Roland U.S.

Michael Acosta

Michael's background ranges from recording to production to remixing and engineering. He is also an active DJ in the electronic dance music scene, having played all across the U.S. and holding residencies at some of the hottest clubs in Los Angeles. His production and remix credits under the alias “Michael Trance” can be found on some of the best hard house and dance labels such as SHR Recordings, U.C Music, Aqua Boogie, Abstract Music and Priority Records. The name “DJ Michael Trance” and has been heard across the airwaves on the infamous radio mix show “Powertools” on L.A.'s Power 106FM hosted by Richard Vission, where Michael mixed and helped with the production of the show for three years.

Under his real name, Mike Acosta, he has remixed tracks by artists including Usher, Alejandra Guzman, Satoshi Tomeii, Gwen Stefani, and most currently a remix of Coldplay's “Don’t Panic.” Some originals include “Sunrise” feat. Nina Lares on Miswax Records, where he has also recently remixed for recording artist Angelica De No. New projects on the way include an original with Nina Lares featuring remixes from Eddie Amador, Julius Papp, Matt Mau, and a funky electro remix of Soft Cell's “Tainted Love.”

Tony Allen

Tony Allen is a multi-instrumentalist and singer from Dayton, Ohio. He entered the Dayton music scene playing the bass and singing backup for various local groups. He studied music and Japanese at Sinclair College and launched the Parliament-style group, The Overhill Gang. Later, he moved to Atlanta to play with popular acts such as Rare Pleasure, Dorothy Moore, and Benny Latimore.

Upon returning to Ohio, he recorded with the groups Spacious, Sun, Slave, SHADOW and Ohio Players. Tony has traveled with PFunk, played on gospel albums, and was Roger Troutman’s #1 musical consultant. Currently, he is the Production Manager for the Dayton Black Cultural Festival.

Tony joined Roland in 1998 and quickly became a vast resource to a wide range of Roland users due to his amazing versatility. He is well known in stores all over the country for his expertise on several instruments, including guitar, bass, drums, saxophone, tuba, keyboards, as well as workstations, grooveboxes, and digital recorders.

While in L.A., he engineered and played guitar for the group, Mother’s Finest. He also entertained diehard rock fans as the formerly #1 Jimmy Hendrix impersonator, "Silky T". He can be found more recently on the CD credits of the hip-hop group, Tombstone, in which he wrote and played all the instruments for the album “California Life”.

Johnny DeMarco

Johnny DeMarco hails from the home of Rock: Cleveland, Ohio. After graduating from the University of Akron, Johnny got into the local music scene as a guitar teacher and performer. He also received considerable notice throughout the mid-west as a founding member of the DeMarco Brothers band. After relocating to Las Vegas, Johnny spent several years playing the casino circuit in Nevada.

Johnny joined Roland in 2000 and continues to amaze audiences across the country with his vast range of musical styles and playing techniques. If you meet him, ask him to play "The Entertainer" on a guitar...piano style!

Ed Diaz

Ed Diaz is a multi-instrumentalist from Houston, Texas with over 20 years experience in music. He has been performing music since the age of 13 playing throughout the U.S.

Ed has performed on trumpet and keyboards in many diverse styles of music. In 2001 he earned a Bachelors of Music from the University of Texas in Arlington where he performed with the jazz orchestra. Ed was musical director for the Howard Scott band and also keyboardist for WAR.

Ed has spent the last 4 years working in music retail in Texas, California, and Washington, focusing on sales and management and joined Roland in 2006 where he brings his musical performance knowledge and experience.

David Garza

David Garza is a multi-faceted musician with expertise ranging from electronic music and recording, to performance and education. He holds a Bachelors degree in Electronic Composition from East Carolina University and plays several instruments, including drums and percussion, flute, electric bass, and sitar.

David has recorded and performed with numerous artists and has received airplay on both KLOS Local Licks and KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic radio shows. He continues to stay active in the Los Angeles music scene by performing and recording with several local area bands.

In 1999 David joined Roland as a product and marketing specialist, applying his accomplished skills on several instruments to a wide range of product resources and events. His production work can be found throughout Roland’s vast library of online support materials and videos, and his schedule includes frequent clinics and customized training seminars for Roland customers.

David has also been involved in product development by contributing to both the design and musical content of Roland's renowned line of electronic percussion and V-Drums.

Paul Hanson

Paul joined Roland in 1999 after spending 20 years making a living as a guitarist in Los Angeles and Europe. Paul was lead guitarist with Andy Taylor’s Thunderworld and Vanilla Fudge’s reunion tour, He also spent several years in the Los Angeles club circuit with the legendary Brooklyn Brats.

