gunmen in Istanbul, Turkey.
- July 19–August 3 - Summer Olympic Games in Moscow, USSR.
- July 30 - Vanuatu gains independence
- August 2 - A terrorist bombing at the railway station in Bologna, Italy kills 85 people and wounds more than 200.
- August 2 - Hurricane Allen hits landfall on Haiti and Jamaica in a Category 5, it reached Category 3 on Southern Texas on August 9 causing $2.6 billion on damage.
- August 14 - Lech Wałęsa leads the first of many strikes at the Gdańsk shipyard
- August 17 - In Australia, baby Azaria Chamberlain disappears from a campsite at Ayers Rock (Uluru), reportedly taken by a dingo

September-October


- September 5 - The St. Gothard Tunnel opens in Switzerland as the world's longest highway tunnel at 10.14 miles (16.32 km) stretching from Goschenen to Airolo.
- September 12 - Military coup in Turkey lead by Kenan Evren. It stopped political violence among gangs, but was the beginning of stronger state violence which lead to the execution of many young activists.
- September 17 - After weeks of strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland nationwide independent trade union Solidarity is established.
- September 17 - Former Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle is killed in Asuncion, Paraguay
- September 22 - The command council of Iraq ordered its army to "deliver its fatal blow on Iranian military targets," initiating the Iran-Iraq War.
- September 26 - The Mariel Boatlift officially ends.
- September 29 - Washington Post publishes Janet Cooke's story of Jimmy, an 8-year-old heroin addict (later proven to be fabricated)
- September 30 - Digital Equipment Corporation, Intel and Xerox introduce the DIX standard for Ethernet, which was the first implementation outside of Xerox, and the first to support 10 Mbit/s speeds.
- October 14 - The Staggers Rail Act is enacted, deregulating American railroads.
- October 18 - Fraser Government re-elected for a third consecutive term in Australia
- October 27 - Six IRA prisoners in Maze prison refuse food and demand status as political prisoners - hunger strike lasts until December
- October 30 - El Salvador and Honduras sign a peace treaty to put the border dispute fought over in 1969's Football War before the International Court of Justice.
- October 31 - Polish government recognizes Solidarity.
- October 31 - Mohammad Reza Shah, eldest son of the late shah of Iran, proclaimed himself the rightful successor to the Peacock Throne.

November-December


- November 4 - U.S. presidential election, 1980: Republican challenger Ronald Reagan defeats incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter by a wide margin.
- November 12 - Voyager program: The NASA space probe Voyager I makes its closest approach to Saturn when it flies within 77,000 miles of the planet's cloud-tops and sends the first high resolution images of the world back to scientists on Earth
- November 20 - The trial of the Gang of Four begins in China.
- November 21 - A fire at the MGM Grand Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada kills 87 people.
- November 21 - Millions of viewers tune into the TV soap opera Dallas to learn who shot lead character J.R. Ewing. The event is an international obsession.
- November 23 - A series of earthquakes in southern Italy kills approximately 4,800 people.
- December 8 - John Lennon is shot outside his New York apartment, by Mark Chapman.
- December 16 - During a summit on the island of Bali, the OPEC decides to raise the price of petroleum by 10%.
- December 26 - Richard Chase, the "Vampire of Sacramento", kills himself by overdose on San Quentin prison death row

Unknown dates


- Lawrence Klein is awarded the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
- Hassan Fathy and Plenty International / Stephen Gaskin are awarded the Right Livelihood Award.
- Victoria, Australia, decriminilises homosexual acts between consenting adults.

Births

January-February


- January 1 - Elin Nordegren, Swedish model
- January 2 - Rebekah Teasdale, British model and journalist
- January 7 - Gabriela Bazan, Peruvian activist
- January 8 - Rachel Nichols, American actress
- January 9 - Sergio García, Spanish golfer
- January 11 - Mike Williams, American football player
- January 14 - Cory Gibbs, American soccer player
- January 16 - Albert Pujols, Dominican Major League Baseball player
- January 16 - Michelle Wild, Hungarian actress
- January 22 - Christopher Masterson, American actor
- January 25 - Christian Olsson, Swedish athlete
- January 25 - Michelle McCool-Alexander, American professional wrestler
- January 27 - Marat Safin, Russian tennis player
- January 30 - Wilmer Valderrama, Venezuelan/Colombian-American comedian
- February 10 - César Izturis, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player
- February 11 - Natasha Bobo, American actress
- February 11 - Matthew Lawrence, American actor
- February 12 - Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spanish tennis player
- February 12 - Christina Ricci, American actress
- February 16 - Ashley Lelie, American football player
- February 20 - Imanol Harinordoquy, French rugby player

