Digital preservation is the new challenge for synths, just as it is in areas like games. And the Roland JP-8080 got a big leg up with a free and open source release from The Usual Suspects available this month, the JE8086. It’s one of several recent emulations, so let’s talk about why the 1998 synth attracts such unique passion.
The free Super
The Usual Suspects is a community-driven effort to preserve digital instruments of yore. They’re not just doing rough, sounds-alike modeling. They’ve actually emulated the DSP chip itself, the Motorola 56300. The 56K family has had a long, illustrious history dating back to the 80s, appearing even in the likes of workstations from NeXT, Atari, and SGI. In synth land, it’s the DSP brains behind the Access Virus A, B, C, TI / Clavia Nord Lead 3 / Waldorf Q, Microwave II / Novation Supernova and Nova, among others. (See this emulation.)
That’s allowed The Usual Suspects to be prolific with various rare Access, Nord, and Waldorf synths, which Synth Anatomy has dutifully covered.
While it’s free, the instrument here does require a little more effort on your part. Because it relies on the original ROM, it’s your job to hunt that down and manage some other wrinkles in the installation process.
But it sounds really, really good, and aided by some improvements to their JUCE-based UI framework released earlier this year, it also sports a friendly, authentic rendition of the original’s panel.
And yes, you can make trance with this. Can you ever:
Yes, technically, this skirts some legal gray areas (though likely only once you find the ROM); you’ll notice there’s no Roland logo on there. But past experience has shown that community-driven projects frequently coexist happily with commercial/proprietary ones, even informing and encouraging developments.
Downloads:
Find the code for this and all The Usual Suspects’ GPLv3-licensed projects on GitHub:
https://github.com/dsp56300/gearmulator
For fans of the 8080 and supersaw, of course, you’ll want all the emulations. I’m glad to have the modernized Arturia take on this, as it also puts the sound engine in the context of a more flexible synth architecture.
The original, the Arturia, and the love of the supersaw
Aruria’s JUP-8000V also ventures into this territory, with novel features like a Multi-Arp with Euclidean generator (and other extras). (I’m still going to opt for this emulation for when I want something that sounds closer to the original — or that runs on Linux.)
Lorenzo Senni is one artist who has obsessed over the unique character of the 8080 and its Super Saw waveform more than just about anyone else. (I’m reminded of the short-lived TV series Totally Obsessed, featuring a guest organizing their lives around Boo Berry Crunch. Like that, but Super Saw.)
Lorenzo also did a nice explainer of that supersaw:
And I mean really into it:
As heard on releases like this:
And let’s stand back and admire the JP-8080. We can even go back and read the 1998 reviews, like this one from Sound on Sound‘s Paul Ward:
Roland JP8080: Analogue Modelling Synthesizer
And a modern-era review of the original hardware: