Roland JV-1080

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Roland JV-1080

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W × H × D (mm)	482 × 88 × 281
Rack units	2U, full width
Weight	5.0 kg
Type	Fully-editable ROMpler sound module
Manufacturer	Roland
Release date	1994
Standards	General MIDI
Parts	16
Max polyphony	64
Normal presets	768 (total) 512 (preset, 4 banks of 128 patches) 128 (user) 128 (General MIDI)
Drum presets	12 (total) 8 (preset, 4 banks of 2 kits) 2 (user) 2 (General MIDI)
Expansion	4× SR-JV80
Effects	Reverb, Chorus, 3× EFX
← Roland JV-90
Roland JV-2080 →

The Roland JV-1080, or JV-1080 for short, is a 64 voice, 16 part multitimbral rackmount synthesizer module. It is notable for being one of the most popular synthesizer to be used throughout the 90s, being used in countless pop songs, video games and more. It is a direct successor of the Roland JV-90, however it also borrows a lot of elements from the Roland JD-990 (as well as a few patches).

Notable changes from the prior lineup include an increase of polyphony from 28 voices (or 56 if using a VE-JV1 or VE-GS1 card) to 64 in total, regardless of expansion status. Multitimbrality has also been doubled, from 8 parts to 16 parts. Expansion abilities have been greatly, er, expanded, by including additional board slots on the motherboard, something which would be further increased with its successor. It features 448 unique internal waveforms, up to four can be used in a single patch and each one can have its own WG section, Time variable filter (TVF), Time variable amplitude (TVA). Two tones can also share a signal path in different structures, which can provide additional tone features such as a booster or a ring modulator. It also features a Multi-Effector EFX (or EFX for short), which can have 3 independent settings be active at a time, from a configurable choice of 40, as well as retaining the reverb and chorus from the JV-90.

In simpler terms, this thing was a beast for 1994 standards, and still is very usable now. It's really no wonder Roland still features sounds from this unit in their contemporary offerings.

Terminology

• Tone - refers to a single unit of sound. Each tone can have its own pitch, filter, amplitude, as well as envelopes to control all of these, and two assignable low-frequency oscillators.
• Patch - consisting of up to four individual tones, playing at once. Can be saved into user memory and can be used alongside a performance
• Performance - consisting of up to 16 individual patches. Each one may be played independently, at different pitches, panning and volume, and has its own independent complement of CC's and settings.

Editing

There is plenty of software that can be used to edit the JV-1080, such as ChangeIt! and emagix SoundDiver, among other freeware options. The rest of the section will document select parts of a patch in more detail.

Common

Analog Feel

This adds a subtle pitch fluctuation to the waveform, helping it feel more "analog".

Stretch tune

This will make high notes higher in pitch than normal, and low notes lower in pitch than normal, similar to an acoustic piano. The higher the setting, the more pitch is affected.

Priority

Controls how voices are culled if exceeding the 64 voice limit. Last eliminates the oldest voice, with Loudest eliminating the quietest voices.

Velocity Range

This option enables or disables the velocity range of a tone. This can be further configured with the Velocity Range settings.

Structure

There are 10 different types of structure, that configure how two pairs of tones (1 and 2, or 3 and 4) will behave.

• Type 1 is a simple passthrough, providing up to four total independent voices, each with their own filter and amplitude section.
• Type 2 has the first WG (Wave Generator) section go through the first TVA, and then is merged with the second WG (which has not been modulated yet) into both TVF's, ending in the second TVA. Useful for enhancing filter response, according to the manual.
• Type 3 is similar to Type 2, however between the first TVA and the dual TVF, there is a booster section. The booster section acts like a distortion/clipper effect.
• Type 4 is similar to Type 3, with the booster being moved from between the first TVA to between the two TVF sections.
• Type 5 is similar to Type 3, with the booster being replaced by a ring modulator.
• Type 6 is similar to Type 5, but the ring modulator here can be mixed with the dry signal from Tone 2 to dial back the potential harshness of this effect.
• Type 7 is sort of similar to Type 5, however the first TVF is moved in front of the first TVA, right after the first tone's WG has been processed. The ring modulator now sits between the first TVA and the second TVF.
• Type 8 is similar to Type 7, however the dry signal from Tone 2 can be mixed with the ring modulator output similar to Type 6.
• Type 9 has both tones pass through individual TVF sections, but the first tone passes through its own TVA first, then gets ring modulated with the second tone, and then the final result passes through the second TVA.
• Type 10 is like Type 9, but like with Type 6 and Type 8, the ring modulator can be mixed with the post-TVF output of the second oscillator.

(do the rest of this please) (i will !!! :) )

External links

Roland JV-1080 Owner's Manual