Roland D-50

The Roland D-50 was a synthesizer introduced in 1987 and notably used by the likes of artists such as Prince, Michael Jackson, Sting and George Michael to name a few. It had also been used by both Phil Collins, Tony Banks and Peter Gabriel during their respective solo careers.

Phil Collins' Roland D-50
Phil Collins had a Roland D-50 synth from the late 1980s through to the mid-1990s. He recorded with it mainly on ...But Seriously and Both Sides albums. Like with other synthesizers he had, he tended to use preset sounds from D-50. For example, the intro to "Another Day In Paradise" uses a patch similar to the unknown "Phaedra" patch on the D-50, and supposedly for the main hook it's a combination of the "Metallic Lead" and "Ethnic Session" patches.

Tony Banks' Roland D-50
Tony Banks had a Roland D-50, which he used on his Bankstatement album in 1989, sticking to preset sounds with a bit of minor tweaking. Appearances of the D-50 on the album include "Big Man", "House Needs A Roof" and "Diamond's Aren't So Hard".

Later he got the Roland PG-1000 programmer unit to go with the D-50.

Tony Banks quotes on the D-50
"'I also use the D50 - it has lots of beautiful sounds which can be accessed without editing.'" "'The legato phrase which comes towards the end of ['Diamonds Aren't So Hard' from Bankstatement] is a D50 sound. I like that instrument for producing ethereal sounds which give a lot of height to a track. The problem with the D50 is that a lot of the sounds are already well known, but it's nice as a background instrument.'"

"'I got a D-50 toward the end of the period when I was writing the songs [for 'Bankstatement']. I thought it was a lovely instrument-those are great sounds-but I was aware immediately that the sounds are so good that they must have been used quite a few times by quite a few people. I used it for some of the ethereal sounds; on 'Big Man,' for example. I never got furthur than the presets on that instrument, because I'd only had it briefly. But I got one of those programmer things [the Roland PG-1000] to go with it. (Keyboard, February 1990)'"

Peter Gabriel's Roland D-50
Peter Gabriel was known to have used a Roland D-50 on the Passion soundtrack and the Us album. For the latter album in particular, he tended to play left-handed bass parts on the D-50 while recording.