SYNAPTIC PLASTIC

Hi,

A lot people regularly ask me where to get started with making tracks so I’ve decided that I’m gonna talk more about production here.  Discussing what people use and how that use has shaped the sound of everything and how you can incorporate this stuff into your setup to further your sound (Did I mention that Alton Brown is my hero?).  I’m starting this series of posts with a piece of kit from Roland (and a free software emulator of it by Togu Audio Line) that I believe to be more important than the 303 or 909 that everyone seems to mention.

The rave champion synth!

In the early 80’s,  Roland released a series of cheap polyphonic synths to try and dominate the market.  These cost effective and very easy to use keyboards found their way to a lot of places  and in the hearts of a lot of very important musicians and producers.  I’m referring to the ubiquitous Juno series that is comprised of these models:

Juno 6 (the first)
Juno 60 (same as the 6 but with patch memory)
Juno HS60 (with built in speakers for the “home” market-wtf?!)
Juno 106 (midi capable, cheaper more streamlined parts, less-heavy, “rougher” sound)
Juno 106s (same as above with speakers)
MKS7 (rack-mounted version with a very limited programming interface but responds comparably to the same sysex commands as the 106
Alpha Juno (similar architecture to the 106 series with more complicated waveforms but no knobs. Programming was tedious with the introduction of an “Alpha Dial”)
HS10 (same but with speakers)
Alpha Juno 2 (same as the juno but with after-touch and a few more options)
HS80 (same with speakers)
MKS-50 (rack-mounted version.)
PG-300 (External programmer to the Alpha series for those people that missed the knobs.  Can be easily be replaced by something more universal like the Behringer BCR2000)

What makes the Roland Juno series unique was it’s use of a propriety DCO voicechip (well 6 of them) that is able to produce the 3 oscillator options.   Waveforms include PULSE(with variable PULSEWIDTH MODULATION, SAW (or ramp) and a SUB (Roland seems to be quite fond of incorporating sub-oscs).   There is also an independant noise osc aswell.  Roland came up with an ingenious way to fit the 3 OSCS on one chip and keep the tuning remarkably stable.  The oscillators are still analog…they are just controlled (clocked) digitally.  One thing that suffers is that the phase always starts from the same point on note-on.  So in that sense it’s not very authentic when you want things to drift…  However it does help in making the synth punchy which is beneficial for certain sounds (bells, pianos, etc)

It features a very STRANGE 24dB/oct Lowpass Filter (also proprietary).  The “6x” models had the same filter chips found the Jupiter 4 that goes to an independent analog VCA (which is the reason it has a smoother more gummy sound then it’s followers). It also featured SELF-OSCILLATION.  Later models coupled the VCF and VCA in one chip (that had a more reserved resonance curve due to the trend of synth manufacturers pussying out a bit).  The behavior of the filter is strange..and unlike a lot of the common filter types at the time (see CEM, SSM, etc).  That and it’s built-in chorus really helps gives the Juno it’s SOUND.

That sound has been featured on a lot of famous songs…if you do a google search on the subject you’ll see massive lists of  Juno users.  But also it’s sound when used correctly is RAVE.  Juno’s changed hands often on the used market (especially when more “serious” people were so into romplers and fancy samplers at the time) allowed these things to go into the right hands.  These machines provided sounds and textures for a lot of amazing records which were later sampled by jungle producers.   Most notably, the “Mentasm” sound by Joey Beltram which started as a preset on the MKS50 (patch B86 “What the?”).  It has since been totally ripped apart by people like Bizzy B, Doc Scott, even Luke Vibert.

Some DNB producers even had these synths in their studios.  4 Hero used them extensively for all sorts of weird sounds and nice pads. They even made a commercial sample cd and secret sample dat using many of their patches that have been rinsed out by a lot of Metalheadz artists etc.  Pete Parsons swears by his 106 and it found its way on pretty much every track he did on his own and in collaboration with people like DJ Rap, DJ Trace, Crystl, Grooverider, etc etc.  So all those dope atmospheric tunes one those Promised Land cds that inspired and touched so many were under the influence of the Juno.

The juno archicture is really intuitive once you play around with it and despite that ease of use you can make many different types of sounds.  Pads, Strings, Basses, synth effects, leads, electric pianos, organs, guitars, percussive sounds…EVEN TIMPANIES!  It is a very useful and inspiring system.  Great for cutting your teeth when it comes to synthesis.

now the free stuff.

The good people at TAL have spent a lot of effort working on a VSTi version the the Juno 60. They’ve done a wonderful job with their free program U-No-62. The filters and oscillators are very accurate.  The filter even self-oscillates.  It’s one of the best and smoothest analog emulations I’ve heard in a VSTi and it’s FUCKIN FREE! (Although i’m sure they accept donations)  There are two versions available.  I find the U-No-62 to be better than the U-No-60. But the U-No-60 has a quality of it’s own that’s not bad…plus it takes up less cpu (which is good if you are running multiple instances).

j

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