We are here with my favourite synth.
It is a synthesizer that was released in the ’90s,
although I only discovered it seven or eight years ago.
But I made my last three records
almost solely with this machine,
so I’ve spent a lot of time with it.
This is the Roland JP-8080,
the rack version of its big brother
which came out two years earlier, the JP-8000,
released in 1998.
This synth was one of the first virtual analogues
because all of its effects are digital.
The idea was to emulate analogue sound 
as best as possible.
This is 10-voice polyphonic,
the JP-8000 keyboard version is only 8-voice.
The main characteristic of this synth is that it introduces 
the Supersaw waveform for the first time,
which is an oscillator that emulates 
seven detuned saw waves.
It is a way to create futuristic strings that are far fatter, 
more powerful and richer in sound.
As the first synth to introduce this new waveform,
it influenced a genre that you probably all know – trance.
Most of the hits and trance tracks 
that we all know were made using this.
It is very simple to understand, 
but has a lot of knobs and sliders, I think about 40.
And it’s all here, so its success is probably
also due to it being easy to use.
It has integrated effects – which I’ll show you later –
it has an arpeggiator.
Real-time phrase sequencing
is implemented for the first time,
which basically allows you to memorize patterns
on each key of the keyboard.
So, it is very interesting to see 
how you can play the keyboard – if you know how –
and play patterns or make fast sequences.
This was interesting to me as it meant
I could approach this synth differently.
All the modules are clearly visible on the synth,
so it is quite easy to understand what you are doing.
There are only a few things
that you need to dig through the menus for.
There is a part here on the rack version 
that is not on the keyboard version,
it is this upper right part 
with vocoder and external inputs.
They have integrated a little module here
which allows you to insert a jack from behind the panel
or a microphone here and modulate a voice
or an external input.
It’s actually something that I have never used,
because it wasn’t of any interest to me.
However, I believe that this part is also extremely valid
and, honestly, if I were to start using voices
or other external sound sources,
I might start using it.
There is another slightly more conceptual reason
connected to my music,
I rarely use any oscillator other than the Supersaw.
Precisely because I wanted to work 
with the sound that defines this machine
and which defined trance since the very beginning.
Let’s have a listen to some of the sounds 
you can make right now.
If you turn on the arpeggiator, 
you can hear what happens with that.
What is perhaps interesting to consider
first of all is the sound.
What is the sound 
of this elusive Supersaw oscillator,
which Roland introduced in ’96
and everyone copied years later?
It sounds like this.
The seven voices are detuned 
to the extreme here.
The main voice remains,
but the other six are extremely opened up in this case.
Until here, where it returns and then opens again.
So, you have control over how much
you want to detune the voices,
but also the volume of these voices.
You might choose an extreme detune 
but then decide how much to mix it with the others.
Therefore, you have great control over the oscillator
and over how you create your own sound.
The synth has two oscillators, 
the other one only has square, saw and noise.
Right now, we are only listening to
the second oscillator.
There are various controls, including the option to sync it
with the first oscillator or to come down an octave.
Then the interesting thing is that 
you can mix the two oscillators.
It’s all quite intuitive, I think it’s mostly about 
how you want to work with the sound,
because it really is a powerful machine.
It was such a success 
because it combines power with…
Well, power is nothing without control.
I mean, I know I’m fond of this synth,
but it really is a good, well-balanced machine.
So, we have the two oscillators playing.
It is important to remember that
it was the mid-’90s when this synth was developed
and there was a lot of digital material to manage.
Especially because of these harmonics 
that create this waveform, the Supersaw.
Many harmonics go on to create so-called aliasing
– digital noise.
A solution was needed to ensure
that this didn’t cause too much disturbance.
So, at a technical level,
they included a high pass filter which already cut out
a lot of the disturbance in the low frequencies.
As for all these harmonics in the high frequencies,
they decided to tackle them,
or better, to take advantage of them with a filter
which along with the Supersaw oscillator
was the other important feature for all the music
composed with this synth.
