JP-8000
Virtual Analog Synthesizer
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The classic Roland JP-8000. This is one of the classic, early VA synthesizers of the late '90s, together with Clavia Nord Lead, Yamaha AN1x, Korg MS2000, and Access Virus. The JP-8000 was seen at the time as the modern incarnation of the classic Jupiter-8, from 1981. The JP-8000 sought to reproduce the warm tonalities and sheer analog power of its older, bigger brother, of course with a modern slant, adding all kinds of features, from motion control, to RPS, to the fabled Super Saw oscillators. The inclusion of old-school controllers such as arpeggiator and ribbon are very, very welcome. The Super Saw in particular was the reason why the 8000 was particularly successful as a main keyboard (along with the Virus) in the dance market, especially for Trance. Just like the TB-303 had done for Acid Techno, the JP-8000's Super Saw leads were characteristic of a certain type of Trance that can be roughly called "Anthem Trance", where a melodic but incredibly powerful lead based on a Super Saw patch provided the hook and melody throughout the song. |
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Of course, it would be very wrong to limit the appeal of
this synth to the Super Saw (7 sawtooth waves slightly detuned and
combined) innovation: the JP-8000 is a fantastic, all round
performer, capable of a myriad of beautiful, innovative and powerful
sounds. The control panel layout is logically distributed, and
it's easy to access all the parameters of the synth. It can be
successfully used not only for electronica, but also for pop/rock,
ambient, and thanks to its ease of use and immediacy, it's a godsend to
create complex sound fx for movie score/documentary work. On-board
effects include high quality eq, chorus, and delay. And did I mention it's blue? ;-) A true, classic beauty. |
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Roland JP-8000 factory demo songs (ROM PLAY)
| 1 - Prologue | 5 - Feedbacker |
| 2 - Labyrinth | 6 - Volcano |
| 3 - Shadow | 7 - Marine Snow |
| 4 - Tornado | 8 - RPS -Bonus Trk |
Roland JP-8000 factory preset sound audio demos in mp3
Factory Performances
| Performance name with audio demo | My Comments |
| P11 - Chariots | A very good emulation of certain sounds used by Vangelis in "Chariots Of Fire" |
| P12 - Fizzoid Bass | Different, characteristic synth bass with lots of fizz |
| P13 - Skreachy | Otherworldly pad |
| P14 - Feedback Lead | Incredibly powerful mono-lead, with plenty, plenty of expressivity thanks to ribbon and pitch bender |
| P17 - Dance Split | A very nice split featuring two very useful dancey sounds |
| P18 - Comb Strings | Superbly analog - charming filtered ana-strings. |
| P22 - Glass Columns | Extraordinary sound effect that truly reminds of iced columns in a parallel dimension. |
| P24 - 1979! | Typical '70s "progressive band" sound - very Emerson, Lake & Palmer. |
| P25 - Elliptical | Exquisite trancey pad with a lovely, soft arpeggiated line in the background. |
| P26 - MKS80 Bell-Space | Inspired by Roland's own classic rackmount, the MKS-80 |
| P27 - Legato TB-303 | Not quite as cutting as the 303 can be, this is a good emulation. |
| P28 - Massive Pad | Splendid mega-pad, absolutely majestic and full. |
| P31 - AKS Sweep | Classic sound fx inspired by the EMS Synthi AKS... |
| P34 - Stargate | Gorgeous and excellently crafted performance - perfect for new age, soundtracks |
| P35 - Dual Mini's | The Moog Minimoog needs no introduction, and this is a tribute to it. |
| P38 - Arctic E-know | Brian Eno ("E-know") often used these types of ethereal, cold and spacey sounds in his compositions. |
| P42 - Fanfare | Classic analog brass. |
| P46 - Babylon | Note how incredibly powerful this synth engine is... massive lows, detailed highs, quality effects... |
| P47 - Str-Whistle | Simply stunning. This truly sounds analog, and it's reminiscent of Tomita. |
| P48 - Back To The 60's | The 8000 can do Rhodes of course... |
| P54 - Arpegg--Juno Pad | Pretty and classic mid 1980s setup, very British Synth Pop |
| P55 - Didjeribbon | Accurate synthesized didgeridoo - very expressive thanks to the ribbon controller. |