March-June


- March 13 - Molly Stanton, American actress
- March 16 - Todd Heap, American football player
- March 18 - Alexei Yagudin, Russian figure skater
- March 21 - Ronaldinho, Brazilian football player
- March 21 - Marit Bjørgen, Norwegian cross-country skier
- March 31 - Chien-Ming Wang, Taiwanese Major League Baseball player
- April 1 - Randy Orton, American professional wrestler
- April 1 - Takeuchi Yuko, Japanese actress
- April 17 - Brenda Villa, American water polo player
- April 20 - Jasmin Wagner, German singer
- April 20 - Channing Tatum, American actor and model
- April 21 - Vincent Lecavalier, Canadian hockey player
- May 7 - Johan Kenkhuis, Dutch swimmer
- May 9 - Grant Hackett, Australian swimmer
- May 18 - Matt Long, American actor
- May 24 - Cecilia Cheung, Hong Kong actress
- May 30- Steven Gerrard, English footballer
- June 1 - Oliver James, British actor
- June 13 - Sarah Connor, German singer
- June 16 - Joey Yung, Hong Kong singer
- June 17 - Venus Williams, American tennis player
- June 19 - Jason White, American football player
- June 22 - Jade Marcela, American actress
- June 23 - Ramnaresh Sarwan, West Indian cricketer
- June 26 - Jason Schwartzman, American actor
- June 26 - Michael Vick, American football player
- June 29 - Katherine Jenkins, Welsh soprano

July-August


- July 3 - Roland Mark Schoeman, South African swimmer
- July 6 - Pau Gasol, Catalan basketball player
- July 7 - Michelle Kwan, American figure skater
- July 8 - Robbie Keane, Irish footballer
- July 10 - Adam Petty, American race car driver (d. 2000)
- July 10 - Jessica Simpson, American singer
- July 18 - Kristen Bell, American actress
- July 22 - Kate Ryan, Belgian singer
- July 24 - Gauge, American actress
- August 11 - Lee Suggs, American football player
- August 16 - Vanessa Carlton, American singer
- August 26 - Macaulay Culkin, American actor
- August 28 - Debra Lafave, American teacher
- August 29 - Nicholas Tse, Hong Kong singer

September-October


- September 3 - Jennie Finch, American softball player
- September 7 - Mark Prior, baseball player
- September 10 - Mikey Way, American bassist (My Chemical Romance)
- September 12 - Sean Burroughs, baseball player
- September 12 - Yao Ming, Chinese basketball player
- September 21 - Kareena Kapoor, Indian actress
- September 30 - Martina Hingis, Swiss tennis player
- October 4 - Me'Lisa Barber, American athlete
- October 13 - Ashanti, American musician
- October 14 - Terrence McGee, American football player
- October 16 - Sue Bird, American basketball player
- October 17 - Ekaterina Gamova, Russian volleyball player
- October 28 - Alan Smith, English footballer
- October 28 - Christy Hemme, American Professional Wrestler

November-December


- November 12 - Ryan Gosling, Canadian actor
- November 16 - Kayte Christensen, American Basketball Player
- November 17 - Isaac Hanson, American musician
- November 21 - Hank Blalock, baseball player
- December 6 - Steve Lovell, English footballer
- December 7 - John Terry, English footballer
- December 10 - Sarah Chang, American violinist
- December 10 - Alexa Rae, American (pornographic film) actress
- December 18 - Christina Aguilera, American singer
- December 19 - Jake Gyllenhaal, American actor
- December 19 - Marla Sokoloff, American actress
- December 30 - Eliza Dushku, American actress

