Music Monday: The Roland S-1 Tweak Synth

I have a question for you: At risk of summoning forth deeply repressed memories of impossibly tight pants, hairdos you could use as a battering ram and music that had, if nothing else, volume going for it: Remember the keytar?

Yes, they were tacky.

Yes, they appeared to be an attempt to grant unto the venerable keyboard the rock star charisma of the guitar.

But hear me out: One variety of keytar, the Roland SH-101, went on to become a staple of electronic music. And so it was with great anticipation that I waited for my delivery this past week of its heir, the Roland Aira Compact S-1 Tweak Synthesizer.

About the Range

I should take a step back, I suppose. Roland released the first three Aira Compact instruments in 2022. The T-8 is a combination of the TR-808 drum machine and the TB-303 bassline generator, each an iconic instrument in their own right.

The J-6 is a synthesizer based on the Juno-60 and takes a chord-based approach to music creation and, while somewhat limited in that you cannot do any sound design – all of the voices are presets, though granted there are 64 of them – is an inspiring joy to use.

The third is the E-4 vocal synthesizer, which is fun and interesting for about five minutes. It feels like a toy, a criticism you’ll see again later.

The brief behind the Aira Compact series would appear to be an effort to deliver powerful, affordable – each unit costs about $200 – digital models of revered analog equipment. To use baseball analogies, the T-8 hits the ball out of the park, the J-6 hits a ground-rule double with the leading run on third base and the E-4 is that time Randy Johnson accidentally made a bird explode during a Spring Training game, in that it’s a thing that exists and which is simultaneously both mildly entertaining and unpleasant to witness. Where does the S-1 fall? It matches one of the three, both I hold off on which until the end.

The S-1 Tweak Synth

All videos in this section are using only the preset sounds.

Right out of the box, the instrument is playable. Of the 64 possible sequences that can be stored, the first bank of eight contains erasable preset sequences, some of which take full advantage of the 64 steps available per sequence.

All of the most important controls are right on the unit, including filters, reverb and delay levels and ASDR (Attack, Sustain, Decay and Release) controls, as well as two LFOs (Low Frequency Oscillators) and level controls for the various waveforms.

With some menu diving, you can change the reverb settings and achieve results that range from subtle to cavernous.

There’s also a powerful arpeggiator. This is notable, as the SH-101 was monophonic (i.e. could only play one note at a time) and the S-1 is four-voice polyphonic.

Particularly cool is the D-Motion button, which allows you to tweak parameters of your choice by changing the orientation of the instrument itself.

The Hold function allows you to free your hands from note playing so that you can tweak the filter knobs. You can even record your changing of the parameters, so that when you play back the sequence it remembers your parameter changes and repeats them.

You can alter waveforms with the Chop and Draw functions and there’s even – buried in the menus somewhere – a Chorus effect.

The unit features pass-through midi – you can link other instruments and when you, say, change the volume of the S-1, you don’t change the volume of everything before it – and four-and-a-half hour battery life, a one pound chassis and a form factor likely smaller than your computer’s keyboard.

Criticisms

Meh, it’s a toy.

In all fairness it does look and feel like a toy, but the sound of the ACB (Analog Circuit Behaviour) Modeling and the depth and breadth of powerful features and sound design options make this a killer instrument that you could carry about in the summer barely sticking out of the thigh pockets of your timelessly fashionable cargo pants.

Ugh, so much menu diving.

I’ll admit there’s a ton of menu use with this instrument. I’ll also point out that there’s a ton of powerful functionality to be found and used in those menus. As far as I’m concerned, this is a feature not a bug. Perhaps Roland took to heart the criticism of the lack of sound design options with the J-6 and decided to make up for it. With such a small form factor, the only way to include so many options and possibilities was through menus. I do wish the menus were more intuitive to read.

Gah, those tiny rubber buttons that are the keyboard!

The two octave keyboard is tight, I’ll admit. For someone with larger fingers than I, I could see the keyboard being a bit snug. I’d suggest a midi controller in lieu of abandoning the instrument altogether, however. It just does so much, so portably, at such a low price point.

Conclusions

Of the Aira Compact series – which I rate highly – this is as powerful and as fun to use as the T-8. Home run.