Ikutaro Kakehashi, an influential figure in the 1980s pop music scene and founder of electronic instrument makers Roland Corp. and ATV Corp., has died at the age of 87, an ATV spokeswoman told The Japan Times on Monday.
Kakehashi founded Roland in Osaka in 1972 and headed the company as an engineer and businessman, where he oversaw the invention of synthesizers and many other revolutionary instruments that changed the direction of music.
The TR-808 and TR-909 drum machines, as well as the TB-303 bass synthesizer, are a few examples of instruments invented by Roland under Kakehashi's leadership. These became popular pieces of equipment among producers of Detroit techno, Chicago house, new wave and other pop genres of the 1980s. They remain classics and are still used by many musicians today.