Roland gear on the Anagram

Roland was founded in Osaka in 1972 by Ikutaro Kakehashi. It is best known for synths and drum machines, but its tape echoes, rack delays, chorus units and the Jazz Chorus amp shaped a lot of the effects you hear on records.

Most of the Roland-inspired blocks are confirmed by their developers. Mercuriall Audio says Dim D-320 is inspired by the SDD-320 Dimension D, and Cognate Audio calls one mode of Cognate Hologram a homage to the same unit. Nembrini Audio says 501 Chorus Echo draws on the RE-501, DELAY3000 on the SDE-3000 rack delay plus a Strymon Timeline, and Jazz Chorus on the JC-120 amp.

Two are inferred. Clack Digital describes Cosmic Milk Chorus as the chorus from a classic single-oscillator synth, which points at the Juno-60, so the badge reads likely. Darkglass's own Tape Delay describes a multi-head tape machine; the Space Echo is our guess.

These units matter because they add width without mud. The Dimension D is a stereo chorus with almost no audible wobble, which makes it unusually kind to bass. The JC-120 is clean solid-state headroom with a lush stereo chorus. Tape echo brings warm, smeared repeats that you can push into self-oscillation.

For bass, try Dim D-320 first on its lowest button. For guitar, load Jazz Chorus and turn its chorus on.