Zoë Blade's notebook

System-100M

Not to be confused with Roland's earlier semi-modular System-100.

System-100M tech specs

Roland System-100M
Roland System-100M

The System-100M was a small modular synthesiser released by Roland in 1979 through to 1983.

Judging by contemporary brochures, it seems to have somewhat been designed to work with the MC-4 MicroComposer, by connecting the MC-4's four CV outputs to two pairs of 100M oscillators.

As you might expect from the era, its format is smaller than Moog's, and bigger than the later Eurorack standard. It's unique to this system, so there's no cheeky slipping a few modules into a different system's case. Most of the modules perform double or even triple duty. It's pretty economical with space.

I've only used Behringer's clone, so can't comment on the original's sound or stability, but the layout is fantastically convenient. Just as the System-700 is a refinement of Moog's 900 series, the System-100M refines the layout even further, in addition to shrinking it down to a more manageable size.

For example, the 121's filters and 130's VCAs alike have three-input mixers for both the audio and CV inputs. The 132's least used mixer channels default to having convenient steady positive and negative voltages for you to attenuate and send, making each mixer double up as a handy CV source, in addition to the 132 already having separate CV sources anyway. All these details add up to let you easily route together a fairly complex patch with the minimum of wires and fuss. This user interface was very well designed.

There are few omissions. A voltage controlled, even resonant, highpass filter would have been nice. Perhaps a sub-oscillator like on the similarly grey and sliderful SH-101, although the dual oscillators admittedly would make it somewhat redundant.

Overall, you could do far worse than using a System-100M as the main or even sole source of sounds in your studio.

Quotes

On the single Angel Face that I did for Shock, I played all the instruments myself, and that's the way a lot of electro-music is going. In fact, everything was done on the MicroComposer, and I only used the SDS5 Drum Synth, the SDS3, and the Roland System-100M with it. The 100M for me is one of the best synthesisers on the market, with so many control functions available independently, whereas most synths only have one or two LFOs to do all the modulating.

— Richard Burgess, Landscape, 1981[1]

The System-100M is useful for discovering unique sounds.

— Roland Orzabal, Tears for Fears, 1983[2]

The Roland System-100M is an almost ideal introduction to the world of modular synthesis. It can be hard work at times, not to mention a little frustrating, but your reward will be sounds that are far more complex and satisfying than your average monosynth can produce, and some of these sounds may indeed be unique to you.

— Ian Boddy, 1984[3]

...experience has taught us to keep the tape running if something good is happening — the Roland 100M in particular is a bit unstable. Sometimes I switch it off with one sound patch into it at night, turn it on the following morning, and it sounds completely different!

— Chris Carter, Chris and Cosey, 1986[4]

There are things I can do with it that are so frighteningly good, especially now that I have a MIDI to CV interface for it. I'm still amazed at its power. For example, the flexibility of the system allows me to get the most brilliant oscillator sync sound. This is done by syncing both VCOs to fight against each other, and then let them also frequency modulate each other. The sound that produces is superb, but it's only monophonic, so I then sample and loop it. Suddenly I have an analogue polyphonic sound which nobody's ever heard before! It really is astonishing!

— Ian Boddy, 1986[5]

Obviously, it starts with an oscillator and an amplifier, and if you want to alter it, you put it through a filter. Ignoring the rules beyond that means ignoring the boundaries. The best thing about it is that it's modular and it uses a patchbay, so you can send things back on themselves and get, like, analogue feedback, you really can... You can do cross-modulation, too. It's pretty good for external sound sources, as well. You can stick anything through the noise, and the filters... We've got two CV gates for it, so we can synchronise it like MIDI. It's primitive, but it's a way of controlling it.

— Jack Dangers, Meat Beat Manifesto, 1993[6]

Summing up, I have to say that I find the Roland 100M to be as versatile, expandable and affordable a system as you can get without going the DIY route.

— Chris Carter, 1995[7]

This is one of the neatest modular systems ever designed. Not as versatile or open to experiment as a Serge, or even a Digisound; but beautifully designed and engineered, reliable, and neat and good sounding. The filters beat most other late '70s Roland gear, and there's the right mix of accuracy and analogue imperfection to give you a reliable but human sound. It packs a lot into a very small space.