| P58 - Pulsing Sweep | Nice pulsating pad |
| P63 - Synthboy Split | More good stuff from the '80s! |
| P64 - Water Orchestra | Delightful performance, past-meets-future kind of setup. |
| P66 - Road To Goa | Classic Psy-Trance sounds |
| P72 - Aquapeggios | I just looove the JP-8000's filters |
| P73 - OB Eight | Magnificent emulation of the classic Oberheim OB-8 synth brass |
| P75 - GR-300 Solo | Famed Roland guitar synth used, among others, by jazz great Pat Metheny |
| P76 - Ring Split | Reminds me of a few sounds used by The Crystal Method, who undoubtedly have used this machine in the past... |
| P78 - Tron Strings | Classic Mellotron strings, with abrupt key release, warble and lo-fi character, just like the original. |
Factory Patches
| Patch name with audio demo | My Comments |
| A11 - Spit'n Slide Bs | Mega-powerful synth bass |
| A12 - Velo Decay Bass | Acid synth bass, reminds of SH-101 and TB-303 |
| A23 - Dreams Are Made | Intriguing acid line with delay fx |
| A25 - Bass Pedals | The Moog Taurus pedals are highly regarded as the classic synth bass pedal set, and this patch seeks to emulate them. |
| A33 - JP-303 | Another variant of the classic "silver acid box". Showcasing the arpeggiator as well. |
| A34 - Rave Time | Fine techno lead. |
| A45 - For RPS | A pretty long demo to show off the RPS capabilities of the JP-8000. A+. |
| A48 - Ancient Asia | Classy ethnic sound. |
| A56 - Waspy Synth | Could have been inspired by the EDP Wasp synthesizer. |
| A62 - One Shot Reso | Divine, gorgeous resonant analog synthesizer. Very useful for many genres. |
| A63 - The Fat Guy | Certainly "phat" and analog. |
| A72 - Wurly Piano 2 | And now's the turn of the classic Wurlitzer electric piano. Ribbon controls tremolo. |
| A74 - Org-Rotary-Ribon | Stunning emulation of a Hammond organ through 2-speed Leslie!!! The ribbon controller, of course, switches the Leslie speed. |
| A77 - Wichita Lead | Classic Oberheim 4-voice sound as used by Lyle Mays in that record. |
| A82 - Soaring Mini | Another excellent Minimoog emulation. |
| A87 - Ripper | Totally schizoid synth lead. |
| B13 - Drefull Dr. | More 80s |
| B17 - Chaos Lead | Yes, the ribbon controller can also engage the delay! |
| B18 - Out of Control | Mega-cool and trendy techno rave sound. |
| B21 - String Machine | Sublime, delicate analog strings a la Solina. |
| B27 - Juno B81 Pad | This sound reproduces the B-81 patch on the Juno-106. The original patch is actually called "Low Dark Strings". While not 100% accurate, still a very good job at replicating it. |
| B28 - Richland | Stunning analog synthesis emulation in this patch. |
| B32 - Jupiter Pad | Breathtaking. Jupiter-8 pad all the way. |
| B34 - Shan-gri-la | Ravishing, delicate atmospheric pad. |
| B43 - BPM Pulse 2 | Very cool synth and great ribbon control |
| B46 - MKS80 Space | Another MKS-80 inspired patch. |
| B51 - Stargate | Perfect for sci-fi, this is a gorgeous, evolving soft pad with just the right amount of filter resonance. |
| B58 - MKS80 Bells | And yet another classic MKS-80 patch. |
| B63 - Juno Arp | Delicate. |
| B68 - Intermittent | Typically, in the past, all synthesizers reserved the last few memory locations for special fx. The JP-8000 continues that tradition. |
| B73 - Pin Matrix | Probably inspired by the EMS VCS3 or other matrix-based synths. |
| B76 - The Etruscan. | Incredible sci-fi sound effects. I was actually born in the region where the Etruscans were from. |
| B77 - Varese | Classic musique concrete effect, used by Varese and other experimental composers. |
| B81 - Meteor | Stunning. |
| B82 - Snowman | More like a devilish snowman... |
| B84 - Ozone | Superb resonant sound fx |
| B86 - Electro Gulls | Robot seagulls. |
Here's an audio demo from a reader:
| Features at a glance | |
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| Polyphony: | 8-voice |
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More Roland JP-8000 pictures
(click on thumbnails to enlarge)
Roland JP-8000 manual
available at www.rolandus.com
Links
| SITE | Type of resource | DESCRIPTION |
| www.rolandus.com | ||
Roland JP-8000 review with audio examples