I'm the original owner of the first version zof the JX8P. I've had it since the mid 80s and I used it on tour for at least 10 years. The original battery still holds all the original programs. It's a great 80s keyboard and though it's no Jupiter 8, it's sounds wonderful still.
Emulative synth sound design from an era when synth programmers weren't lazy with their craft. Completely new synth sounds are fine, but I think old school synthesists deserve enormous credit for their emulations of acoustic instruments and early electro-acoustic instruments like EPs and organs. I would use a lot of these acoustic emulations and pianos if I owned this machine. Props to Roland and their 80s programmers.
The PG-8X emulation does a pretty good job. I took down the patch settings for the Res Lead sound and put them into the PG-8X and was pleased enough with the result! sites.google.com/site/mlvst0/
I WAS GOING TO BUY THIS KEYBOARD IN URUGUAY 30 YEARS AGO IT WAS A BARGAIN AND THE LADY WHO RAN THE STORE TOLD ME " I MUST WARN YOU THIS IS A VERY OLD KEYBOARD " I WASNT CONVINCED SO I LEFT THE STORE WENT BACK HOME AND KEPT PLAYING MY STUPID KAWAI K11 FOR 10 MORE YEARS ...
I feel like this comment is the story of my life. That and my extensive collection of movies on Laserdisc because the same stupid lady told me 425i is the best resolution we'll ever see 😐
Of all the Roland analogues this one has the best sync sweep sound. Something you might have to program but it's worth it. Partly because there is no PWM and that prevents the smart guy from using that on a sync sweep. The filter is pretty nice too (understatement)
Great synth! This sounds quite different to my 8P for some reason, both tonally and my envelopes seem a bit slower. I wonder if I have some aging components that need replacing.
I think, as these things age, they tend to develop characteristics of their own! And I bought the synth second-hand so, although these appear to be the factory presets, it is possible that the previous owner may have tweaked them to taste.
I remember hearing that patch when I was 19 years old, 14 years after this synth hit the market and not associating it with Europe at all (although I had heard “the Final Countdown“), only wishing the pitch envelope were reversed so it could sound like the virtual brass play by the members of Toto on their Yamaha CS-80.
@@jonvoxofficial Hi. I recall reading that the lead sound for "The Final Countdown" was a patch from one synth layered over a patch from a different synth, probably one digital synth (DX7 ?) & one analogue synth (JX-8P ?). This was a very common technique during the 1980s. The digital synth patch produced the quick attack & 'punch', while the analogue synth patch produced more complex harmonics & an evolving sound. (e.g. the lead from "Take On Me" is a patch from a PPG Wave 2.3 layered over a patch from a Jupiter 8.. Also, many of Madonna's bass lines were made by layering a bass patch from a Yamaha DX7 over a bass patch from a Roland MKS80 or another Roland analogue synth.) 🙂
That is totally killer and ironic that the Piano 3 patch is an octave above the first two, and yet you saw fit to play the Rhodes part recorded for Whitney Houston by Robbie Buchanan an octave lower. I wonder if anybody else has noticed that since you posted this. Did you use a PG-800 programmer for any of the tweaking you did? That is something I never learned how to do from this models front panel, even though I did learn it when I owed a JX-10. That is pretty ironic, when you stop to think about it. Even though I know it can be overused, whenever I hear the Soundtrack present, I just want to crawl inside of it and never be heard from again. When you were playing Van Halen and modulated from C to A, it immediately reminded me of the other “Jump“, meaning the big hit by the Pointer Sisters.
Ha, no, you're the first to notice the Whitney Houston thing - myself included!! I didn't use any external programming - these were pretty much the sounds that the board came with when I bought it (second-hand). I didn't get too in-depth with the programming, but tweaking the main parameters was pretty easy after a couple of hours familiarizing myself with the main ones. The Van Halen modulation came about because I worked, a few years ago, with a band where the singer could only pitch it in A. It never sounded right to me, so I started introducing the song in the copy key before modulating to the key he could sing it in! Thank you for the comments :-)
Thank you for your response. It is actually very clever what you did to make an adjustable compromise for playing “Jump”. As for my comment referring to your interpretation of the Whitney Houston number, I myself have gotten used to picking up things which often go astray in the hands of other people. That’s just the way my ear works.
Those pianos are killer. Pretty impressive how many analog acoustic piano and EP emulations I've heard from 80s synths that are actually quite good for comping and even some upfront piano parts.
