The Roland Juno-60 is an
analog synthesizer
An analog (or analogue) synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog signals to generate sound electronically.
The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the Trautonium, were built with a variety of ...
manufactured by the
Roland Corporation between 1982 and 1984. It followed the Juno-6, an almost identical synthesizer released months earlier. The Juno synthesizers introduced Roland's
digitally controlled oscillator
A digitally controlled oscillator or DCO is used in synthesizers, microcontrollers, and software-defined radios. The name is analogous with "voltage-controlled oscillator." DCOs were designed to overcome the tuning stability limitations of early V ...
s, allowing for greatly improved tuning stability over its competitors.
The Juno-6 and Juno-60 were introduced as low-cost alternatives to polyphonic synths such as the
Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 and Roland's own
Jupiter-8. Its built-in chorus effect was designed to make up for the weaker sound of its single oscillator, and it went on to become its signature effect. The Juno-60 had an immediate impact in 1980s pop music, being used on hits such as "
Take On Me
"Take On Me" is a song by the Norwegian synth-pop band A-ha. The original version, recorded in 1984 and released in October of that same year, was produced by Tony Mansfield and remixed by John Ratcliff. The 1985 international hit version was p ...
" by
A-ha and "
Time After Time" by
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...
.
The Juno-60 continued to be popular in the 1990s, being used by house and techno artists. It experienced a resurgence in the 2000s and beyond, gaining popularity amongst modern pop, indie and synthwave artists. It has inspired numerous software emulations and Roland has released digitally-powered hardware synths inspired by the Juno-60.
Development
The late 1970s and 1980s saw the introduction of the first
digital synthesizers, such as the
Fairlight CMI
The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight.
— with links to some Fairlight history and photos
It was based on a commercial lic ...
and
Synclavier. Roland president
Ikutaro Kakehashi
, also known by the nickname Taro, was a Japanese engineer, inventor, and entrepreneur. He founded the musical instrument manufacturers Ace Tone, Roland Corporation, and Boss Corporation, and the audiovisual electronics company ATV Corporation.
...
recognized that the synthesizer market was moving away from
analog synthesis, but Roland had no commercially viable digital technology. He approached American engineer
John Chowning
John M. Chowning (; born August 22, 1934 in Salem, New Jersey) is an American composer, musician, discoverer, and professor best known for his work at Stanford University, the founding of CCRMA - Center for Computer Research in Music and Acou ...
about his recently developed means of
FM synthesis
Frequency modulation synthesis (or FM synthesis) is a form of sound synthesis whereby the frequency of a waveform is changed by modulating its frequency with a modulator. The frequency of an oscillator is altered "in accordance with the amplitud ...
, but
Yamaha Yamaha may refer to:
* Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below).
** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...
had already secured exclusive rights.
Prior to the release of the Juno-6, polyphonic synthesizers were expensive, and subject to tuning issues caused by the components in synthesizer's oscillator circuits being sensitive to temperature. At the time, Roland's flagship synthesizer was the Jupiter-8, released in 1981, which cost $5,000 (equivalent to $16,000 today).
With the Juno range, Roland aimed to create a polyphonic synthesizer that was less expensive than competitors, whilst also improving tuning reliability.
Release
Roland released the Juno-6 in May 1982
with a list price of US$1295. It used mostly traditional analog technology, with a
voltage-controlled filter
A voltage-controlled filter (VCF) is an electronic filter whose operating characteristics (primarily cutoff frequency) can be set by an input control voltage. Voltage controlled filters are widely used in synthesizers.
A music synthesizer VCF a ...
,
voltage-controlled amplifier
A variable-gain (VGA) or voltage-controlled amplifier (VCA) is an electronic amplifier that varies its gain depending on a control voltage (often abbreviated CV).
VCAs have many applications, including audio level compression, synthesizers and ...
