ROLAND JX-8P

ROLAND JX-8P + PG-800

Analog 6-voice DCO Polyphonic Synthesizer - Released in 1984

Roland JX-8P is a nice synth from the 80′s. It represents well the sound of that decade, although I think it’s still the better side of it. The JX-8P is an analog synth, but the osillators are digitally controlled (DCO) for more stable operation. The name can be misleading if you think it refers to the polyphony as the synth really has only six voices with two oscs per voice. Roland’s last analog synth was the bigger brother JX-10 (Super JX) which doubles the synthesis power of the JX-8P and has 12 voices of polyphony. There was also the JX-3P from a year earlier, and it seems to be Roland’s first MIDI capable synth along with the Jupiter 6.

In the 80′s digital was coming big time and that naturally affected synths as well, not always in a good way. One downside of this new digital technology was that the synths' programming interfaces were cut down significantly. The old analog synths had a dedicated knob, switch or slider etc. for just about every parameter in the synth, but a typical digital interface was a couple of buttons that called up one parameter at a time for adjusting it, and the whole instrument was operated from a tiny LCD display. This might have been cost saving, but programming a synth like that became tedious and uninspiring. A positive feature of digitality was the possibility to store sounds.

The JX-8P suffers also this very boring digital user interface. But fortunately Roland made a separate programmer unit for it, the PG-800! The programmer is quite an essential if you really wish to dive into the synthesis of JX-8P (or JX-10).

JX-8P with a PG-800 Synthesizer Programmer

The synth

The sound of JX-series is a bit different from the popular Juno-series. But the JX-8P offers a lot more programmability of sounds with it’s dual oscillators. Roland was advertising it being able to deliver "rich-timbred patches usually associated only with digital synthesis" along with classic analog sounds. And that’s kind of true with functions like waveform cross-modulation and oscillator sync for example. But the synth is really excellent with classic analog sounds like string pads and brass sounds. The JX-8P has also a very fat and warm-sounding stereo chorus.

Memory cartridge to store more sounds.

I find the overall sound quite dense and it certainly can be very thick but not aggressive at all. And how about a unison-mode which can be detuned? You got it here. The bottom end is pretty boomy and many times some low frequencies have to be rolled off with the highpass filter. The JX-8P is also very dynamic instrument and reacts very well to keyboard velocity. The keyboard itself is pretty good too, but the aftertouch doesn’t work on mine, and that seems to be a typical problem with these.
The JX-8P is a very nice and smooth analog polysynth although a bit ugly in my opinion, (the JX-3P looks better). It can be had pretty cheap but the PG-800 programmer is usually raising the value considerably.

Soon after I realized how wonderful my first analog synth, the Yamaha SK-20 sounded, I wanted to get more involved with analog synths. My next purchase was this JX-8P. It sounded excellent but very different from the SK-20. I used it a lot on the albums Enlightenment, Subtle Moves and Orion.

Now you can control the synth!

Roland JX-8P under a Micromoog.

KORG KAOSS PAD 2

KORG KAOSS PAD 2

Touchpad Effects unit - Released in 2002

Korg released the original Kaoss Pad in 1999 that was a very creative and inspiring effects unit. The idea is that you can control the effect parameters in realtime by moving your finger on the touchpad. That's cool, intuitive and fun to play around with!
Inside the thing is essentially a multi effetcs processor with all your modulation, distortion, filtering and delay etc. effects. But the instant way of controlling the effects was a fresh idea.

I had the improved Kaoss Pad 2 version which also had some synthesizer sound presets. I used it as a synth on the album Enlightenment and as an effects processor on the album Opposites.

Later Korg has released a bunch of products with the same touchpad concept. There are mini versions and then some more professional products also, and Korg took the touchpad synthesizer idea further with the Kaossilator products.

ROLAND V-SYNTH XT

ROLAND V-SYNTH XT

Digital Synthesizer - Released in 2005 (Original V-Synth 2003)

The Roland V-Synth XT represents the more modern end of my synths. And it really is a feature-packed thing! There’s very much to offer if you are into designing sounds. There’s a comprehensive analog modeling synth engine, and PCM samples can also be used as oscillators. But the PCM-side on V-Synth is not another "rompler". Instead of your regular multisampled instruments found in many workstations, the V-Synth utilizes the VariPhrase technology, basically meaning you have complete control over the time of the samples. The PCM-side is truly a synthesizer, not just samples played back - it is Elastic Audio Synthesis. You can add your own samples too.

The V-Synth XT really has too many features to analyze here – COSM filtering, lots of quality effects, even the huge color screen can be used as a TimeTrip-pad and so on. But it’s the sound that counts, and here the V-Synth offers a lot.
Synthwise there’s nothing it couldn’t do. You should not expect acoustic grand pianos or things like that as this thing is a synthesizer. It’s very good on complex and evolving sounds, but I prefer real analogue synths when it comes to basic sounds.

Once I was trying to get a simple lead sound into a piece I was working on. I got the sound I was after and then tried to get it to work in the mix. I adjusted the sound for quite a while and wasn’t happy with it. Eventually I turned over to the ancient Korg Micro-preset, picked a flute preset and voila – that was it! The sound of Micro-preset was instantly clear and present in the mix without being too loud at all. Sometimes I think I don’t like the sound character of the VariPhrase-technology either. But still the V-Synth has so much to offer I’d regret selling it.

