I was producing a band back in the 90s and I found this synth just lying around in the studio. When I brought it in the band actually laughed at it! So I plugged it in and played a filter sweep that nearly blew the studio monitors, the look on their faces was priceless. Needless to say it ended up all over the album and gave it an edge that was missing before. You're right about the harmonic complexity of this synth, it kind of bridged the gap between analogue and the more modern wavetable synths they were used to using. Not to mention it was the first Jup with midi. That and the mono out led to a lot of adding a lot of funky little sequences playing the filters live and adding a lot of hi-freq modulation. Absolutely my favorite Roland synth.
@@rachelar - No, they hadn't really experienced something like it before. They got into it, and when we were thinking of parts to add to a track they say "fire up the Jupiter!"
For years back in the 80s I made a living with one of these atop my Rhodes. I never knew one could get sounds like the ones you cook up here in this video. So nice! I once auditioned for a band who were not impressed by me walking in with ONE keyboard. I tried to explain that with the memory presets and split keyboard I didn't need 6 synths but they cut me off with this memorable quote: "Go on home and take your fifty-thousand synthesizers with you." Looking back I think I just may have had the wrong haircut. The good old 80s.
First time a vintage poly synth has truly captured my imagination. I’ve grown up as a child of everything digital and software based - but now I’ve found a vintage synth to drool over at night
Great video Alex. I do like the JP6 - I am lucky enough to have one and every time I switch in on I think "wow" but, its just so big! Which is a crap reason not to use it more. Will try harder.
Showing circuit diagrams is shuper shexy. I bet Geert agrees with this statement, amirite? But the reason I love these videos is they give musical context that goes way beyond the features. They're so darn entertaining!
I'm glad when I bought mine in '96 I didn't know it was "cold" and "sterile". I can literally spend hours on this synth creating new sounds. I can't imagine ever selling it.
ive met two separate people recently who sold this on, the way they told the story was like they had experienced some sort of mental hell and were reliving that in their minds eye, both said they felt deep regret about it
A very prominent synth in the Braindance and IDM scene. Got ų-ziq, Vibert and Ceefax and of course, RDJ vibes. Well, anyone in Rephlex Records really. Once again with a stellar video, Synth Daddy.
Hey son. Yes, perfect for music that came out years after the Jupiter was discontinued. Orbital have two, Moby used one for years, Crystal Method rinsed it. I guess it was a little ahead of its time whilst being behind the times in 1983 from a tech standpoint.
Great video! Thanks, Alex. Couldn’t agree more with your analysis. In 1997 I traded one of my two Juno’s 106 against a Jupiter 6 with a guy I was producing music for. I thought he was crazy. My best gear trade ever. I love it in so many aspects. 💜
Totally agree, the 6 has a distinctive voice and is great when used with that in mind. I think of my synths as vocalists and choose the one most suited to the composition.
That patch in 'Demo 5: Thumper' could be used for some serious old-school industrial music, wow! Thanks for another awesome vid, I'm so glad you had a Jupiter-6 stop by for a visit!
Definitely agree with the dystopian vibes. That intro jam reminded me of Eurythmics’ unused album for the Nineteen Eighty Four movie with John Hurt, called 1984: For the Love of Big Brother, a genuinely underrated album of avant-garde synth-pop!
If I feel like I'm approaching burnout, or have a lapse in ideas, watching a video by Alex Ball inspires me. I'll hear something in his video and start playing.
I liked the Jupiter-6 so much, but missed the opportunity to possess one. It's a hole in my history that I regret. After being married to other lovely synths I still find myself thinking about the Jupiter-6. She is still gorgeous. Thanks for the great demo revealing the modulation capabilities. It's making it harder to hold my desire though.
Unpopular Opinion: The Jupiter 6 is my favorite Roland Polysynth... So versatile, so interesting, and SO PUNCHY! I am more drawn to it than almost any other synth I own, it just keeps me coming back. ----------Absolute Dream Machine Unit!
