Monday 3 April 2017

Fans are mourning the death of electronic music pioneer Ikutaro Kakehashi, who has passed away aged 87.

The Japanese engineer founded the Roland Corporation in 1972 and invented a series of drum machines and synths that have been used by some of music’s biggest names since the mid-1970s, from Prince to Kanye West, New Order to Dr Dre.

Kakehashi was behind several popular drum machines including the iconic TR-808, which became a staple of electronic music and hip hop. Underground music producers loved the TR-808 because it was cheap and simple to use.