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Synth Legends: TB-303

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TB-303 Documentary – Bassline Baseline (2005)

Published by: alexfox101

tb-303

Designed by Tadao Kikumoto in 1982, the TB-303 is a bass synthesizer with a built-in sequencer originally designed for bands or guitarists practicing without a bass player. It features a single analog oscillator with two waveforms (saw or square) and has a simple VCF filter with resonance, cut-off, and envelope controls. There are also knobs to adjust tuning, envelope decay, tempo and accent amount. The TB-303 was also  made to accompany the TR-606 drum machine pictured below. More

Synth Legends – Howard Jones | JUPITER-80

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Published by  on Mar 21, 2007

1981 JUPITER-8

Now available for your JUPITER-50 and JUPITER-80 is the legendary JUPITER-8. Get your free JUPITER Synth Legends Volume 1 sound collection download here. In the meantime, here are some JUPITER-8 facts.

Unlike anything else, the JUPITER-8 had a split keyboard, oscillator sync, cross modulation and polyphonic portamento. Its broad sonic range meant the electro pop community quickly adopted it as their synth of choice, and it appeared on the roster of stadium-filling artists such Duran Duran, Heaven 17, Howard Jones, and Erasure. Its big, room-filling sound defined the pop-music of a generation. More

JUPITER Synth Legends Volume 1 Now Available

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JUPITER Synth Legends Volume 1 Now Available

JUPITER Synth Legends Volume 1 is the first in a series of free vintage sound libraries for the JUPITER-80 and JUPITER-50. The sound libraries include tons of sounds from some of Roland’s most iconic instruments and use Roland’s powerful and flexible SuperNATURAL® synthesizer sound engine to capture the very essence of these historical synths. Volume 1 showcases all-new Tones, Live Sets, Registrations, and arpeggio patterns, including 123 newly created single Tones and 512 new Live Sets. Live Set architecture and multi-effects of the JUPITERs are fully maximized with the new collection, giving players a huge selection of “dream” synth combinations.

JUPITER Synth Legends Volume 1 honors these seven legendary Roland instruments from the 1980s:

  • JUPITER-8 (1981)
  • TB-303 (1982)
  • SH-101 (1982)
  • JUNO-60 (1982)
  • JUPITER-6 (1983)
  • JUNO-106 (1984)
  • D-50 (1987)

Download the free sound libraries here: www.JUPITER-80.com.

In honor of this release, Roland is also hosting the Roland JUPITER #SynthLegends Giveaway. Synth fans in the U.S. can enter the contest for a chance to win a JUPITER-50 fully pre-loaded with JUPITER Synth Legends Volume 1. Feel free to join us @Roland_US on Twitter using the hashtag #synthlegends to share your all-time favorite synthesizers and synth sounds. We’d love to hear from you!

Synth Legends

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Published by  on Feb 14, 2006

In honor of the JUPITER Synth Legends, Volume 1, this post is dedicated to the real life legends who pioneered the movement during the golden era of synthesizers. The above video, “Synthesizer Medley” features Howard Jones, Herbie Hancock, Thomas Dolby, and Stevie Wonder during the 1985 Grammy® Award Ceremony in Los Angeles, California. We chose this video as it symbolizes the time in history that made many of these sounds legendary. More

2012 John Lennon Songwriting Contest

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2012 John Lennon Songwriting Contest

Roland and BOSS are proud co-sponsors of the 2012 John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Hurry and get your entries in! Session II closes December 16, 2012, at midnight PST.

The John Lennon Songwriting Contest is an international songwriting contest that began in 1997. The Contest is open to amateur and professional songwriters who submit entries in any one of 12 categories. The JLSC is open year-round and features two Sessions — with 72 Finalists, 24 Grand Prize Winners, 12 Lennon Award Winners and one “Song of the Year.”

The Amp Guy

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Behind the scenes with Ritchie Fliegler during a recent GA-Amp artist impression video shoot in Burbank, California. If anyone knows amps it’s Ritchie, he wrote several articles and two books on amplifiers, “Amps! The Other Half of Rock ‘N’ Roll” and “The Complete Guide to Guitar and Amp Maintenance: A Practical Manual for Every Guitar Player” both of which are considered expert reference works. More

Steve Stevens V-Guitar Experience Interview

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On Thursday, November 8th, Steve Stevens demonstrated his playing style and his use of guitar synths at the V-Guitar Experience event at Guitar Center in Hollywood, California. On stage with Steve were the GR-55 guitar synth and the G-5 Stratocaster®. The V-guitar experience tour consisted of 20 dates that started on September 22 through November 25th in various locations around the world. More

JUPITER Synth Legends Giveaway

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JUPITER Synth Legends Giveaway

UPDATE: The entry period has ended. Thanks to all who participated. The winner will be announced on or about December 21, 2012.

Enter for a chance to win a JUPITER-50 fully pre-loaded with all the sounds from the JUPITER Synth Legends Volume 1 collection.

With the JUPITER Synth Legends sound collection, Roland is proud to unveil a series of free sound libraries for the JUPITER-80 and JUPITER-50 synthesizers. Featuring all-new Tones, Live Sets, Registrations, and arpeggio patterns, the collection uses the powerful and flexible SuperNATURAL® sound engine to capture the essence of a number of historical synths. The Live Set architecture and multi-effects capabilities of the modern JUPITERs are fully maximized as well, giving players a huge selection of “dream patches” comprised of the most legendary synths ever produced.

The Arrival of The Digital Guitar Amp

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In this video Michael “Nomad” Ripoll demonstrates the GA-112‘s channel switching capability. For Michael, the GA Amp is a welcoming extension to his guitar rig because it covers a wide range of frequencies which eliminate the need for separate amps. This enables him to travel lighter and with less bulk. Furthermore, the amp’s wide frequency range gives hime the freedom to incorporate guitar synthesizers which vary in sounds and tones. More

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