Long-time J6 owner here - It's a synth that I'll probably never sell but also a synth that I don't use all the time. I have thought of it as a character synth (in the same way I think of my polyevolver I guess) and I will pull out for stupid-synth-tricks. The audio rate mods are probably the star here and bring this into territory that few occupy, including some of the more recent similar pretenders like the super-6. The J8 was a chameleon that fit in most mixes the same way that white-bread fits in a lot of sandwiches. The J6 is sourdough - you don't want it all the time, but it sure fits in nice in the right place.
Man, I love how the thing looks, and I think you've made it sound better than I've heard elsewhere, it's just one of those synths I have not ever found a demo and said "Wow, I want that." I feel the same way towards the Moog One. Great demo/discussion.
Hey! I think you have to play it basically, but it's not for everybody regardless. I'm more than happy with a Super 6 over a Jupiter-6 because it goes a lot further, but it is fun to play the Jupiter when I'm able. I still prefer the Jupiter 8 overall because you can set up a 4/4 split with two sounds and they come out of separate outputs, just sounds utterly massive and wide. You can stack two patches two which is huge, so a mono Jupiter-6 does fall short there.
Love the Jupiter 6! It cuts through mixed very well. The arps and filters make it a great addition to OBXA , prophet 5s and Minimoog. Cuts through butter like a hot knife
Fantastic video Alex. Sold a few synths over the years, but my Jupiter 6 is the one I regret letting go the most. Now they’re getting crazy expensive. Appreciate your review.
Lovely stuff, Thumper sounds a bit like a Jexus patch from one of his freakier scenes. A multi-sample of Cassette Memory on pianobook would be soo lovely ;) A Jupiter 6 through a guitar amp was the first analog polysynth I ever tried playing.
I love my Jupiter 6 and I will be buried with it as well as my juno 60! Great video man as always:) This machine is one of the most underrated synths of all time. I have created some of the craziest sounding patches ever with mine. A real gem
I absolutely love the patches you made with the JP6, especially the noise modulated guy in your closing track. I had a band buy me one 20 years ago, I have Europa but don't really utilize it. I've almost sold the thing many times, but always talked myself out of it. I finally realized a few years ago my problem with it was that I kept trying to make it be a bread and butter synth, which it definitely isn't. Once I let go of fighting to get the JP6 to do things it didn't want to do a new world opened up for me. The cross mod stuff is super cool and powerful. The filter in Hi pass mode.....forget about it. Total stunner. So glad I didn't sell it. Thanks for making this video, Alex
Must be the cross mod. The melody you were playing in the closeout jam had a... synth character that I recognize from early Nine Inch Nails. I always assumed that was made with a PPG, but the character here is unmistakeable. Man... I've never been so interested in a boutique purchase before...
The best Jupiter in my opinion since it fits my preferred sound palette best. I think you're spot on regarding which sounds you're inspired to make with it. I also think the colour scheme is responsible for the opinions uttered out there on the interwebz. The 8's many warm crayon colours design and the 4's chunky organ 70's look is nothing compared to the cold and somewhat "pastely 80's vibe" of the 6. Now I feel I should start mine... it's been a while. :)
Great review Alex! I count myself very fortunate to have owned a Jupiter-6 way before it started dividing opinion as it seems to do today. Bought it for AUD$600 (yes, really!) back in 1993 and I kept it for around 7 years and yes, I do regret selling it. Unencumbered by trying to replicate any particular sounds, I just let the JP-6 do the talking and I found it be a highly capable and very versatlie sound designing tool, way beyond what a standard analog synth of the era could produce as it could make really complex and interesing sounds, washes, drones and pads as well as blips, bleeps, squawks and everything in between, all at a touch of a slider, or a push of one of those cool, orange-lit buttons. A wonderful instrument that was a real joy to experiment on - everyone should play one.
Great video as always Alex! I've always wanted to play one mostly because of the odd design and choices/options, but stuff like that always intrigues me. The Jupiter 4 is probably my all time favorite and very very different from this, this seems to more remind me of a marriage between an Oscar and a Teisco, both of which I love!