,
low-frequency oscillator
Low-frequency oscillation (LFO) is an electronic frequency that is usually below 20 Hz and creates a rhythmic pulse or sweep. This is used to modulate musical equipment such as synthesizers to create audio effects such as vibrato, tremol ...
and
ADSR envelope generator
In sound and music, an envelope describes how a sound changes over time. It may relate to elements such as amplitude (volume), frequencies (with the use of filters) or pitch. For example, a piano key, when struck and held, creates a near-immedi ...
s. However, it also used
digitally controlled oscillator
A digitally controlled oscillator or DCO is used in synthesizers, microcontrollers, and software-defined radios. The name is analogous with "voltage-controlled oscillator." DCOs were designed to overcome the tuning stability limitations of early V ...
s (DCOs), analog oscillators controlled by
digital circuits
Digital electronics is a field of electronics involving the study of digital signals and the engineering of devices that use or produce them. This is in contrast to analog electronics and analog signals.
Digital electronic circuits are usually ...
. As opposed to the
voltage-controlled oscillator
A microwave (12–18GHz) voltage-controlled oscillator
A voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) is an electronic oscillator whose oscillation frequency is controlled by a voltage input. The applied input voltage determines the instantaneous oscillat ...
s of previous synthesizers, which frequently went out of tune, the DCOs ensured tuning stability.
According to ''
Sound on Sound
''Sound on Sound'' is an independently owned monthly music technology magazine published by SOS Publications Group, based in Cambridge, United Kingdom. The magazine includes product tests of electronic musical performance and recording devices, ...
,'' "The Juno-6 was the first analog polysynth that you could carry onto a stage, switch on, and play with complete confidence that the instrument would be in tune."
It also included performance controls, an arpeggiator, and an
ensemble
Ensemble may refer to:
Art
* Architectural ensemble
* Ensemble (album), ''Ensemble'' (album), Kendji Girac 2015 album
* Ensemble (band), a project of Olivier Alary
* Ensemble cast (drama, comedy)
* Ensemble (musical theatre), also known as the ...
effect.
Roland released another version, the Juno-60, in September 1982,
which added patch memory (allowing users to save and recall up to 54 sounds) and a
DCB connector, a precursor to
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 ...
.
Production of the Juno-60 ended in February 1984, when Roland released the
Juno-106,
Sounds and features
The Roland Juno-6 and Juno-60 are single-oscillator analog synthesizers, featuring a high-pass filter, a low-pass filter, a single ADSR envelope and a single LFO.
Many polyphonic synthesizers contained two oscillators, so to make up for the single oscillator, Roland implemented an onboard chorus effect as well as a high-pass filter that would boost the bass level in its lowest position.
The chorus effect is engaged using two push buttons which give slow modulation rates of 0.4 Hz and 0.6 Hz.
Additionally, the two buttons can be engaged simultaneously to create an even stronger chorus effect. Although regarded as noisy, the Juno chorus effect is considered a signature feature of the Juno-60. It was based around
bucket brigade
A bucket brigade or human chain is a method for transporting items where items are passed from one (relatively stationary) person to the next.
The method was important in firefighting before the advent of hand-pumped fire engines, whereby fire ...
designs from the 70s, such as those in the Roland DC-50 “Digital Chorus” effect unit from 1976 and uses two identical circuits incorporating two ICs (MN3009 and MN3101).
Impact
The Juno-60 was widely used in 1980s pop, house, 1990s techno music, and even today by acts including
Enya
Enya Patricia Brennan (; ga, Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin; born 17 May 1961), known professionally by the mononym Enya, is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician known for modern Celtic music. She is the best-selling Irish solo arti ...
,
Vince Clarke
Vincent John Martin (born 3 July 1960), known professionally as Vince Clarke, is an English synth-pop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been the main composer and musician of the band Erasure since its inception in 1985, and was previously ...
,
Howard Jones,
Nik Kershaw
Nicholas David Kershaw (born 1 March 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer.
Kershaw came to prominence in 1984 as a solo artist. He released eight singles that entered the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart during the ...
,
John Foxx
John Foxx (born Dennis Leigh; 26 September 1948) is an English singer, musician, artist, photographer, graphic designer, writer, teacher and lecturer. He was the original lead singer of the new wave band Ultravox, before leaving to embark on a ...
,
a-ha,
Billy Idol
William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...
,
Fingers Inc.
Fingers Inc. was an American music group from Chicago, Illinois. It consisted of producer Larry Heard and vocalists Robert Owens and Ron Wilson. AllMusic called it the "top early Chicago house group".
History
Fingers Inc. was formed in Chicago, I ...