Paul also worked as an instructor at Musicians Institute in Hollywood in the mid 1980’s and 1990’s. In 1990 and 1991, Paul was the director of the Rock Guitar Department at the American Institute of Music in Vienna, Austria where he also toured in support of his first solo album “The Visitor on MGI Records.”

Paul's talent is known throughout Hollywood and he was the guitar coach for film and TV stars including: Michael J Fox (Back to the Future), George Cloony, Eric Stoltz, Mitch Polleggi (X-files), Maria Conchita Alonso and Charlotte Ross of Aaron Spelling’s The Heights.

Paul is also an author. His works include the very successful book “Shred Guitar” (Warner Brothers), “Hard Rock” (instructional Tape Series, Hal Leonard) , “Metal and Rock Improvising”, (Video, REH) , “Arpeggios for Lead Guitar” (Video, Hal Leonard).

Paul has also written music for TV and film, including the “Main Menus” for DVDs like "The Matrix", Oliver Stone’s “Any Given Sunday” and “The Perfect Storm.”

Warren Harris

Warren Harris is a prolific producer and multi-instrumentalist from Cleveland, OH who over the past few years has released a string of respected singles and albums. Between 1999 and 2002, he released four full-length albums under the “Hanna” alias that have stretched and blurred the boundaries of house, techno and Jazz.

Hanna's impressive discography includes releases on such diverse labels as Track Mode, Metamorphic, Sublime, Paper, R&S, Panhandle, Afterhours and Deep Departures. He's also collaborated with Dan Curtin under the Key Of Soul guise.

As a Roland clinician, Warren brings his formidable talent to products like the MV-8000 and Fantom-X, showing producers how to give voice to their creativity. When you see these tools in Warren’s hands, you witness the art of music production.

Craig (CJ) Jones

Craig (CJ) Jones moved to Los Angeles from Texas to attend the Guitar Institute of Technology in 1981. He quickly became part of the local L.A. music scene, touring and performing with artists as diverse as Leif Garret, Edgar Winter, Susan Anton, Tori Amos and many others.

Besides being active as a studio guitarist, CJ became a staff member of Sunset Sound Recorders. At this world-famous facility, he learned engineering, MIDI sequencing, and hard disk recording techniques. This led him to form JonesTones Recording in Hollywood. During this period, CJ also landed a publishing deal which resulted in much of his music being used for film and television soundtracks.

Besides composing for film and multimedia, CJ has an extensive background in Sound FX design, ADR Looping, and Foley Recording/Editing. CJ brings this experience to Roland Corporation U.S. where he currently conducts VS seminars and clinics all over the United States.

Dan-Michael Krisher

Dan-Michael Krisher leads Roland's product support group for digital mixing and pro audio. He is a musician and audio professional with over fifteen years experience in music, video and film music production.

Dan-Michael holds a Bachelor's Degree in Music from the renowned Berklee College of Music. He concentrated on Film Scoring and Electronic Music while at Berklee and was one of the first students to use MIDI based computer sequencing and sampling for his final film scoring project. While at Berklee, Dan-Michael freelanced on numerous projects in the New York and New England areas including projects for the Boston Film and Video Foundation, KCET Television, Syncro Sound Studios, Avedis Zildjian Corporation. He also worked for star producers Wayne Wadhams and Jay Newland.

In 1990, Dan-Michael relocated to California where he attended graduate school at California State University, Northridge where he concentrated his efforts on Film and Video Production. Dan-Michael has since acquired an impressive roster of work as a sound engineer, audio engineer and video editor with numerous Los Angeles post-production facilities and studios. Prior to joining Roland Corporation, Dan-Michael was in charge of a 125 person production studio that pioneered work in web based multi-media. He also spent several years in music retail.

Dan-Michael joined Roland Corporation U.S. in 1998 as a Digital Recording Product Specialist. In his spare time, he continues to perform and explore advanced recording and audio technology.

Robert Marcello

Robert Marcello is a masterful guitar artist from Sweden. His skill and stylistic range have made him a sought-after tour and studio player for such artists as John Corabi (Motley Crue), Bobby Blotzer (RATT), Mike Vescera (Yngwie Malmsteen), Tony Montana (Great White), Fergie Fredricksen (Toto), George Lynch (Dokken), Twisted Sister, Sebastian Bach (Skid Row), Stet Howland (WASP), and many others.

Robert has toured internationally with the band Danger Danger since 2002, including a performance at the famous Sweden Rock Festival in 2004 before an audience of 25,000.