Deaths

January-April


- January 3 - Joy Adamson, Austrian-born conservationist and author (murdered) (b. 1910)
- January 8 - John Mauchly, American physicist and inventor (b. 1907)
- January 10 - George Meany, American labor leader (b. 1894)
- January 18 - Sir Cecil Beaton, English photographer (b. 1904)
- January 29 - Jimmy Durante, American actor, singer, and comedian (b. 1893)
- January 30 - Professor Longhair, American musician (b. 1918)
- February 2 - William Howard Stein, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- February 7 - Secondo Campini, Italian jet pioneer (b. 1904)
- February 13 - David Janssen, American actor (b. 1931)
- February 19 - Bon Scott, Scottish-born singer (AC/DC) (b. 1946)
- February 20 - J.B. Rhine, parapsychologist (b. 1895)
- March 5 - Jay Silverheels, American actor (b. 1912)
- March 16 - Tamara de Lempicka, Polish-born painter (b. 1898)
- March 25 - Walter Susskind, Czech conductor (b. 1913)
- March 29 - Mantovani, Italian-born conductor and arranger (b. 1905)
- March 31 - Vladimír Holan, Czech poet (b. 1905)
- March 31 - Jesse Owens, American athlete (b. 1913)
- April 12 - Clark McConachy, New Zealand snooker and billiards player (b. 1895)
- April 15 - Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
- April 24 - Alejo Carpentier, Cuban writer (b. 1904)
- April 29 - Alfred Hitchcock, British film director (b. 1899)

May-September


- May 4 - Josip Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia (b. 1892)
- May 18 - Ian Curtis, British musician and singer (Joy Division) (b. 1956)
- May 28 - Rolf Nevanlinna, Finnish mathematician (b. 1895)
- June 7 - Henry Miller, American writer (b. 1891)
- June 12 - Milburn Stone, American actor (b. 1904)
- June 13 - Walter Rodney, Guyanese historian and political figure (b. 1942)
- June 21 - Bert Kaempfert, German orchestra leader and songwriter (b. 1923)
- June 23 - Clyfford Still, American painter (b. 1904)
- July - Robert Brackman, American painter (b. 1898)
- July 7 - Dore Schary, American film writer, director, and producer (b. 1905)
- July 17 - Boris Delaunay, Russian mathematician (b. 1890)
- July 24 - Peter Sellers, English actor (b. 1925)
- July 26 - Kenneth Tynan, English theatre critic (b. 1927)
- July 27 - Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran (b. 1919)
- August 7 - Jackie Cochran, American pilot (b. 1906)
- August 10 - Yahya Khan, President of Pakistan (b. 1917)
- August 14 - Dorothy Stratten, Canadian model (murdered) (b. 1960)
- August 24 - Yootha Joyce, British actress (b. 1927)
- September 8 - Willard Libby, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
- September 16 - Jean Piaget, Swiss psychologist (b. 1896)
- September 25 - John Bonham, British drummer (Led Zeppelin) (b. 1948)

October-December


- October 25 - Virgil Fox, American organist (b. 1912)
- October 25 - Victor Galindez, Argentine boxer (race car accident) (b. 1948)
- October 27 - John Hasbrouck van Vleck, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
- November 4 - Elsie MacGill, Canadian aeronautical engineer (b. 1904)
- November 7 - Steve McQueen, American actor (b. 1930)
- November 20 - John McEwen, eighteenth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1900)
- November 22 - Mae West, American actress (b. 1893)
- December 2 - Romain Gary, Lithuanian-born writer (b. 1914)
- December 4 - Francisco Sá Carneiro, Prime Minister of Portugal (b. 1934)
- December 4 - Stanislawa Walasiewicz, Polish-born runner (b. 1911)
- December 7 - Darby Crash, American songwriter, singer for The Germs (heroin overdose) (b. 1958)
- December 8 - John Lennon, British singer, songwriter, and guitarist (The Beatles) (murdered) (b. 1940)
- December 16 - Harland Sanders, American fast food entrepreneur (b. 1890)
- December 16 - Hellmuth Walter, German engineer and inventor (b. 1900)
- December 24 - Karl Dönitz, President of Germany (b. 1891)
- December 29 - Tim Hardin, American musician (b. 1941)
- December 31 - Marshall McLuhan, Canadian author and professor (b. 1911)

Unknown dates


- Clement Martyn Doke, South African linguist

Nobel Prizes


- Physics - James Watson Cronin, Val Logsdon Fitch
- Chemistry - Paul Berg, Walter Gilbert, Frederick Sanger
- Medicine - Baruj Benacerraf, Jean Dausset, George D. Snell
- Literature - Czeslaw Milosz
- Peace - Adolfo Pérez Esquivel

Templeton Prize


- Prof. Ralph Burhoe Category:1980 als:1980 ko:1980년 ja:1980年 simple:1980 th:พ.ศ. 2523

