Roland RS-202

{{Short description|Polyphonic string synthesizer}}

The Roland RS-202 was a polyphonic string synthesizer, introduced by Roland in 1976. It was the successor to the Roland RS-101, released in 1975.{{sfn|Jenkins|2009|p=89}}{{cite journal|url=http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Jul02/articles/retrozone0702.asp|title=A Tale of Two String Synths|journal=Sound on Sound|date=July 2002|archive-date=8 March 2005|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050308154533/http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Jul02/articles/retrozone0702.asp}}

The synthesizer operated using sawtooth wave oscillators, which used a frequency divider in a similar manner to an electronic organ to provide full polyphony across a five-octave keyboard.{{cite journal|title=Roland RS-202|publisher=The Music Journal|journal=Music Publishers Journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xSQvAAAAMAAJ|volume=36–37|year=1978|page=108}} The signal was then fed through a single envelope shaper, making the instrument paraphonic. The front panel had two separate controls for the top and bottom of the keyboard, which could have independent sounds.{{cite web|url=http://www.hollowsun.com/nostalgia/contributors/rs202/index.html|title=ROLAND RS202|publisher=Hollow Sun|access-date=28 June 2016}} Each note could be assigned a separate envelope articulation, which was necessary to avoid re-triggering the attack if an extra note was added to an existing chord being played. To achieve a more realistic sound of an ensemble of string players, the output was fed through a chorus effect using a number of delay lines triggered by low frequency oscillators.{{cite journal|url=http://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advice/q-how-do-i-re-create-sound-those-old-string-synths|title=How do I re-create the sound of those old string synths?|journal=Sound on Sound|date=March 2006|access-date=28 June 2016}}

An American company called Multivox manufactured a clone of the RS-202, called the MX-202. It used similar internal components, though the sound was weaker.

Notable users of the RS-202 include Genesis' Tony Banks, Camel's Peter Bardens, Los Bukis and Tomita.{{cite web|url=http://www.vintagesynth.com/roland/rs202.php|title=Roland RS-202 Strings|publisher=Vintage Synth Explorer|access-date=28 June 2016}}{{sfn|Jenkins|2009|p=135}}