,
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
,
Eurythmics,
A Flock of Seagulls
A Flock of Seagulls are an English new wave band formed in Liverpool in 1979. The group, whose best-known line-up comprised Mike Score, Ali Score, Frank Maudsley and Paul Reynolds, hit the peak of their chart success in the early 1980s.
The ...
,
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...
and
Wham!
Wham! (briefly known in the US as Wham! U.K.) were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981. The duo consisted of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They became one of the most commercially successful pop acts of the 1980s, selling mor ...
. It was also a key instrument in
Chicago house
Chicago house refers to house music produced during the mid to late 1980s within Chicago. The term is generally used to refer to the first ever house music productions, which were by Chicago-based artists in the 1980s.
History and origins Disco ...
.
The 2010s saw a resurgence of popularity among indie and electro acts such as
Metronomy
Metronomy are an English electronic music group formed in 1999. As of 2021, the band consists of Joseph Mount (vocals, keyboards and guitar), Oscar Cash (keyboards, backing vocals, guitar and saxophone), Anna Prior (drums and vocals), Olugbeng ...
, driving up the price on the used market.
Successors
Roland followed up the Juno-60 with the Roland Juno-106 in 1984. The Juno-106 featured MIDI, had patch storage of 128 sounds, replaced the arpeggiator with a portamento effect, and introduced Roland's now-standard left/right/push performance lever for pitch-bend and modulation.
The
Alpha Juno 1 and Alpha Juno 2 were released in 1985. These synths offered new programming capabilities, backlit screens and a new interface. The Juno 2 also featured a velocity‑ and aftertouch‑sensitive keyboard as well as a cartridge slot for storing patches. They were seen as too expensive and difficult to program, so were a commercial failure, ceasing production in 1986.
Roland revived the Juno name in the 00s, releasing the
Juno-D in 2004, the
Juno-G in 2006, the Juno-Stage in 2008, the Juno-Di in 2009 and the
Juno-Gi
Roland Juno-Gi is a music workstation/synth introduced in 2010 by Roland Corporation. As an installment in the long-running Juno series, the synthesizer is the successor to the Juno-G.
Features
The Juno-Gi is a 128-voice polyphony keyboard that ...
2010. Despite the name, these synths had nothing in common with the Juno or Alpha Juno synths, with Roland instead using the name Juno to denote 'affordable' synthesizers.
In 2015, Roland released the JU-06 as part of their Boutique range. The JU-06 is a 4-voice version of the Juno-106, using Roland's digital Analog Circuit Behaviour (ACB) technology. An updated version, the JU-06A, was released in 2019, which combines the continuous high-pass filter of the 106, the envelope-controllable pulse-width-modulation of the 60, and the filter of both switchable from the front panel.
Roland released the Juno-X in 2022, a modern synth featuring digital emulations of the Juno-60 and Juno-106 as well as an additional Juno-X model that features a supersaw waveform, velocity sensitivity and an Alpha-Juno style pitch envelope control.
Software emulations
Due to its popularity and coveted sound, the Roland Juno 60 has inspired several software plugin emulations of both the synthesizer engine and chorus effect.
* TAL U-NO-62 by Togu Audio Line, a Juno-60 emulation released in 2007.
* TAL U-NO-LX, released in 2012 as a fully rewritten replacement for TAL U-NO-62.
*
Arturia
Arturia is a French electronics company founded in 1999 and based in Grenoble, France. The company designs and manufactures audio interfaces and electronic musical instruments, including software synthesizers, drum machines, analog synthesize ...
Jun-6 V, an emulation of the Juno-6 was released in 2020.
* Roland released a software emulation of the Juno-60 in 2021 as part of their Roland Cloud subscription, which can be used with Roland's PLUG-OUT format.
Software emulations of the Juno chorus effect include:
* TAL Chorus-60 (2007)
* TAL Chorus-LX (2012)
* Arturia Chorus JUN-6 (2020)
* Roland JUNO-60 Chorus (2022)
Further reading
*
*
External links
Official Roland websiteRoland Juno-60 Software Synthesizer
References
{{Roland
Juno-60
Analog synthesizers
Polyphonic synthesizers
Musical instruments invented in the 1980s