Roland Corporation

Roland Corporation is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on April 18, 1972 with 33 million yen in capital. Today Roland has factories in Japan, the United States, Italy, and Taiwan. As of March 31, 2005, it employed 2233 employees [http://www.roland.com/about/en/corporate-data.html]. That is over 200% rise from 729 employees in 2003. Roland uses a number of additional brand names for their products:
- BOSS (guitar effects pedals, effects units, rhythm machines, recording equipment)
- Edirol (Desktop Media Production or 'DTMP')
- Rodgers Instruments (electronic and combination pipe organs)
- Roland Digital Group (Roland DG). Roland company slogans:
- Inspire the enjoyment of creativity
- Be the best rather than the biggest
- We Design the Future

Structured/Adaptive Synthesis

Before 1986 attempts to reproduce the sound of the piano in digital instruments were based on sample based synthesis. This was done by Kurzweil in 1984 with its K250. It was expensive and not as sophisticated as today's digital piano sounds. Just two years after Roland introduced its Structured/Adaptive Synthesis. SAS divided the keyboard into more than 30 zones where pitch, brightness, individual formant structures and string enharmonicities vary. It was unlike the pre-existing sample-replay systems. Roland engineers sampled and analyzed instruments' timbre with various pitches and velocities. They designed an algorithm that reproduced the necessary harmonics. It made possible to reproduce the sound of a grand piano better than with the other technics available then. The polyphony was 16, which was considered acceptable at the time. Roland discontinued the original SAS in 1990 when Advanced SA was introduced. In 1996 a 64-voice stereo implementation was developed.

Roland's name

It may seem strange for a Japanese company to have a Western name, but Roland was founded with export in mind. Ikutaro Kakehashi heard that the name of his previous company, Ace, was often mangled in pronunciation, sometimes unpleasantly; so he looked for a good-sounding name which would be pronounced roughly the same in all of his major export markets. He found the name Roland in a telephone directory. Ironically, the name is difficult to pronounce correctly in Kakehashi's native Japanese, which has no 'L' sound. Roland was not, as is often claimed, named after the French epic poem La Chanson de Roland.

Timeline of noteworthy products


- 1973 - Roland SH-1000: Claimed by Roland to be Japan's first commercial keyboard synthesizer.
- 1973 - Roland RE-201: The renowned 'Space Echo' machine, one of the most popular tape delay-based echo machines ever produced.
- 1973 - Roland SH-3A: Monophonic synthesizer.
- 1975 - Roland System-100: Roland's first attempt at a modular synthesizer.
- 1976 - Roland System-700: Roland's first professional-quality modular synthesizer.
- 1977 - Roland MC-8 Microcomposer: A ground breaking digital sequencer. The first product in the musical instrument industry to utilize a microprocessor.
- 1977 - Roland GR-500: The world's first commercial guitar synthesiser.
- 1978 - Roland CR-78: The world's first user programmable drum machine.
- 1978 - Roland Jupiter-4: Roland's first self-contained polyphonic synthesizer.
- 1981 - Roland Jupiter-8: This synthesizer put Roland in the forefront of professional synthesizers. A hugely successful 8-voice programmable analog synthesizer.
- 1981 - Roland TR-808: Among the first and most popular programmable drum machines; its distinctive analog sounds, such as its cowbell sound, have become pop music cliches, heard on countless recordings.
- 1982 - Roland Juno-6: Roland's first synthesizer with digitally-controlled analog oscillators.
- 1982 - Roland TB-303: Defined the "acid" sound for house music.
- 1983 - Roland JX-3P: First Roland synthesizer to support MIDI.
- 1983 - Roland Jupiter-6: Second Roland synthesizer to support MIDI.
- 1983 - Roland SH-101: Monophonic synthesizer designed to be worn hung around the neck with a strap, with an optional modulation attachment that protruded like the neck of a guitar.
- 1984 - Roland TR-909: An extremely popular drum machine during the early 1990s, the sounds of which (particularly the kick drum) are still essential components of modern electronic dance music. The first Roland drum machine to use analog sound synthesis combined with digital sample playback.
- 1984 - Roland Juno-106: A widely used synthesizer with digitally-controlled oscillators. Same synth engine as the Roland Juno-60 but with the addition of MIDI and the ability to transmit button and slider information through SysEx.
- 1986 - Roland JX-10: This was one of Roland's last true analog synths.
- 1986 - Roland RD-1000: Roland's first digital piano to feature Roland SA Synthesis technology [http://www.roland.com/about/en/development-history.html].
- 1987 - Roland D-50: One of the most popular digital synthesizers; Roland's first all-digital synthesizer implementing their "Linear Arithmetic" synthesis (a form of sample-based synthesis combined with subtractive synthesis). The D-50's descendants include the D-10 and D-20 synthesizers.
- 1987 - Roland MT-32: Also using "Linear Arithmetic" synthesis, it was supported by many PC games in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a high-quality music option, until support shifted to General MIDI sound cards.
- 1988 - Roland E-20: Roland's first entry into the auto-accompaniment keyboard market, going head to head with Yamaha and Casio. The E-20's descendants include the E-70, E-86, G-800, G-1000 and the current VA-7.
- 1989 - Roland Octapad: A set of visually distinctive electronic drum triggers.
- 1990 - Roland HP-3700: Roland digital piano [http://www.roland.com/about/en/development-history.html].
- 1991 - Roland Sound Canvas: The world's first General MIDI synthesizer.
- 1996 - Roland MC-303 The first non-keyboard drum machine, sample based synthesizer and sequencer combination bearing the now generic term "Groovebox".
- 1997 - Roland JP-8000: Roland's first "virtual analog" synthesizer.
- 1997 - Roland V-Drums: Digital drums incorporating 'silent' mesh drum heads that realistically reproduce both the natural feel and sound of an acoustic drum.
- 1998 - Roland MC-505: Successor to the MC-303 with a more powerful synthesizer and sequencer.
- 2002 - Roland MC-909: Successor to the MC Groovebox series featuring a full 16 track sequencer and built-in sampling.

