Roland Celebrates 10 Years of The Future. Redefined. And Looks to What Comes Next
A decade after its landmark 909 Day livestream, Roland revisits the innovations that shaped its journey and unveils a future built around connected instruments, creative ecosystems and new ways to make music.
Ten years ago, Roland's The Future. Redefined. 909 Day livestream introduced more than 30 products and offered a striking vision of where music technology was heading. Now, the company is marking that anniversary with Then. Now. Next., a global campaign running through September and October that connects the innovations of 2016 with Roland’s present and its plans for the years ahead.
And there's plenty to look back on. The original event introduced the Aerophone, the BOSS Katana amplifier series, major advances in V-Drums including Prismatic Sound Modeling and digital pads, as well as PLUG-OUT technology and deeper hardware/software integration through Roland Cloud. A collaboration with Serato also brought Roland into the DJ controller space.
Many of those ideas have since become important parts of Roland’s world and the company is now extending that philosophy into a new generation of products and experiences.
Among the latest is the FP-40 with Piano Sphere, combining a digital piano with a connected learning environment created with Skoove. Guided lessons, interactive tools and real-time feedback point toward a broader shift: instruments increasingly becoming gateways to experiences that continue beyond the moment you sit down to play.
That direction will expand significantly. Roland says more than a dozen new products are coming across piano, drums, guitar, synthesizers and professional A/V, while recent innovations such as Wi-Fi-enabled instruments and deeper integration with digital services hint at an increasingly connected creative ecosystem.
And then there's the future itself. Through the Roland Future Design Lab, creators, researchers and technology partners are exploring new possibilities for musical instruments and experiences, alongside Roland's ongoing expansion of Roland Cloud, retail and customer-focused initiatives.
Ten years on, The Future. Redefined. feels less like a finished chapter than a starting point. Then established the vision. Now shows how that vision has evolved. And Next asks perhaps the most interesting question of all: what will the relationship between musicians, instruments and technology look like ten years from now?
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About Chris Roditis
Chris Roditis has been an active musician since 1995 in various bands and projects across a variety of genres ranging from acoustic, electronic to nu metal, british rock and trip hop. He has extensive experience as a mixing engineer and producer and has built recording studios for most of the projects he has been involved with. His passion for music steered his entrepreneurial skills into founding MusicNGear in 2012.
Contact Chris Roditis at chrisroditis@musicngear.com
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