Yeah absolutely. The originals three are all very different from each other. The 4 is the most basic but has such a sound to it. Because I have the System 100m with the 4CV keyboard I can setup a Jupiter-4 on steroids on that (with a lot of the identical circuitry), so I feel no need to own a 4. I do like it though. I'd own an 8 if given the choice, but the 6 is more interesting in a lot of ways.
Once again, you manage to coax some really interesting and characterful sounds out of it, far beyond the original presets. I think you could make even my first synth (the Jen SX2000!) sound good. (Now, there's a challenge!)
I am the Roland Man I come from round our way and I can play! (What can you play?) I play the Jupiter! Ju-Ju-Ju-Ju Jupiter, Jupiter, Jupiter! Ju-Ju-Ju-Ju Jupiter, Jupiter, Jupiter!
I want one of these way more than a Jupiter 8. Call me crazy, but these just “have a sound” in their own realm to my ears. Ohh, perchance to dream. Great vid as always, thank you !
They do! Really enjoy the complex oscillator tones with all the modulation in play, even more fun when you can combine waves! More interesting than the 8 or 4 in that respect.
@@AlexBallMusic I have played both the JP8 and JP6 a ton. JP6 is my favorite. Way more wild and flexible IMO. Can get smooth and beautiful pads and then can become a monster when detuned and in unison. JP8 is a bit more polished and swirly but less oomph. I still own a JP6. Use it all the time.
Amazing Video Alex ! I've had the JP6 in my studio for 6 years and every moment with this exceptional synth is incredible. Fortunately, my JP6 is equipped with the Europa Kit and is therefore a completely modern synth in the studio.
Thanks Alex. Great work on this one! I don't have any hands on experience with the Jupiter 6, but from listening to it, it sounds like the most interesting one of the bunch. Can't wait to see what you get next.
Love the video. Love this synth. It’s got a lot of character, it can get hairy in a good way, and it surprises you in a way other synths just can’t. It’s unwieldy, but I think if you take it for what it is you can enjoy it.
Nice balanced review as always Alex. I've had my JP6 for maybe 3 years now. It's an ongoing love and hate relationship TBH, but in the last year I've really started to love it, when I discovered how to make the kind of sinister, high-passed pads I always wanted from it but couldn't figure out - it's a programmers synth, it demands diving deep and experimentation. A lot of the time I use it as a giant bass monster, on unison mode! Also realised I can automate the filter using the footswitch input and my Kenton Pro Solo ... I already run the arp from one of my TR-machines. At any rate, I'm never parting with it. It does things none of my other analog synths can do, plus I mean just LOOK at it. Roland design at the top of it's game!
I have a JP-4 that I'll be buried with but I never vibed with the JP-6... until now. Alex, you need to keep that synth and run away with it. Your style fit the synth like a glove. Every synth has it's unique wheelhouse and this video captured it perfectly for the Jupiter 6.
Got a wonky JP6 and love it. Has a few quirks, but theres something about the oscillators that sounds great to my ears. With the resonance low, can sound warm (to me at least), sometimes just needs a little bit of highs removed. Unison bass sounds are great too. It is all over my music. Great take on this classic!
got one of these for 500 bucks in 2005. Never meshed with it. There was a perfect review years ago that sums up this synth perfectly "you'll miss it once you sold it, but if you ever get a chance to play it again you'll remember why you sold it". I always liked the Juno 6 way more than the Jupiter 6
I went through all the Jupiters back in the day, and the JP-6 was my favorite among those with a keyboard. It had more punch and bite than the JP-8. Of course it had to be processed, with Dimension D, RE-301 etc. to get those huge, lush sounds. The MIDI implementation was rudimentory, so it was of limited use for sequencing. Sounded great stacked with Juno-106! But when the Super Jupiter arrived, it was the peak of the Jupiters in all respects. They are remarkably cheap (relatively), better get one before the masses get their act together ;-)
Excellent work as per usual. Interesting synth. I think if you have a long stream of synths, vintage and otherwise, visiting your studio, you are winning at life.
