Roland D-20 pt 1: Performance presets from 1989, hidden gems or very late 80s?

Roland D-20 synth from 1989 pt 1-4, I'm playing through the factory Performance Patches just to get a feel for this synth.

4:19 Skip talk, straight to the presets

Also check out these D-20 videos
Part 1    • Roland D-20 pt 1: Performance presets...  
Part 2    • Roland D-20 pt 2: Performance presets...  
Part 3    • Roland D-20 pt 3: Performance presets...  
Part 4    • Roland D-20 pt 4: Performance presets...  
Part 5    • Roland D-20 pt 5: Performance presets...  
Part 6    • Roland D-20 pt 6: Performance presets...  

Last week I saw this old synth with issues offered at a low price. Since I had and still have the big brother Roland D-50 I was curious to hear, if the #rolandd20 would sound the same or maybe better. It was after all released 2 years after the D-50. I remember thinking that freshly released D-20 looked like a simplified, inferior version of the D-50 I had, so I was not that interested in this one. And sequencers where new to me, and I was playing in a band so I wasn't that interested in sequencers either. Or multi-timbrality, which I did not understand at all. So now, a 100 years later, I thought it would be nice to see, if I could fix the battery issue, some badly working keys and other issues and test it out. As I bonus I happened to have a long 2-hour discussion with the guy selling this, and it turned out he was a long-time musician having played with many bands and artists during the years. Great stuff and stories!

After opening it up, fixing the keys, exchanging the battery, cleaning off battery leakage, vacuuming the inner parts, I put it together and everything finally worked fine, except for the patches. I found the factory patches on Roland's website and transferring the midi-file to the D-20 went pretty well and finally, here we go! My first run with the factory performance presets on the D-20. Enjoy!

I only use the D-20's own sounds and effects, no external effects added this time.

#synths #synthesizers #keyboardist #music #improvisation #roland #rolandd20 #synthsounds