References


- Sound On Sound Magazine - The History of Roland (five parts) - [http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov04/articles/roland.htm]
- Roland Piano Sound Sources [http://www.novelmusic.com/roland/Technical/default.htm]

External links


- [http://www.roland.com/ Roland Main Site]
- [http://www.roland.co.jp/ Roland Japan Web site]
- [http://www.rolandus.com/ Roland US Web site]
- [http://www.roland.co.uk/ Roland UK Web Site]
- [http://www.bosscorp.co.jp/ BOSS]
- [http://www.rolanddg.com/ Roland DG]
- [http://www.edirol.com/ Edirol]
- [http://www.rodgersinstruments.com/ Rodgers Instruments] Category:Guitar manufacturers Category:Percussion instrument manufacturers Category:Synthesizer manufacturers ja:ローランド

YMO

Yellow Magic Orchestra were a Japanese electropop band, formed in 1978. The principal members were Haruomi Hosono (bass), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards). The band was originally conceived as a one-off studio project by Hosono, the other two members being recruited session musicians - the idea was to produce an album fusing orientalist exotica (cf their cover version of Martin Denny's Firecracker) with modern electronics. However the first album (with its cutting-edge production) was very popular, and the studio project grew into a fully fledged touring band and career for its three members. Making abundant use of new synthesizers, samplers, digital and computer recording technology as it became available, their popularity and influence extended beyond Japan. Generally the band were highly regarded as electronic pioneers, and continue to be remixed and sampled by modern artists. The band had stopped working together by 1984, the three members returning to their solo careers. They released a one-off reuinion album, Technodon, in 1993. The early 2000s saw Hosono & Takehashi reunited in a project called Sketch Show.

Original albums


- Yellow Magic Orchestra 1978 (This original version was released in Japan)
- Yellow Magic Orchestra (US release), 1979 (This version was remixed for release in the USA and also featured new cover art)
- Solid State Survivor, 1979
- ×∞ Multiplies (mini-album) 1980 (a compilation album with the same title & artwork but different track listing was released in the USA)
- BGM, 1981
- Technodelic, 1981
- Naughty Boys, 1983
- Naughty Boys Instrumental, 1983
- Service, 1983
- Technodon, 1993

Live albums


- Transatrantic Tour 1979, 1979
- Public Pressure, 1980
- Winter Live 1981, 1981
- After Service, 1984
- Faker Holic, 1991
- Technodon Live, 1993

Best of albums


- Sealed, 1984
- UC YMO: Ultimate Collection of Yellow Magic Orchestra, 2003

See also


- Electronic music, Kraftwerk, Art of Noise ja:イエロー・マジック・オーケストラ Category:Electronic music groups

December

December is the twelfth and last month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. December begins (astrologically) with the sun in the sign of Sagittarius and ends in the sign of Capricorn. Astronomically speaking, the sun begins in the constellation of Ophiuchus, which is the only zodiacal constellation that is not counted as an astrological sign, and ends in the constellation of Sagittarius. The name is from the Latin decem for "ten". December was the tenth month in the Roman calendar until a monthless winter period was divided between January and February.

