parts, Yoshi says—was shared across the
much of the Roland line as he moved on
from the success of the SDE-3000 to
create the architecture for most of
Roland’s library of digital delays.
He designed the company’s first fully
custom Digital Signal Processor (DSP),
which was used in early effects units and
synthesizers. He also created the reverb
algorithms that are still used in pedals
like 2015’s RV-6 Reverb.
As a result of his many triumphs, Yoshi
was appointed to a management
position in 1999—director of research
and development. In 2007, Roland made
him director of manufacturing and in
mid-2013 he became the president of
Boss. Since then, he has ushered in a
new era of success for a company long
since known for its commitment to
innovation. And while some may
consider these remarkable feats for a
man who started on the assembly line,
fresh out of high school and without any
formal training—such thinking fails to
recognize the passion Yoshi has for the
business, the intelligence he brings to
the role and the drive that pushes him to
think bigger.
He’s always looking to the future.
“At Boss, we innovate,” he says. “That’s
what we do.”
In a world filled with more stompbox
brands than eve