It’s traditional to mark 8th August each year as 808 Day, celebrating Roland‘s iconic TR-808 drum machine and the immense influence it’s had on electronic music and beyond.
This year, BJOOKS is offering a free read of the eBook version of Inspire the Music — 50 Years of Roland History at Patch & Tweak, plus 15% off the hardcover edition if purchased via the BJOOKS online store.
The book gives an in-depth view of Roland’s half century of instruments and innovation — not just the TR-808 but the massive range of synths the company is renowned for, including the TB-303, TR-909, JUPITER-8, JUNO-106, RE-201 Space Echo, and many more. It’s over 400 pages of well-researched and written history, interviews and features on key musicians, and deep dives into masses of Roland gear, much of which is synth or digital piano focused.
Roland TB-303: Failure or Master of Reinvention?
It includes rare archival images, exclusive interviews and detailed features, and was authored by Kim Bjørn.
Sadly, only US residents can buy the physical copy of the book (which is a shame, and perhaps ironic, given that BJOOKS is a Danish publishing company). There also appears to be no way to purchase the eBook of the title, which would be nice if you don’t have the time to read the book in a 24-hour window, or would like to peruse it some more — perhaps one to consider, Mr Publisher? (Update: you can, of course, subscribe to Patch & Tweak in which case you can read to your heart’s content)
Ebook link is here. Hardback book is here. Get reading!
