Ikutaro Kakehashi, the founder of pioneering electronic instrument company Roland, has died aged 87.

Kakehashi's influence on both the development of electronic music and the pop charts is enduring. Following the founding of Roland in the 1970s, Kakehashi—an accomplished engineer—set his sights on developing a sophisticated electronic drum machine, which culminated with the release of iconic Roland TR-808 in 1980.

Unlike its contemporaries, which used recorded audio samples to help create drum sounds, the TR-808 was an entirely analogue instrument that used transistors to generate its sounds. While a commercial and critical flop on release, the TR-808 gained mythic status and quickly became the go-to drum machine for the nascent electronic dance and hip-hop scenes of the '80s.

Chances are, unless you've completely ignored popular music over the past three decades, you will have heard the sound of a TR-808—be it in the laid back hand-claps of Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healing or the opening kick drum salvo of Whitney Houston's I Wanna Dance with Somebody. It's also there in the industrial crunch of Nine Inch Nails, the electro-pop of The Human League, and the big beat of Fatboy Slim.

Groups have named themselves after TR-808—think 808 State—while even Kanye West saw fit to name his hugely influential album 808s & Heartbreak after it.

But Kakehashi was far more than a one-hit wonder, with his company Roland going to not only create more drum machines, but also full-blown synthesisers, audio interfaces, and some equally iconic sounds in electric guitar via Roland's sister company Boss. Kakehashi was also instrumental in the development of MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface), a now ubiquitous standard that allows music hardware and software to communicate.

Even PC gamers have a lot to thank Kakehashi for. Roland's MT-32 sound module gave well-heeled DOS gamers their first taste of MIDI music instead of the monotone beeps of a PC speaker or the only-slightly-less-computer-y FM synthesised music of an AdLib or Sound Blaster card. Later, the Roland SC-55 (Sound Canvas) became the first sound module to incorporate the improved General MIDI standard, making it easier for software developers to create soundtracks that would play correctly across sound cards from different manufacturers.

Kakehashi retired in 2013, but not before his work was rightly recognised in the form of a Technical Grammy and a spot on Hollywood's Rock Walk of Fame. A 2015 documentary paid tribute to the sounds of the TR-808, and featured contributions from the likes of Pharrell Williams, Phil Collins, and Fatboy Slim.

Marc Almond of Soft Cell, which used the TR-808 on its hit Tainted Love said on Twitter: "A man who changed Music. Ikutaro Kakehashi the Man behind the Roland Synth, 808 and more has sadly passed. Thanks for the Electro sounds."

Roland developer Tommy Snyder, who worked with Kakehashi for almost 40 years wrote on Facebook:

"He was a super funny, wonderful and gifted human being, and his contributions to the musical instrument world, and music, touched millions of people worldwide. RIP dear Taro."