Roland JX-1
 Performance Synthesizer

Roland JX-1

The Roland JX-1 was a performance and budget keyboard with some editing capabilities that came out in the early '90s.  Its sounds are classic of that era and many are reminiscent of other classic Roland synths like the D-50, the U-20 and the D-70.  While it can't be considered a full synthesizer, it offers easy access to the most important editing  parameters, and sports the classic Roland bender/mod paddle.

The Roland JX-1 is a PCM-sample-based keyboard and doesn't offer any way of expanding its sound set, but still offers some classic sounds for a very little price.  Especially useful are its editing sliders, allowing quick and hands-on editing of several important parameters like filter cutoff & resonance, envelope attack & delay, LFO etc., and the ability of layering two patches for a thicker-sounding, interesting dual-mode sound.  It's also very light and perfect for live gigs.

Roland JX-1 audio demos

Factory patches

A01 PIANO

A typical, short-looped piano patch of the early 1990s.  Not great for Chopin, but fantastic for the Italo-House of those years.

A02 E PIANO

Nice, typical Yamaha DX-7 FM-style electric piano

A03 JAZZ ORGAN

Very good and typically Roland, warm Hammond organ patch

A04 ROCK ORGAN

All drawbars out for the classic 1970s rock organ sound

A05 SYN CLAV

As initiated by the venerable Sequential Prophet Prophet-5, a nicely synthetic Hohner Clavinet patch.

A06 ACCORDION

French style, very nice

A07 MARIMBA

Beautiful patch that reminds of the super-classic Yamaha DX7 and Fairlight CMI marimba sounds

A08 BELL

Wonderful digital bell, similar to many classic Roland D-50 patches

A09 STRINGS

Nice, straightforward marcato strings

A10 SYN STRINGS

The quintessential Roland Jupiter-8 analog strings

A11 BRASS

A bit thin but usable

A12 SYN BRASS

The quintessential Roland Jupiter-8 analog brass

A13 TRUMPET

Yep - and also works as trombone in the lower registers

A14 SAX

Nicely sampled saxophone

A15 REED

Very good, hypnotic oboe/reed instrument

A16 FLUTE

Realistic

A17 FANTASIA

Wonderful patch that greeted users upon turning the classic Roland D-50 on.

A18 SYN STACK

Another classic Roland D-50 and my personal favorite patch ever:  the "Staccato Heaven" patch

A19 PROLOGUE

As found on the classic sequel to the D-50:  the Roland D-70 Super L.A. sythesizer

A20 NEPTUNE

Gorgeous synth pad

A21 SYN VOX

One of the most famous patches of the 1980s - the Fairlight CMI "ARR1" syn vox.

A22 SYN CHOIR

More D-50-style beauty

A23 WOODY

Awesome, expressive and haunting oboe/bassoon/english horn/wooden-style instrument

A24 SYN HARP

Another fantastic sound reminiscent of the classic D-50

A25 BUZZY

Yup

A26 SWEEP

Nice, round early analog synth recreation

A27 EPILOGUE

Digital pad

A28 SYN BASS

Could be fatter but it's usable.

A29 SAWTOOTH

Standard patch

A30 SQUARE

Standard patch

A31 SYN LEAD 1

Expressive, Minimoog-like solo synth patch

A32 SYN LEAD 2

Variation on the above with sampled oscillator-sync effect

B01 PIANO

One octave lower than preset A

B02 E PIANO

Brighter version of the classic e. piano sound

B03 JAZZ ORGAN

Dance organ, very cool

B04 ROCK ORGAN

Was this patch used for Felix's "Don't you want me"?

B05 SYN CLAV

Variation

B06 ACCORDION

Italian-style variation

B07 MARIMBA

Nice variation with filtered & modulated envelope

B08 BELL

variation with a bit of vibrato

B09 STRINGS

nice

B10 SYN STRINGS

Beautiful variation with slow vibrato - excellent for electronic styles

B11 BRASS

yep

B12 SYN BRASS

The ubiquitous Van Halen Jump/Oberheim OB-Xa-style synth brass sound

B13 TRUMPET

Variation with Harmon mute

B14 SAX

More aggressive version

B15 REED

Nice clarinet

B16 FLUTE

Wonderful shakuhachi patch that was still in vogue in those years

B17 FANTASIA

Gorgeous variation on the D-50 Fantasia patch, this is a wonderful sound.

B18 SYN STACK

More synthy goodness

B19 PROLOGUE

Excellent, evolving, resonant-filter pad.

B20 NEPTUNE

Underwater pad

B21 SYN VOX

The classic version of the syn vox, Roland style.

B22 SYN CHOIR

Nice

B23 WOODY

Excellent orchestral patch

B24 SYN HARP

Interesting and optimal for New Age music

B25 BUZZY

Hard Clavinet-type sound

B26 SWEEP

Cool, "quack" synth patch

B27 EPILOGUE

Tomita-style syn vox

B28 SYN BASS

Beefier version

B29 SAWTOOTH

Like high-pass filtered.

B30 SQUARE

Simple but classic

B31 SYN LEAD 1

Rich solo-synth with the built-in delay

B32 SYN LEAD 2

Metallic version

 

Dual mode patches

Patches on the Roland JX-1 can be set in dual mode

Bell B & Fantasia B

Prologue A & Neptune A

Syn Bass B & Sawtooth B

Syn Lead 1 A & Syn Lead 1 B

Syn Strings A & Syn Vox A

 

Additional patch examples

Epilogue B

Fantasia A

Neptune A

Neptune B

Prologue A

Prologue B

Sweep A

Syn Bass B

Syn Choir A

Syn Choir B

Syn Harp A

Syn Stack A

Syn Strings B

Syn Vox A

Syn Vox B

Woody A

Woody B

Felix Don't You Want Me JX-1 Rock Organ B

Roland JX-1 SYN STRINGS A

Roland JX-1 SYN STRINGS B

Syn Lead 1 A & Syn Lead 2 A - layered

Syn Lead 1 A

Roland JX-1 misc/Syn Lead 2 A

Roland JX-1 ROCK ORGAN B samples in .wav

Roland JX-1 ROCK ORGAN B - dry.wav

Roland JX-1 ROCK ORGAN B - with reverb and chorus.wav

 

Roland JX-1 specs
Year of release: 1990
Polyphony: 24
Sound generation method: PCM
Preset memories 64 + 32
MIDI: in, out, thru
Sound expansion capabilities: no
Sequencer no
Arpeggiator no
Velocity yes
Aftertouch no
Dimensions  
Weight  
Keyboard  

Roland JX-1 photographs (click on thumbnails to enlarge)

Roland JX-1 large

Roland JX-1 manual

 Freely available at Roland's website

Links

 

SITE Type of resource DESCRIPTION
Manufacturer site home page
     

Roland JX-1 review with audio demo - October 27, 2011