We Design the Future

This chapter begins by providing an overview of the Roland company and exploring its many innovations in the field of electronic musical instrument design. Alongside a history of influential instruments such as the Jupiter-8, TR-808 and D-50, the company’s engineers have also been responsible for helping create foundational technologies and protocols like MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) that still allows interoperability between compatible instruments from any manufacturer over 40 years after its creation. Similarly, the company’s instruments have been brought to life, performed with, improvised with and modified over decades by countless musicians, producers and DJs. The chapter continues by setting out how the recognition of the intersection between technology and human creativity provides methodological underpinning for the book. Drawing on Social Construction of Technology and Platform Studies approaches, the book investigates the relationships between the hardware and software designs of the x0x instruments and the creative works produced with them. Crucially, by explicating these interweaving design and performance practices, the synthesizer or drum machine shifts from being a canvas or backdrop to become a vital actor.