In the summer of 2010, Roland released a new, low/mid priced instrument aimed at capitalising on the revival in interest for analog synthesisers. The Roland SH-01, also known as the Gaia, had an exciting space-age white aesthetic, and a pleasing and solid-looking design. Roland used a rompler strategy as the basis of what it described as ‘analog modeling synthesis’.

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/roland-gaia-sh01

The Positives

The signal path for each patch is clearly laid out in the interface, with dedicated pots and buttons covering the common functions. The LFOs, DCOs, DCFs, DCAs and an effects section at the end makes it a doddle to understand what’s happening with a patch. Because of this, it’s a wonderful synth for the beginner. The digital effects, based on Roland’s COSM engine, sound great at the end of the chain. Add to this an arpeggiator, a phrase recorder and even a D-beam which can be used as a theremin-esque controller. There’s even a hidden Easter egg in the form of a General MIDI chip, where attaching an external MIDI controller keyboard allows you to trigger a bank of GM sounds, which is quite bonkers.

Creating a patch on the Gaia is a pure joy. The three oscillators can be adjusted individually, or by selecting in combination, can be adjusted in unison. The inclusion of a supersaw wave in the osciallator waveforms makes it a great unit for generating those big trance pads, and no one can balk at the 64 note polyphony. And after all the effort of getting the oscillators to bounce off each other, it is so satisfying to introduce a subtle chorus/phase and some cheeky synced delay or an epic reverb at the end of the chain.

The Negatives

With Roland naming this synth as a nod to the 80’s classic, the SH-101, one might have expected that it could be used to network with other analog synths. CV and gate io are missing however.

Minimal io… Vague USB, 5 pin DIN and single stereo out.

There is of course MIDI in and out. In the current era, the five-pin din connector has become something of an embarrassing uncle, whereby some modern synthesizers such as the Moog Mother 32 choose to bypass MIDI altogether, in favor of gate and control voltage connections. At the time in the late 2000’s, the modular comeback was not in full swing, so there is an argument for saying that is was a synth of its time. Modular connectivity was missing in rival products of the time, such as the Novation Ultranova. There is one key issue for me, which made the Roland Gaia an obsolete piece of equipment. The editor/librarian software. Soon after the release of the synthesizer, Roland announced that the software would be available as a separate $100 purchase called ‘Gaia Synthesizer Sound Designer’.

A great editor with the ability to create custom arpeggios, but support was dropped half a decade ago.

The interface was fantastic, and allowed you to access all three oscillators at the same time. Tweaking parameters on the unit means you can only edit and view the currently selected oscillator(s). The editor was a great idea and a fantastic way to manage patches. However, Roland ceased support for the software several years ago and discontinued it, even though you can still buy the synthesiser itself. This is an absolute nightmare, as analysing any preset patch is a frustrating process. You can’t see what the parameters are without altering them, and so the objective of learning sound design techniques by studying the unit content is moot. And backing up of the unit is poor, as the only option you have is to dump the entire unit bank onto a fiddly USB stick; another soon-to-be obsolete format. The only respite in this storm comes from an independent software developer known as grauw who put together his own editor/librarian. He cannot be expected to carry the weight for what is clearly an example of Roland deciding to abandon support for a nice synthesizer with plenty of potential. Nearly all modern synths have in-DAW editors, which are usually included as a free download. The Korg Minilogue expects the users to pay $10 for their editor, but that’s justifiable compared to what’s available for this synth. The previously mentioned Novation Ultranova is another example of how an editor can unlock the power of a hardware synth when used with a DAW, and makes patch management a straightforward process. Perhaps all Roland need to do is to update the editor and associated VSTs to put the Gaia back on the map.

Final Thoughts

It’s such a shame that a synth which is so much fun to program and listen to, does not have the connectivity to make it play nice in a modular setup, but at the same time will give you no tools so you can use it effectively in a DAW or manage its content. The Gaia is a rompler at the end of the day, so while it is fun to program patches, it doesn’t have the rich tones of other synths at the same price point, such as the Korg Minilogue. Because it fails on both of these counts, The Gaia is effectively a casual toy synthesizer. While that might sound like an over-dramatic judgement of the machine, what occurs to me is that despite the fact that I have owned my Gaia for over six years, I have still not used any of its patches on a single track I have made. It’s fun to play with, for sure but if you’re serious about making music and you have one of these in your possession, you’ll be listing it on eBay if you’re anything but an ardent Roland fanboi/synth collector. it just doesn’t play nice.

The Roland Corporation are legendary in music history, and are responsible for sculpting modern music with some of their synthesisers. The 808 drum sounds are completely ubiquitous, and a huge array of new technology continues to emerge from their enigmatic production lines. It is perhaps this constant drive to focus on new products which has lead to lack lustre support for yesterday’s models. The current generation of Roland synths, such as the Aira range, the boutique range or the analog hybrids like the JD-XA are certainly stunning machines, but the continuation of product development means that there is probably little business sense in supporting a previous generation synth. This leaves the Gaia in limbo. It’s neither an old analog synth with retro appeal, nor is it a modern digital synth that integrates easily into a DAW such as Ableton Live. The Gaia is not a team player, but it certainly is a lot of fun.