This is the filter – it can be 12 dB or 24 dB.
This is 12 dB and this is 24 dB
– a bit more extreme.
The filter has its own envelope – here it is.
This is very useful for more dramatic effects,
perhaps dramatic isn’t quite the right word.
So now we’ve got this tune,
I’m not really sure what it is.
Let’s speed it up a bit.
This is the arpeggiator that’s playing.
One of the functions that isn’t found
outside the slider panel is the arpeggiator.
The arpeggiator can be used to modify the pattern
that is playing on one of these menus on the screen.
They are simple patterns
that you’ve all probably used if you use this synth,
but they give you an idea to work on.
I’ve made a lot of my tracks 
using patterns from here,
perhaps using more than one synth
and triggering the patterns in a chain.
This function has been fundamental for me because 
it revealed a different way that I could use this synth.
That is why I keep buying these
– I have three keyboard versions and two rack versions.
Because the fact that you are working
with the same synth gives you a certain consistency,
It is a more solid way of working compared to having
one type of synth with certain parameters
then a different one and a different one again.
You can get lost.
Here instead you’re working with the same machine,
but an expanded, more powerful version.
The chain mode really opened up a whole world for me,
which I’ve barely begun to explore.
As I said earlier, the option to record these short patterns
on each key means that with three synths,
you can use the first to play an arpeggiator
that will trigger the keys of the second synth
which have other patterns recorded on them
which in turn trigger the keys of the third.
It’s a big job…
it’s a bit like planning war strategy.
Here we are hearing the arpeggiator
with its pattern.
Another thing I like to underline
about this synth is its delay
A lot of people have asked me about this delay
or which delay I use.
I have always only used the delay here on the machine
because I find it intelligently built-in.
Let’s hear it now.
You can choose to use the LFO to pan the sound
which I really like because it’s simple,
but gives the sound a bit more movement.
And another function of the delay
is also choosing which delay we want:
panning from left to right, panning from right to left,
a mono delay or mono delay with long feedback.
This is the chorus.
This is an extreme chorus.
You can, of course, also use a chorus that works
on a broader section of sound with a slower development
instead of that dissonant effect.
Here it’s shorter again.
Without chorus.
Another interesting thing I want to show you
is this pitch envelope, this module here.
I really like this synth because it’s not modular,
or rather it is but with fixed architecture.
We can describe it in terms of these small modules
so it’s easy to find your way around.
This module allows you to pitch the sound
and control the envelope.
And this is at an extreme now,
but it is a very important feature
and is used a lot in trance mostly,
but it is used very elegantly to create effects
- I have tried to work out how.
Sometimes you can’t work out what note
this synth is playing,
because of the Supersaw and these pitch envelopes
which create even more tension
and are used for Shepard tones or glissando.
They are very sneaky, but very important in build-ups
or parts where the sound needs to grow.
One way to control the synth other than using your hands,
which is very useful during live sets,
are these VSTs that I want to show you.
One is free
and the programme is called CTRLR,
I don’t know what it stands for,
probably control or something but let me show you.
It is basically the synth’s virtual brother and it allows you
to use the synth with Ableton, Logic etc.
and assign automations to each parameter.
Even during live shows
I’ve been there with my synth
which automatically changed my presets
or programme change here,
but perhaps I left the filters free.
These VSTs are very interesting for live shows.
There’s a version for every synth more or less,
but this one is free.
Another version that is paid for is one
I haven’t been using for very long
but I find it very well-developed.
Mystery Island Music make this VST
and it’s called JP80X0.
It’s very well made
and really gives you greater control.
They have introduced controls that aren’t on the synth
or ways of approaching the synth differently.
There is also a Random button
which turns all the parameters on at random
and even that can help you discover sounds
that you might not have thought of.
If any of you have this synth 
or is thinking on buying one,
I would be happy to share some knowledge.