The V-Synth XT is a (4U) rack/ tabletop module. It’s not directly a rack-version of the original V-Synth nor the newer V-Synth GT. The XT is somewhere in between perhaps, (closer to the GT, I think). But it has the otherwise optional V-Cards pre-installed. And that’s great!


V-Cards

VC-1  -  D-50 synthesizer.
The Roland’s famous digital synth from 1987 is fully reproduced here. It’s great fun to have that classic vintage instrument inside the V-Synth. I still has to confess that I don’t like the sound of D-50 too much, but it’s still fun and interesting for a synth-head like me to have it.

Listen to the piece I made using only the D-50 synthesizer on the V-Synth. Additional effects were used:





VC-2  -  Vocal Designer
The Vocal Designer has to be one of the best modern vocoders around. But it’s even more than just a vocoder as it does advanced vocal modeling. I like it even though I very seldom use vocal-based stuff in my music.

KORG KR-55

KORG RHYTHM 55

Analog Preset Rhythm Machine - Released in 1979

I was curious enough to get the Korg KR-55 drum machine. Korg dropped off the name Mini Pops when moving on to the 80's, but this thing is still very much the same type of a preset rhythm box. The amount of different rhythm styles is great, but you cannot combine the rhythms like you could in the earlier boxes.
There was also a lesser model, the KR33, and a dark grey colored updated model, KR-55B, that came out in 1982 and had just a bit different patterns. J-M Jarre used this KR-55 on his album Magnetic Fields.

My unit had some modifications done. It had separate output for the sounds if you wanted to process them separately, and some additional sync outputs. I had some fun sessions with the KR-55 triggering my Trident's brass section but I never used this drum machine in any final songs. I didn't like it's sound that much even though it's analog and all. I think it sounds more metallic and not as fat as the earlier drum machines of the 70's.

The modified individual outputs on the right side panel.

KEIO DONCAMATIC MINIPOPS

KEIO (KORG) DONCA MATIC MINI POPS

Analog Preset Rhythm Machine - Released in the 1960's ???

This DoncaMatic MiniPops has to be my oldest vintage instrument. It's made by Keio which became later better known as Korg and their synthesizers. The company's first product was the huge DA20 DoncaMatic rhythm machine in 1963. In 1966 Keio released more DoncaMatics some of which were physically small, hence the name MiniPops, I guess.

I can't find any model number for this particular rhythm machine, so I'm not sure if it was also released in 1966. It must not have been much later anyway. In the 70's Korg dropped the name DoncaMatic and their rhythm machines from that era are better known as Mini Pops with a model number, like the famous mini Pops 7 that J-M Jarre used on his Oxygene and Equinoxe albums.

This DoncaMatic MiniPops is quite a primitive machine, but it sounds really good! You can basically adjust only the tempo and then mix in some cymbal sound. I used the cymbal sound momentarily as a snare by bringing it in only when needed. The MiniPops sounds fantastic when you experiment with some outboard effects like delays and flangers. One thing to mention is the possibility to combine the presets for some weird results. Great!

You have all your essential rhythm styles like "habanera" and "march-polka".

The shape of the Doncamatic MiniPops implies that it's designed to be fitted under an organ to provide the rhythm accompaniment.
The DoncaMatic MinPops was my drum machine of choice on the album Subtle Moves where I used it on four songs.

ROLAND CR-1000

ROLAND CR-1000 Digital Drummer

Preset Rhythm Machine - Released in 1987

The CR-1000 is a primitive drum machine from the late 80's. It has 16 PCM samples as it's sound source and it plays preset patterns. You can adjust the tempo, accent and shuffle amount and mix the level of the samples. So, there's no sequencer for your own beats, but you can toggle the hilarious fill ins, intros and endings to make a structure for your song. The name CR comes from the vintage analog Roland "CompuRhythm" drum machines.

I never really uset this in any WS-Project song, but we had one at home when I was a kid. Back then I actually used it as an accompaniment when I was "composing" my first songs with a guitar. I even recorded some takes on tape.
Later I discovered this drum machine, took it to my studio and sampled the 16 sounds and then sold it.

MOOG TAURUS

MOOG TAURUS

Monophonic 2 VCO analog bass synth - Released in 1975

Yes, this is the original Moog Taurus bass pedal synth! I had the priviledge to borrow friend's Taurus and I used it on my album Orion. I especially composed one song Taurus in my mind and then recorded the bass parts in one session.

The taurus is a very solid and fat sounding monophonic bass synthesizer. It's designed to be controlled with your feet to leave your hands free to play the Minimoog and a Mellotron if you wish. I operated it with my hands, however, because I didn't want to kick this valuable vintage piece of kit.

It has three presets - Bass, Tuba and you guessed it - Taurus! Then, fortunately there's also the chance to make your own sound when toggling the variable setting. The variables are located under a small lid where you have a coulpe of sliders to adjust the sound. There are also huge sliders on top of the synth for adjusting loudness and filter cutoff.

The sound is quaranteed Moog-quality, very strong bass. I compared the Taurus directly to my bass monster synth, the Roland RS-505 Paraphonic (which has a monophonic bass sound too), and the result in my opinion was that the RS-505 was even huger and bigger than the Taurus, even without the stereo ensemble effect. But the Taurus is slightly more versatile with the sound adjusting controls. They both deliver some of the best analog bass goodness!