WEEKLY SETS · PERFORMANCE JOURNAL

EP.006 / 13 SEP 2026 / 38:09

Roland
Live Set

Four Roland instruments meet at 132 BPM. A melodic techno live set about connecting my own music with machines and beginning to build a new musical language.

Melodic techno132 BPMRoland Boutique + AIRA

YouTube release: 13 September · 20:30 (Türkiye, UTC+3)

A new language with four machines.

This was a live set in which I began to connect my own music with the machines.

Together with these four machines, I am trying to build a new language of my own. As I learn the character of each instrument, I am also discovering how to express my musical thinking through those characters.

I think the coming days will bring simpler, more focused and stronger expressions of this language.

This recording captures where that search stands today: a point where my relationship with the machines is beginning to become my own music.

— Gerçek Dorman

INSTRUMENT LINEAGES

Present-day instruments. Inherited characters.

Three Boutique modules and an AIRA drum machine. The sound descriptions below explain the instruments’ general character, not specific presets or verified sound-by-sound identifications in this recording.

01 / LINEAGE

Roland TR-8S

TR-808 · TR-909 · TR-606 · TR-707 · TR-727

The inheritance

Part of the AIRA family, the TR-8S brings several classic drum machines together rather than recreating just one ancestor. ACB modelling sits alongside samples and FM percussion.

Sound character

Its palette spans deep 808-style weight, the sharper attack associated with the 909, and metallic percussion. These are available colours, not a list of the kits used in this recording.

What it brings to live playing

Individual faders, pattern variations and motion recording make changes in drum balance and movement accessible during performance. Here, it is the drum instrument.

Roland product information

02 / LINEAGE

Roland JU-06A

JUNO-60 + JUNO-106

The inheritance

Two JUNO lineages in one Boutique module: the JUNO-60 and JUNO-106. Their different filter behaviours and signature chorus are central to its identity.

Sound character

Chorus gives sustained sounds a broad, moving texture; the same architecture also suits rounded bass, compact chords and arpeggios. Its four-voice polyphony encourages deliberate voicing choices.

What it brings to live playing

Hands-on sliders, an arpeggiator, chord memory and a sequencer make it quick to move from an idea to a playable phrase. Switching between 60 and 106 modes offers two related tonal perspectives.

Roland product information

03 / LINEAGE

Roland TB-03

TB-303 Bass Line

The inheritance

The Boutique descendant of the TB-303 uses ACB modelling to carry its bass-line behaviour into a compact modern instrument.

Sound character

Slide connects notes; accent reshapes their emphasis. Together with the resonant filter, they turn a repeating pattern into a fluid, vocal-like line that can move from restrained bass to an insistent acid character.

What it brings to live playing

Cutoff, resonance, envelope modulation and decay stay under the fingers. Added overdrive, delay and USB/MIDI expand the original workflow. A TB-03 can bring acid colour without defining the genre of the whole set.

Roland product information

04 / LINEAGE

Roland JX-08

JX-8P · PG-800

The inheritance

The JX-08 revisits the 1985 JX-8P, with front-panel controls derived from its PG-800 programmer. Its identity is distinct from the JUNO family.

Sound character

Warm pads, shimmering chorus and crystalline textures are part of its vocabulary. Its two-oscillator architecture offers scope for layered, slowly changing tones as well as more defined melodic sounds.

What it brings to live playing

Up to 20 voices, two-part operation and dual/split modes give room for fuller voicings and contrasting patches. Seventeen effect types and a two-part polyphonic sequencer extend the original instrument’s possibilities.

Roland product information

ABLETON LIVE 12 + AKAI APC64

Playing and control in one system.

Ableton Live 12 brings control of the four Roland devices together. Their audio reaches Ableton for recording, connecting musical decisions and session control in one working environment.

Akai APC64 is used both for live synth playing and Ableton control in this set. It is a control interface rather than a sound module, sending played notes and control gestures into the system.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Which of these four characters stayed with you?