Public proves synths still groove

RICHMOND , BC, Dec. 3 /CNW/ - After a month-long public vote, Eric Savard of Pontiac, PQ has been declared the 2009 Roland Synth Contest winner. In honour of his win, Eric was awarded a Roland V-Synth GT Version 2.0.

As a child, Eric used to sit and play the organ for hours and hours. At the age of 12, he began formal music lessons on both the organ and saxophone. It was at this time that he first became interested in writing his own music. While pursuing his degree, Eric found time to combine work and play by creating the theme song for a summer camp where he was employed.

After taking a break from music to focus on other interests, Eric renewed his passion for songwriting with a new style and determination. Eric's winning composition for the 2009 Roland Synth Contest, "A Night of Rhythm," was composed using SONAR 6 LE and Dimension LE software, an Edirol UA-25UX and a Roland JX-3P Synthesizer.

The Roland Synthesizer Contest invited composers from across Canada to submit original music tracks created on hardware or software synthesizers to Roland Canada between May 1 and October 30, 2009 . After receiving dozens of entries, a panel of judges narrowed the field to the top ten finalists who were then put to a month-long public vote. Les Limaces, an electronic duo from Montreal , came in second place and received a Roland JUNO-Stage Keyboard. Third spot went to Justin O'Sullivan from Ottawa , ON. Justin was awarded a Cakewalk software package for his win.

About Roland Canada Ltd.

Roland is a world leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of electronic musical instruments, professional audio equipment, multimedia products and music accessories. The Roland brand family includes Roland, BOSS, EDIROL by Roland, Rodgers, RSS by Roland, and Cakewalk by Roland. Roland's impressive line of products includes, but is far from limited to, guitar effects pedals, electronic percussion, acclaimed digital pianos, synthesizers, digital mixers and music production software.

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For further information: Sally McKague, Roland Canada Ltd., [phone] (x102), www.roland.ca