Robert is also a highly regarded teacher and clinician, and currently travels the country — training guitarists and amazing audiences as a Roland/BOSS artist.

Johnny Rabb

Johnny Rabb is an active touring and recording drummer residing in Nashville, Tennessee.

Johnny has performed with a range of artists including SheDaisy, Hank Williams III, Mindy McReady, and Maynard Ferguson. He continues to perform with his original band Super Action Heroes and country legend Tanya Tucker. Johnny is an active clinician, performing master-classes and workshops worldwide. His Warner Bros. Publications release Jungle/Drum ‘n’ Bass for the Acoustic Drumset was voted the #1 instructional book in Modern Drummer Magazine’s 2003 Reader’s Poll.

Johnny proudly performs with DW Drums and Hardware, MEINL Cymbals and Percussion, PRO-MARK Drumsticks, REMO Drumheads, AUDIX Microphones and Roland Electronic Percussion.

Mike Snyder

You may not know it, but you’ve heard Mike’s work. For ten years he was a regular on the Los Angeles recording scene, bringing his special talents to many film and television soundtracks. In addition to every Mel Brooks movie from Spaceballs to Robin Hood: Men in Tights, his playing may be heard on many popular, syndicated television shows, including Home Improvement, Dinosaurs, and The Little Mermaid. His recording work now focuses on jingles, record projects, library music, music for industrial video, and lots of drum & percussion loops.

Returning to the sanity of the Northwest after ten years of L.A. session work and life in Southern California, Mike continues to develop his unique talents. His varied performance abilities—which include drum set, percussion, and extensive electronic knowledge—keep Mike busy recording, creating drum loops, and giving drum clinics in the U.S. and abroad. Mike holds a Master’s degree in percussion from The University of Southern California and a Bachelor’s degree in percussion from The University of Oregon. He is the author of All About ... Electronic Percussion, published by Hal Leonard, and a frequent columnist for DRUM! Magazine. His continued album tracking, industrial, and national jingle work as a drummer, programmer, hand percussionist, and composer can be heard on music for HP, Jeld-Wen, Microsoft, Westin Hotels, and Nike.

In addition to his performing, Mike has been heavily involved in electronic percussion design since the mid-eighties. DRUM! Magazine's Drummies readers’ poll named him runner-up electronic drummer of 2003. Because of his direction setting designs for Trigger Perfect drum triggers, and his continued work with Roland Drums and Percussion, his ideas and designs continue to influence the direction of electronic drums and percussion.

Jim Stout

Since the early nineties, Jim has been one of the best-kept secrets in America's electronic music community. Jim has been composing his own brand of house music with trance elements under the name Nebula 9 since 1991. His dynamic live show earned him the right to play at some of the biggest events across the US with such heavyweights as Orbital, Crystal Method, Autechre, Moby, and The Orb.

When Sandra Collins needed a trance anthem for an upcoming Nick Warren compilation, she called on Jim to produce something special. "Flutterby" debuted on the European dance chart at number 11 and has appeared on several other DJ mix CD's.

In 2001, Jim left Colorado and headed to Los Angeles to work as a sound editor for Revolution Studios. Since joining Roland in 2003, Jim has been responsible for developing music and sounds for the revolutionary V-Synth and productions on the flagship Fantom-X and MV-8000 samplers. Look for his many videos on these and other instruments here at RolandUS.com.

Laura Tyson

As a Digital Recording Product Specialist for Roland, Laura Tyson is actively involved in all aspects of multitrack digital audio. She first got involved in audio and recording while completing a degree in Music Engineering at the prestigious University of Miami School of Music in Coral Gables, Florida. While in Miami, Laura functioned as a Studio Manager for the University's 24-Track digital studio. She also served as Chairman of the Florida Chapter of the Audio Engineering Society. After graduating in 1987, Laura moved to Northern New Jersey and joined Denon Electronics as a Sales Engineer. In 1992, she joined broadcast equipment supplier Broadcast Supply Worldwide as Digital Products Specialist. This position required her to learn a number of different digital recording and editing systems, including the original Roland DM-80 Multitrack Recorder and the DM-800. She joined Roland in 1994.

She helped launch Roland's very first V-Studio — the VS-880 - in 1996, and has continued to help develop the V-Studio product line ever since. Today, Laura's areas of expertise now include all Roland and Boss digital recording and mixing systems. To help owners understand how to use their machines, Laura prepares training videos, learning tools, and hosts seminars and Master Classes on digital recording. Laura also writes articles for Roland User Group and Boss User Group Magazines.