Roland D-10: it's everywhere! (almost)

The first ‘real’ synthesizer I ever used was a Roland D-5 – it blew me away. Inevitably, the D-5 was soon stolen from our school and replaced by a D-10. I used this synth for various projects until I left school in the early 90’s

The D-10 isn’t the poor man's D-50 as its name would suggest; the two were very different machines. In fact it is a shame the D-10 has the ‘D’ prefix at all. The D-10 was a kind of early multi-timbral ROMpler that Roland began to perfect with the JV series in the 90’s. Even though it wasn’t much of a synthesis tool (changing the presets would incur a severe reprimand at our school) the D-10 had some nice sounds and was easy to operate.

Many years later when I had left school, I bought a second hand D-10 as it was familiar and, by then, cheap. Yet, I never really heard the D-10 presets on records and found I couldn’t quite get the sound I wanted from it (I was listening to lots of dance music in the early 90’s). I assumed the D-10 was just too ‘cheap’ for professional musicians and that I needed something more modern. I parted company with the D-10 around 2001 and haven’t missed it at all.

However, in recent years I am hearing the D-10 everywhere. Electronics’ “Lean to the inside” is almost completely Roland D-10 presets (actually a D-110 in this case) and the song "Idiot Country" features the Jamisen sound. 808 State used it for the lead sound on ‘In yer face’ and used various other sounds less prominently on their "Ex:el" album in 1991 (lots of Korg M1 and D50 on there too). The title track from Tangerine Dream's album "Lily on the Beach" features the drums and the preset HarmoPan and there are several other presets scattered around the album.

The most prominent use of the D-10 is probably by Mike Oldfield; his album “Earth Moving” features the D-10 on almost every song. Listening to the track “Innocent” I realise the drums, bass, and various other bits are all D-10 presets. I am at a loss as to why I never noticed the use of these sounds before.

The D-10 will never be a classic, but it was used by recording artists and there is evidence to prove it. So a synthesizer I dismissed as terrible (but one of few I could afford) is undergoing a re-appraisal.

Where is my phone? I need to look at my eBay app.

 

UPDATE MARCH 2023 - I've added a couple of other tracks I have noticed feature the D-10 and I have also recently acquired a D-110

Delta Machine is actually quite good!

The last few Depeche Mode albums have disappointed me. I guess, like everyone else, I am hoping each new release will be the “Violator 2” that, in reality, we will never see or hear.

I am gradually letting the idea of reliving my youth go and trying to accept each new album on its own terms. Yet producer Ben Hillier’s sound isn’t to my taste and both “Sounds of the Universe” and ”Playing the Angel” fell short of their potential. I will be honest; I wasn’t expecting much with new release “Delta Machine”, but I have been pleasantly surprised.

The single “Heaven” is a brooding “grower” in the “Only When I Lose Myself” mould. “Secret to the End” has some really clever touches that almost sound contemporary and hold the presses……even has some sounds that aren’t distorted. “Soothe My Soul” sounds like the “Personal Jesus” riff is about to break out at any minute and rumbles along very nicely. Tracks such as “Slow” aren’t to my taste, but there is much else to like on this disc that means the poorer tracks don’t seem to matter. “Soft Touch” sounds almost circa 1983 and “Goodbye” is a fitting ending.

So don’t approach “Delta Machine” with caution (even if Corbijn has outdone himself in terms of crap sleeves). It’s not a pop-fest by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a good album full of new ideas (and plenty of old ones) which not even Hillier could ruin.