Sounds really modern, a couple of dance riffs here Alex. And those brown knobs. Oh yes, that's my sort of 1970's filthy industrial look right there. :-)
Knobs and fader caps were grey, when new. I think, over time they yellowed, which might give together with the gray this "brownish" impression. When I look at my own JP6 I identify it still as grey, only a bit darkened. But I don´t know, if maybe Roland had different materials for their knobs through the production years of the JP6.
So, normally, the square purple buttons are dark lavander, the orange ones are light lavander but a little more blue, the grey ones are as blue as the strip above them, the knobs are light gray, and the LED casts are transparent. But all of these are sensitive to UVs and will yellow out with time.
Great video Alex! I love my 6 and agree that its capable of being very lush and warm as well as the spiky colder sounds people tend to gravitate to! Cheers.
As always, your videos are super informative, fun, and humorous. Your channel is literally the best and most informative synth channel amongst the noisy synth shlock on the youtubez. Thanks for all the work you put into these Alex👍🏼👍🏼
People are trying to divide the Jupiter line like a hord of K-Pop fans trying to pick who's the better singer of a korean boys-band, but in reality they should be seen as mere versions of one entity, each with their own set of features and their take on the Jupiter sound. Especially the three later ones, they're a heck-of-a-lot more similar sounding than people will admit to say. Obviously, same components.
The only synth Ive owned and sold and regretted it. And Ive owned Prophet 5s, a MemMoog and various ARPs. There was something about this thing. I’m quite a frosty individual so maybe that’s why Ive been drawn to it since it was first in the shops. I used to work opposite a music shop in Truro. They were Roland/Boss sellers and in their shop window there was the most incredible display. A shiny, gleaming JP6, a TB303, an 808, a Drumatix and a Microcomposer. I used to stare lustily at that Jupiter nearly every day. Didn’t get one for another 10 years. Beautiful thing.
You can see my JP-6 in the background of my profile pic. I bought mine 40 years ago, brand new off the showroom floor. I've never once thought it was cold sounding. In fact, i bought it because I thought it sounded warm. It's funny. Some synth enthusiasts are just like photography enthusiasts who simply look at a spec sheet and make silly assumptions instead of actually programming one themselves. I love my JP-6, and i still enjoy programming and playing it to this day. 😊
Great sounds you created on this vid. Love my JP-6, got it back in '88 for a steal. I still use it all the time and it continues to reveal it's mysteries and subtleties to me 34 years later. As someone else wrote it doesn't give you the good sounds straight away, you have to work at it, but definitely the best of the Jupes in terms of sound design as you can go way further with it than it's siblings. I've edited this and retracted my previous nonsense as I made myself look like a proper idiot, still an excellent video though:)
Yeah, one to explore for sure! 34 is quite the companionship, nice one. Kent - I know him. Talented chap. Are you sure? Because when you open them there are CEM ICs with "CEM 3340" written on them in the slots on the voice board. I've seen inside this Jupiter-6 and another one and they were the same.
Enjoyed this thanks. Long time JP6 owner - One feature the JP6 has over the JP8 is unison detune, which makes the unison usable in my opinion. The JP8 unison is like the Juno 106 - just sounds loud & phasey. Add some detune on the JP6 with HPF and you get sounds the JP8 cant do. Raw sound of the JP8 does sound fatter and smoother though and the bonus of the 12db/oct filter setting. So you do need both really if you can afford it!
I toured with an indie rock band in the 2010's and I exclusively used the Jupiter 6. It is very much capable of warm tones. I primarily used a piano patch I had created along with a custom strings patch -- both of which came out having that deliciously rich, analog warmth! I absolutely love it; it's my favorite synth. I still remember the first day I showed up at practice with it. The guys called it a spaceship. All the red lights on it really give it a great aesthetic that you gotta see in person!
I watch more RU-vid than a sentient being should so bear in mind this statement carries authority. You Sir produce the greatest made for RU-vid videos on the internet and I hope your'e told that everyday.
