JX-3P
Analog/Digital Synthesizer
A great little synthesizer. Surprisingly powerful, and very warm-sounding. The optional PG200 programmer makes life a lot easier programming the synth. The two DCOs provide a varied sonic palette. The MKS-30 is the rack-mount version of this machine.
Roland JX-3P audio demos in mp3
Stream all audio examples below:
| Preset name with audio mp3 demo | My comments |
| JX-3P Factory Presets | |
| A1 String I | Pure analog strings. Just a thing of beauty - warm and classy. |
| A2 String II | Variation of the above - smaller combo. |
| A3 Organ I | Great-sounding jazz Hammond sound - very warm and analog. |
| A4 Organ II | Rock Organ. Needs to be raunchier - add distortion. |
| A5 Organ III | Very full church pipe organ sound. Nice! |
| A6 Brass I | Analog! These are the sounds of the '80s. |
| A7 Brass II | Classic '80s sound - muted synth brass. |
| A8 Electric Piano I | Nice rendition of Rhodes with tremolo. Actually, also reminds of a jazz guitar... |
| A9 Electric Piano II | Reminds of the Wurlitzer used by Supertramp. |
| A10 Clav | Spot on emulation of a Clavinet. |
| A11 Harpsichord | Very nice classical sound |
| A12 Vibraphone | Nicely done, sweet, jazzy sound, with tremolo. |
| A13 Chime | Haunting, hypnotic synth-bell sound. |
| A14 Celesta | Cute little instrument |
| A15 Accordion | OK emulation. |
| A16 Voice | Outstanding analog-voice sound. Notice the vibrato that makes it usable as a Theremin, as well. |
| B1 Violin | Very well programmed. |
| B2 Flute | Very natural reproduction. |
| B3 Oboe | The timbre has been reproduced faithfully. |
| B4 Song Whistle | What great sound! Warm, organic and happy-sounding. Can be used as solo. |
| B5 Synth Brass I | Standard synth brass - very powerful thanks to the onboard chorus. |
| B6 Synth Brass II | Very '80s - this is like a glue for your song. WARM. |
| B7 Dist Guitar | Ok. |
| B8 Juicy Funk | Very, very juicy!!! And expressive poly synth too. |
| B9 Filter Flow | Very nice reso-pad. |
| B10 Fat Fifth | Progressive sound from the '70s. Too bad the JX-3P doesn't have portamento - the gliding effect, I'm achieving with the pitch bender. |
| B11 Sync Wah | One of the best features of the JX-3P is the ability to sync the two DCOs, and manipulate the cross modulation. |
| B12 Sync Sweep | Classic synth sound, used by the Cars among others. |
| B13 Funky Clav | Nice sparkly sound |
| B14 Pulsar | A great synth pad, with wild random LFO modulation. |
| B15 Planet | Very nice sci-fi kind of sound. |
| B16 Jet | Obligatory finish with sound fx. |
| More sounds achievable on the JX-3P (I used the PG200 for added "tweakability" | |
| 01 Detuned Synth Bass | Super-powerful, modern techno synth! |
| 02 Farfisa-ish | The classic combo organ. |
| 03 Crazy Pitch LFO | Weird special fx - the Martians are coming. |
| 04 Random LFO Moving Pad | Very beautiful pad - modern, with lots of resonance and LFO. |
| 05 Techno Lead | Detune those oscillators... |
| 06 Modular Moog | Reminds me of those huge 1960's monsters. |
| 07 Ghost LFO Pad | Outstanding synth - good for soundtrack work. |
| 08 Thin Soundtrack Synth | Same as above! |
| 09 Square Pad | Haunting pad |
| 10 Alien Synthesizer | Plenty of weirdness on this one - but it is powerful! |
| 11 Space Kitten | Meow-meow on Uranus. |
Roland JX-3P pictures
(click on thumbnails to enlarge them)
Roland JX-3P manual in .pdf
available at www.rolandus.com
Resources:
- Review in "Keyboard magazine" Janfebmarch 198___
Roland JX-3P features
- compact, light and still powerful;
- PG-200 add on programmer;
- easy to use;
- warm sounds
The "Song made only with this instrument" trial: _________ The JX-3P
| Features at a glance | |
| Year of release: | 1983 |
| Sound generation method: | analog |
| Polyphony: | 6-voice |
| Presets: | 32 ROM + 32 rewritable |
| Keyboard: | 61-note (5 octaves) |
| Responds to velocity: | no |
| Aftertouch | no |
| MIDI: | yes - in and out |
| Sound expansion capabilities: | none |
| Sequencer: | yes |
| Arpeggiator: | no |
| Effects: | chorus |
| Controls: | digital style "one button, one slider"; optional PG200 programmer makes all parameters available with knob and switch control) |
| Outputs: | mono and stereo; phones |
| Weight and measurements: | |
| Other controls: | Hold pedal; Seq Trigger in; Save/Load tape memory |
Links
| SITE | Type of resource | DESCRIPTION |
| http://www.rolandus.com | Home page | Home page for Roland USA |
| http://www.fantasyjackpalance.com/fjp/sound/synth/synthdata/08-jx3p-pg200.html | Fan page | Description + some great pictures |
| http://www.retrosynth.com/gear/jx3p/info.html | Fan page | Tips and tricks |