Events

February
- The United Nations has designated December 10 as Human Rights Day.
- The solstice called the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere and the summer solstice in the southern hemisphere occurs on dates varying from 20 December to 23 December (in UTC). In the pagan wheel of the year the winter solstice is the time of Yule and the summer solstice is that of Litha.
- Christmas is celebrated as a holiday in much of the western world and is a religious day, second in importance only to Easter for Christians. The holiday, which occurs on December 25, celebrates the birth of Jesus. Some countries (e.g. Denmark) celebrate Christmas on December 24.
- In Ireland, December 26 is called St. Stephen's Day and is a public holiday. In the Irish calendar the month is called Mí na Nollag (literally "The Month of Christmas") and is the middle month of the Winter season.
- In the United Kingdom, the weekday after December 25 is called Boxing Day and is a public holiday.
- In Canada, Boxing Day is also celebrated, always on December 26. Many retail stores sell their Christmas overstock at significant discounts on this day.
- The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah takes place in the month of December.
- The holiday Festivus is sometimes celebrated on the 23rd.
- The weeklong African American holiday of Kwanzaa is celebrated from December 26 through January 1

Trivia


- December always begins with the same day of the week as September.
- December's flower is the holly.
- December's birthstone is tanzinite

Other names


- In Finnish, December is called joulukuu, meaning "month of Christmas", since about the 18th century. Earlier it was called talvikuu, meaning "month of winter".
- In Irish, December is called Mí na Nollaig, meaning "month of Christmas".
- In the old Japanese calendar, the month is called Shiwasu (師走).

See also


- Historical anniversaries

External links


- [http://www.astro.uu.nl/~strous/AA/en/antwoorden/seizoenen.html Astronomy Answers article on the seasons] Category:Months als:Dezember ko:12월 ms:Disember ja:12月 simple:December th:ธันวาคม

1980

1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. It is equivalent to 2733 a.U.c., and to 1359 AH.

Events

January-February


- January 1–April 1 - National steel strike in the United Kingdom.
- January 1 - Changes to the Swedish Act of Succession creates Victoria of Sweden, Crown Princess over her younger brother.
- January 4 - American president Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
- January 5 - Hewlett-Packard announces release of its first personal computer.
- January 7 - President Jimmy Carter authorizes legislation giving $1.5 billion in loans to bail out Chrysler Corporation.
- January 9 - In Saudi Arabia, sixty three Muslim fanatics are beheaded for their part in the siege of the Great Mosque in Mecca in November, 1979.
- January 11 - Nigel Short, fourteen years old, is the youngest chess player to be awarded the degree of International Master.
- January 22 - Andrei Sakharov, a Russian scientist and human right activist, is arrested in Moscow.
- January 26 - Israel and Egypt establish diplomatic relations.
- February 2 - Abscam: Reports surface that FBI personnel were targeting members of the U.S. Congress in a sting operation.
- February 4 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini names Abolhassan Banisadr as president of Iran.
- February 15 - In Vanuatu, followers of John Frum's cargo cult on the island of Tanna declare secession as the nation of Tafea.
- February 23 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran's parliament would decide the fate of the American embassy hostages.
- February 25 - Coup in Surinam ousts government of Henck Arron. Leaders Desi Bouterse and Rou Horb replace it with National Military Council.
- February 27 - M-19 guerrillas begin the Dominican embassy siege in Colombia, holding sixty people hostage, including fourteen ambassadors.

