The Roland JD-990 Super JD is an updated version of the Roland JD-800 synthesizer in the form of a module with expanded capabilities, which was released in 1993 by Roland Corporation. 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 utilising PCM

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 instrument ...

technology. In a sense it is not a true module version of a JD-800 as it has many expanded features and as a result the two are incompatible in exchanging presets. 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 Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...

in/out/through ports. JD-990 has a large

LCD A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers to display information. Liquid crystals do not em ...

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 w ...

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

Tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

sync Sync and synch are abbreviations of synchrony, or synchronization, the coordination of events to keep them in time. The opposite of synchrony is asynchrony. Sync or synch may also refer to: Computing and technology *Sync (Unix), a command and a ...

delay Delay or DeLay may refer to: People * B. H. DeLay (1891–1923), American aviator and movie stunt pilot * Dorothy DeLay (1917–2002), American violin instructor * Florence Delay (born 1941), French academician and actor * Jan Delay, stage name ...

# 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, keyboardist, recording artist and music producer based in Los Angeles, California. He is best known as the Founder and Creative Director of the music software and virtual instr ...

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 musician, actor, and comedian who served as David Letterman's musical director, bandleader, and sidekick on ''Late Night with David Letterman'' (1982–1993) and ''Late Show with D ...

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 u ...

Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou (, ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; , ), was a Greek musician, composer, and producer of electronic, progressive, ambient, and classical orchestral music. He composed ...

The Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboardist, and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured Rapping, MC and vocalist Maxim (musician), Maxim, dancer and occasi ...

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

ATB ATB or atb may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ATB (DJ) (born 1973), German DJ and music producer * Active Time Battle, a role-playing video game mechanic * Andy Timmons Band, a band led by guitarist Andy Timmons * Atelier-Théâtre Burkinab ...

, 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 Faithless are an English dance music Band (rock and pop), band that formed in 1995, with its core original members being Rollo Armstrong, Rollo, Sister Bliss and Maxi Jazz. During the band's initial period of success, Sister Bliss and Maxi Ja ...

song "

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

", 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/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...

is from a JD-990, with added

reverb In acoustics, reverberation (commonly shortened to reverb) is a persistence of sound after it is produced. It is often created when a sound is reflected on surfaces, causing multiple reflections that build up and then decay as the sound is a ...

References

External links