— Peter Forrest, The A-Z of Analogue Synthesisers, Part Two: N-Z, 2003[8]

Modules

Model Type Released Description
110 Module 1979 VCO / VCF / VCA
112 Module 1979 Dual VCOs
121 Module 1979 Dual VCFs
130 Module 1979 Dual VCAs
131 Module 1980 Output mixer / tuner
132 Module 1980 Dual CV mixers / CV sources
140 Module 1979 Dual ADSR envelope generators / voltage controlled LFO
150 Module 1979 Ring mod / white and pink noise / S&H / voltage controlled LFO
165 Module 1983 Dual portamento
172 Module 1980 Phase shifter / audio delay / gate delay / LFO
173 Module 1983 Four signal gates / six multiples
174 Module 1983 Parametric EQ
180 Controller 1979 32-key controller keyboard
181 Controller 1979 49-key controller keyboard
182 Module 1980 Analogue step sequencer
184 Controller 1981 49-key 4-note controller keyboard
190 Rack 1979 3-module rack
191J Rack 1979 5-module rack

Tips

By using a pair of 173 Signal Gates, feeding a single pulse wave into the positive gate input of one and the negative gate input of another, they act like a voltage controlled switch, much like Doepfer's A-150.

Notable users

References

  1. "Landscape Explored" Mike Beecher, Electronics & Music Maker, Nov 1981, pp. 6—10
  2. "Fact File" Electronics & Music Maker, Mar 1983, p. 92
  3. "Roland System 100M" Ian Boddy, Electronics & Music Maker, Mar 1984, pp. 80—82
  4. "Home Taping" Tony Reed, International Musician & Recording World, May 1986, pp. 118—119
  5. "Ian Boddy: Phoenix" Paul Gilby, Sound On Sound, Dec 1986, pp. 37—41
  6. "Message In A Sample" Phil Ward, Music Technology, May 1993, pp. 36—42
  7. "Roland System 100M" Chris Carter, Sound On Sound, Apr 1995
  8. The A-Z of Analogue Synthesisers, Part Two: N-Z Peter Forrest, 2003, ISBN 0-952437-73-2, pp. 137—139
  9. "Cagey, Canny, Krafty" Phil Ward, Music Technology, Jul 1993, pp. 52—58
  10. "Aphex Twin SYROBONKERS! Interview Part 1" Dave Noyze, 2014
  11. "Aphex Twin SYROBONKERS! Interview Part 2" Dave Noyze, 2014
  12. "Sounding Off" Peter Schwartz, Electronic Soundmaker & Computer Music, Nov 1984, pp. 26—28
  13. "Ian Boddy" David Hughes, Sound On Sound, Nov 1993, pp. 130—137
  14. "The Creative Technology Institute" Chris Heath, Electronics & Music Maker, Sep 1984, pp. 38—40
  15. "Modes of Operation" Paul Tingen, Electronics & Music Maker, Aug 1986, pp. 18—22
  16. "Mode-Al" Jon Lewin, Making Music, Jun 1987, pp. 24—25
  17. "Vince Clarke" Paul Ireson, Sound On Sound, Dec 1991, pp. 52—56
  18. "Home is where the art is" Ian Masterson, The Mix, Jul 1994, pp. 112—116
  19. "Erasure Head" Ian Masterson, Future Music, Nov 1995, pp. 58—65
  20. "Fact File" Tony Bacon, Electronics & Music Maker, Mar 1982, p. 21
  21. "Heaven 17" Mark Jenkins, Electronic Soundmaker & Computer Music, Nov 1983, pp. 16—18
  22. "Fact File" Electronics & Music Maker, Nov 1982, p. 33
  23. "Turning Tides" Maff Evans, Future Music, Feb 1995, pp. 56—58
  24. Obsessive Surrealism Parallel Worlds, 2007
  25. "Parallel Worlds Studio"

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Analogue step sequencers: 100 Series (Behringer) | 900 Series (Behringer) | Sequencer Complement | System-100 | System-100M

Controller keyboards: 900 Series (Moog) | System-100M | microKEY

Modular synthesisers: 100 Series (Behringer) | 900 Series (Behringer) | 900 Series (Moog) | A-100 | Concussor | Sequencer Complement | System-100M | The evolution of the 900 Series

Roland: DCB | JV-1080 | Juno-6 | Juno-106 | MC-4 | MC-8 | MPU-101 | R-8 | SH-101 | SN-R8 series | SN-U110 series | SO-PCM1 series | SR-JV80 series | System-100 | System-100M | TB-303 | TR-606 | TR-808 | TR-909 | U-110 | VP-330 | W-30