March


- March 1 - Voyager 1 probe confirms the existence of Janus, a moon of Saturn.
- March 3 - Pierre Trudeau returns to office as Prime Minister of Canada.
- March 4 - Robert Mugabe is elected Prime Minister of Zimbabwe.
- March 10 - Jean Harris shoots doctor Herman Tarnower, the inventor of the Scarsdale diet.
- March 14 - In Poland, a plane crashes during an emergency landing near Warsaw, killing a 14-man American boxing team and 73 others.
- March 18 - Fifty people are killed at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia when a Vostok-2M rocket explodes on its launch pad during a fueling operation.
- March 20 - The pirate radio station Radio Caroline sinks.
- March 21 - President Jimmy Carter announces that the United States will boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
- March 21 - Mafioso Angelo Bruno assassinated in Atlantic City.
- March 24 - Australia Olympic Committee announces it will send an Olympic delegation to Moscow, despite objections by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser.
- March 24 - Archbishop Óscar Romero is killed by gunmen while celebrating Mass in San Salvador.
- March 26 - A mine lift cage at the Vaal Reef gold mine in South Africa falls 1.2 miles, killing twenty-three.
- March 27 - The Norwegian oil platform Alexander Kielland collapses in the North Sea, killing 123 of its crew of 212.

April


- April 1 - The Mariel boatlift begins.
- April 7 - The United States severs diplomatic relations with Iran and imposes economic sanctions following the taking of American hostages on Sunday, November 4, 1979.
- April 10 - Spain and United Kingdom agree to reopen the border between Gibraltar and Spain, closed since 1969.
- April 18 - Zimbabwe's formal independence from the United Kingdom. Robert Mugabe takes his post as a Prime Minister.
- April 21 - Rosie Ruiz wins the Boston Marathon, but is later exposed as a fraud and stripped of her award.
- April 24–April 25 - Operation Eagle Claw, a commando mission in Iran to rescue American embassy hostages, is aborted after mechanical problems ground the rescue helicopters. Eight United States troops are killed in a mid-air collision during the failed operation.
- April 27 - The Dominican embassy siege ends with all hostages released and the guerrillas flying to Cuba.
- April 30
  - Iranian Embassy Siege - Six Iranian-born terrorists take over Iranian embassy in London, UK. SAS retakes the Embassy on May 5 — one terrorist survives.
  - Luis Muñoz Marín, first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico, dies at the age of 82.
  - Queen Juliana of the Netherlands abdicates, and her daughter Beatrix ascends to the throne.

May


- May 7 - Paul Geidel, convicted of second-degree murder in 1911, is released from prison in Beacon, New York, after 68 years and 245 days - the longest-ever time served by an inmate
- May 9 - In Florida, a Liberian freighter named the Summit Venture hits the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay sending 35 people (most of whom were in a bus) to a watery death as a 1,400-foot section of the bridge collapsed
- May 17 - Florida court acquits 4 police officers of killing Arthur McDuffie. Three days of race riots follow
- May 18 - Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington killing 57 and causing US$3 billion in damage
- May 18 - Gwangju Massacre: Students in Gwangju, South Korea begin demonstrations, calling for democratic reforms.
- May 20 - Referendum in Quebec where the population rejects by a vote of 60% the proposal from its government to move towards independence from Canada.
- May 24 - The International Court of Justice calls for the release of U.S. embassy hostages in Tehran.
- May 26 - John Frum supporters in Vanuatu storm government offices in the island of Tanna. Vanuatu government troops land the next day and drive them away
- May 26 - In South Korea, military government forces and pro-democracy protesters clash - 2000 protesters die

June


- June 1 - Comedian Richard Pryor is badly burned trying to freebase cocaine.
- June 3 - A series of deadly tornadoes strikes Grand Island, Nebraska, causing over $300m in damage, killing five people and injuring over 250.
- June 10 - Apartheid: The African National Congress in South Africa publishes a statement by their imprisoned leader Nelson Mandela which says in part 'UNITE! MOBILISE! FIGHT ON! BETWEEN THE ANVIL OF UNITED MASS ACTION AND THE HAMMER OF THE ARMED STRUGGLE WE SHALL CRUSH APARTHEID!'[http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/mandela/64-90/anvil.html]
- June 10 - Unabomber bomb injures Percy Wood, president of the United Airlines in Lake Forest, Illinois
- June 19 - Iraqi security forces shoot dead three gunmen who attacked the British embassy in Baghdad. The unknown attackers were killed in the embassy gardens by Iraqi security men, sent at the urgent request of the British ambassador, Alex Stirling.
- June 22 - West Germany beat Belgium 2-1 to win Euro 80
- June 23 - Sanjay Gandhi, son of Indira Gandhi, dies in an air crash
- June 23–September 6 - Heat Wave of 1980
- June 25 - Muslim Brotherhood assassination attempt against Syrian president Hafez al-Assad fails. Assad retaliates by sending the army against them
- June 26 - A DC-9 belonging to the Italian Airline Itavia crashes into the sea near Naples after an explosion occurs in the air - 81 people dead - a bomb or a missile is suspected to be the cause of the accident but no culprits will ever be found
- June 29 - Vigdis Finnbogadottir becomes the president of Iceland

