Roland SH-2

Roland SH-2 Image

The SH-2 is one of Rolands' early synthesizers. It is very simple in design, look and function. It sounds much like the SH-101 synth, including the typical SH-style sub-oscillator. But the SH-2 employed 2 oscillators for a much fatter sound. It has the typical Roland SH sound - it's a monophonic bass synth that's flexible enough to provoke punchy analog basses, leads and squelchy sounds. The oscillators can be de-tuned as well, another feature the popular SH-101 lacks. But it isn't very pretty to look at as it shares the same design and layout as the SH09. Still it makes a simple and easily programmable mono-synth that can be used in place of the more common SH-101. However the SH-2 is harder to find and so it usually has a higher price than other SH-type synthesizers from Roland. It has been used by Duran Duran, Groove Corporation, Eat Static, OMD, Men Without Hats, and the Eurythmics.

44 Visitor comments
Patrick K
July 18, 2010 @ 3:59 pm
Somewhere between the SH-2 and the SH-101 is the perfect Roland monosynth. The discreet oscillators on the SH-2 are no joke. . . this is the only synth I own were the filter almost gets in the way of the beauty of the oscillators, rather than being the key ingredient in making the oscillators bearable. If you could drop these 2 discreet oscillators and excellent filter input option into a 101's improved keyboard logic, portamento options, sequencer, more distinctive filter resonance, and slightly more versatile envelope. . . (with x-mod and sync thrown in while you're at it). . . you'd have a Japanese monosynth I'd gladly pay top dollar for.
Diliup Gabadamudalige
June 22, 2010 @ 9:37 am
In my career of 28 years I have used a Roland Sh101, Sh-2, Sh-5, Juno 106, Juno 60, Jupiter 4, Jupiter 8 and D 50. I must say that the SH-2 delivers a fat sound and with a little bit of creative synthesizing can produce amazing sounds. The Sh-2 stands rpoud and tall by itself.
Dewi
May 29, 2010 @ 4:45 pm
@Skatta: The Roland used in the video 'I Ran' from A Flock of Seagulls is a Roland SH-09. Wish I could only find one for real. ;)
bunnycat
February 20, 2010 @ 12:15 pm
People often talk about the filters in vintage analogs, and while this synth does have a very nice, powerfully resonant roland filter, it is not the main thing that makes it stand out. Rather it's the *oscillators* in this thing that sound so distinctive and fantastic. I always find myself backing off the filter cutoff to the point where I'm playing more of the raw oscillator sound, especially the sawtooth. Just *so* electric and raw sounding, sort of like it has a subtle pulse wave mod built into the oscillator that makes the sound alive and dynamic but without any obvious modulation/LFO. Think Dimension D (spatial chorus effect) but with PWM. Beautiful synth, and my main left-hand board in my live setup. And a little bit of 64' sub osc goes a long way. Our 900W 18" 3-way TOA PA can't even reproduce the low end accurately (though it still sounds amazing) - you really need a serious amp and speaker system to understand what it's capable of.
jonthan
January 30, 2010 @ 6:26 pm
This was used by Animal Collective (namely Avey Tare on Spirit..) extensively.
 
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  • Demos & Media

  • YouTube Thumbnail
    Video 1     - Roland SH-2 Monophonic Synthesizer Demo

    Audio Clip 1 - Hear some demo basslines, synths sounds and other fun stuff by the SH-2.

    Audio Clip 2 - Every sound including the Drums were created on the SH-2. Some external fx processing was used to "modernize" the sound. Submitted by Michael nil-x.

    Manual - Roland has made manuals for most of their products available as free PDF downloads.

  • Specifications
  • Polyphony - Monophonic
  • Oscillators - 2 VCO's + 1 Sub oscillator (waveforms: pulse, square, sawtooth, sine, noise)
  • Memory - None
  • Effects - LFO with sine, square and Sample & Hold; Auto-Bend
  • Filter - Resonant, self-oscillating 24dB lowpass filter, mod by EG, lfo and kybd tracking. External audio input
  • Arpeg/Seq - None
  • Keyboard - 37 keys
  • Control - CV / Gate
  • Date Produced - 1978 - 1979

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