Ikutaro Kakehashi was born on February 7, 1930. He was a visionary of many modern musical instruments and he founded the companies Ace Tone, Roland Corporation and ATV. Among his accomplishments are the Ace Tone and Roland drum machines, and also the MIDI standard.
Kakehashi began his career in the 1950s repairing electronic organs. It was doing so that he considered how electronic sounds could be taken further. Beginning with the company Ace Tone he developed the first ‘rhythm machine called the FR-1 Rhythm Ace in 1967, which boasted 16 preset patterns. His successful developments led to the company becoming part of Hammond Organ. He moved onto form the company Roland during the 1970s. The Roland Corporation produced many types of drum machines, including the Roland CR-78 and the iconic Roland TR-808. The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer as one of the earliest programmable drum machines. The device was popularized by early hits such as Marvin Gaye’s hit Sexual Healing (1982) and Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force’s groundbreaking Planet Rock (1982).
In more recent times, Rapper Kanye West’s 2008 album 808s & Heartbreak showcases the machine throughout. Despite the success and popularity of the instruments, Kakehashi never received any formal musical training.
While heading up Roland, Kakehasi proposed the idea of standardization in electronic sounds. This led to the MIDI standard becoming intentionally recognized. MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard which allows a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers and other related devices to connect and communicate with one another.
Kakehashi continued to work on developing devices to play electronic music. Kakehashi received a technical Grammy in 2013 for contributions to electronic music technology. His death was announced by Tommy Snyder, research and development specialist and Roland V-drum designer, via Facebook.