July-August


- July 9 - Pope John Paul II visits Brazil. Seven people crush to death in a crowd meeting him
- July 15 - A severe and destructive thunderstorm strikes four counties in western Wisconsin, including the city of Eau Claire. It caused over $250m in damage, and one person was killed.
- July 19 - Former Turkish Prime Minister Nihat Erim is killed by two gunmen in Istanbul, Turkey.
- July 19–August 3 - Summer Olympic Games in Moscow, USSR.
- July 30 - Vanuatu gains independence
- August 2 - A terrorist bombing at the railway station in Bologna, Italy kills 85 people and wounds more than 200.
- August 2 - Hurricane Allen hits landfall on Haiti and Jamaica in a Category 5, it reached Category 3 on Southern Texas on August 9 causing $2.6 billion on damage.
- August 14 - Lech Wałęsa leads the first of many strikes at the Gdańsk shipyard
- August 17 - In Australia, baby Azaria Chamberlain disappears from a campsite at Ayers Rock (Uluru), reportedly taken by a dingo

September-October


- September 5 - The St. Gothard Tunnel opens in Switzerland as the world's longest highway tunnel at 10.14 miles (16.32 km) stretching from Goschenen to Airolo.
- September 12 - Military coup in Turkey lead by Kenan Evren. It stopped political violence among gangs, but was the beginning of stronger state violence which lead to the execution of many young activists.
- September 17 - After weeks of strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland nationwide independent trade union Solidarity is established.
- September 17 - Former Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle is killed in Asuncion, Paraguay
- September 22 - The command council of Iraq ordered its army to "deliver its fatal blow on Iranian military targets," initiating the Iran-Iraq War.
- September 26 - The Mariel Boatlift officially ends.
- September 29 - Washington Post publishes Janet Cooke's story of Jimmy, an 8-year-old heroin addict (later proven to be fabricated)
- September 30 - Digital Equipment Corporation, Intel and Xerox introduce the DIX standard for Ethernet, which was the first implementation outside of Xerox, and the first to support 10 Mbit/s speeds.
- October 14 - The Staggers Rail Act is enacted, deregulating American railroads.
- October 18 - Fraser Government re-elected for a third consecutive term in Australia
- October 27 - Six IRA prisoners in Maze prison refuse food and demand status as political prisoners - hunger strike lasts until December
- October 30 - El Salvador and Honduras sign a peace treaty to put the border dispute fought over in 1969's Football War before the International Court of Justice.
- October 31 - Polish government recognizes Solidarity.
- October 31 - Mohammad Reza Shah, eldest son of the late shah of Iran, proclaimed himself the rightful successor to the Peacock Throne.

November-December


- November 4 - U.S. presidential election, 1980: Republican challenger Ronald Reagan defeats incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter by a wide margin.
- November 12 - Voyager program: The NASA space probe Voyager I makes its closest approach to Saturn when it flies within 77,000 miles of the planet's cloud-tops and sends the first high resolution images of the world back to scientists on Earth
- November 20 - The trial of the Gang of Four begins in China.
- November 21 - A fire at the MGM Grand Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada kills 87 people.
- November 21 - Millions of viewers tune into the TV soap opera Dallas to learn who shot lead character J.R. Ewing. The event is an international obsession.
- November 23 - A series of earthquakes in southern Italy kills approximately 4,800 people.
- December 8 - John Lennon is shot outside his New York apartment, by Mark Chapman.
- December 16 - During a summit on the island of Bali, the OPEC decides to raise the price of petroleum by 10%.
- December 26 - Richard Chase, the "Vampire of Sacramento", kills himself by overdose on San Quentin prison death row

Unknown dates


- Lawrence Klein is awarded the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
- Hassan Fathy and Plenty International / Stephen Gaskin are awarded the Right Livelihood Award.
- Victoria, Australia, decriminilises homosexual acts between consenting adults.

Births

January-February


- January 1 - Elin Nordegren, Swedish model
- January 2 - Rebekah Teasdale, British model and journalist
- January 7 - Gabriela Bazan, Peruvian activist
- January 8 - Rachel Nichols, American actress
- January 9 - Sergio García, Spanish golfer
- January 11 -