The Roland JD-990 Super JD is a module version of

Roland JD-800 The Roland JD-800 is a digital synthesizer that was manufactured between 1991 and 1996. It features many knobs and sliders for patch editing and performance control — features that some manufacturers, including Roland, had been omitting in the ...

synthesizer with expanded capabilities, which was released in 1993. JD-990 is a

multitimbral Monotimbral (from the root prefix ''mono'' meaning one, and ''timbre'' meaning a specific tone of a sound independent of its pitch) is usually used in reference to electronic synthesizers which can produce a single timbre at a given pitch when pre ...

synthesizer utilizing 'wave-table'

sample-based synthesis Sample-based synthesis is a form of audio synthesis that can be contrasted to either subtractive synthesis or additive synthesis. The principal difference with sample-based synthesis is that the seed waveforms are sampled sounds or instruments ...

technology. It is equipped with 6 MB of ROM containing sampled PCM waveforms, four sets of stereo outputs that are assignable to individual, internal, instruments, and standard

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and ...

in/out/through ports. JD-990 has a large LCD display and programming takes place through a keypad on the front panel of the unit. The unit can generate multi-timbral sounds reminiscent of the vintage analogue synthesizers but is also capable of generation of modern digital textures. There are several expansion boards available for JD-990 that can be installed in the provided expansion slot in the chassis of the unit.

Features

The JD-990 had the following features which were not available on the JD-800: # Expanded wave

ROM Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * ...

(6 MB vs. 3 MB) # Ability to use an 8 MB expansion board from the SR-JV80 series # JV-80 patch import # 4 additional outputs # True stereo engine # Individual panning of each tone in a patch #

Oscillator sync Oscillator sync is a feature in some synthesizers with two or more VCOs, DCOs, or "virtual" oscillators. As one oscillator finishes a cycle, it resets the period of another oscillator, forcing the latter to have the same base frequency. This can ...

# Frequency cross-modulation (FXM) # Matrix Modulation # Modulation of the same destination from multiple sources # Oscillator structures that allow

ring modulation In electronics, ring modulation is a signal processing function, an implementation of frequency mixing, in which two signals are combined to yield an output signal. One signal, called the carrier, is typically a sine wave or another simple ...

and serial dual filters # Additional LFO waveforms: sine, trapezoid and chaos # MIDI CC control of parameters #

Tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

sync

delay Delay (from Latin: dilatio) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Delay 1968'', a 1981 album by German experimental rock band Can * ''The Delay'', a 2012 Uruguayan film People * B. H. DeLay (1891–1923), American aviator and acto ...

# Polyphonic portamento # Analog Feel. Adds a very subtle pitch modulation to the basic waveforms intended to recreate an analogue synth's 'drift' # Performance memories # Additional

slots # One patch can keep full effects in multi mode

Expandability

The JD-990 is compatible with the following: * The SR-JV80 series of expansion boards. The SR-JV80-04 Vintage Synth board includes 255 patches programmed specially for the JD-990. * The SL-JD80 series of waveform & patch cards released for the JD-800. * The SO-PCM1 series of waveform cards. * The JD9D series of patch cards developed specifically for the JD-990.

Factory Sounds

The Factory presets of the JD-990 were created by

Eric Persing Eric Persing is an american sound designer, professional synthesist and producer based in Los Angeles, California. He is best known as the Founder and Creative Director of the music software and virtual instrument company Spectrasonics. He has ...

and Adrian Scott.

Notable users

The JD-990 has been used by artists such as

Klaus Schulze Klaus Schulze (4 August 1947 – 26 April 2022) was a German electronic music pioneer, composer and musician. He also used the alias Richard Wahnfried and was a member of the Krautrock bands Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, and The Cosmic Jokers ...

Paul Shaffer Paul Allen Wood Shaffer (born November 28, 1949) is a Canadian singer, composer, actor, author, comedian, and multi-instrumentalist who served as David Letterman's musical director, band leader, and sidekick on the entire run of both ''Late Ni ...

Steve Duda Steve Duda is an American DJ, record producer, audio engineer, manager and software engineer from Menlo Park, California. He is best known for his mid-2000s collaborative electronic music projects with Canadian record producer and DJ deadmau5 un ...

Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou ( el, Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; el, Βαγγέλης, links=no ), was a Greek composer and arranger of ...

, The Prodigy,

Apollo 440 Apollo 440 (also known as Apollo Four Forty or @440) are a British electronic music group formed in Liverpool in 1990. The group has written, recorded, and produced five studio albums, collaborated with and produced other artists, remixed as ...

ATB André Tanneberger (; born 26 February 1973), better known by his stage name ATB, is a German DJ, musician, and producer of trance music. According to the official world DJ rankings governed by ''DJ Magazine'', ATB was ranked No. 11 in 2009 and ...

, and Mirwais. Apollo 440 used the JD-990 for atmospheric sounds on the track "The Machine in the Ghost", on the album ''

Gettin' High on Your Own Supply ''Gettin' High on Your Own Supply'' is the third studio album by English electronic music group Apollo 440. It was released on 6 September 1999 in the United Kingdom by Stealth Sonic Recordings and Epic Records and in the United States by 550 ...

''. On the Faithless song "

Insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, ...

", the

pizzicato Pizzicato (, ; translated as "pinched", and sometimes roughly as "plucked") is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of instrument : * On bowe ...

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

is from a JD-990, with added

reverb Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abs ...

References

External links