You may not have heard his name, but you’ve almost certainly heard his keyboards throughout the records of some of the biggest artists over the past 15 years. From Bob Dylan to the Goo Goo Dolls to his more recent work with Trevor Horn (Seal, Yes, Art of Noise), Jamie Muhoberac has been a musical mastermind behind the scenes, helping each artist fulfill their vision by creating a unique soundscape.

Jamie recently invited Roland inside his studio, which is truly a keyboard player’s dream: a trip back in time with racks and racks of classic synths, as well as modern-day studio staples like Roland’s V-Synth. An avid Roland enthusiast, Jamie sat down with us and reminisced about his long history with Roland synths, and showed us his unique approach that melds the past with the present.

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Tell me about your first synths: how did you get into them, and how do they figure into your work today?

One of the major things that happened, at least for me, was that the JUNO-60 came out. And suddenly there was something that was polyphonic and affordable – that actually sounded really good – and so that really put it square in the hands of people who would never have had something like that before. It was also one of the first keyboards to have a Chorus onboard, and that kind of changed my whole outlook.

I got a JX-8P, which I always thought of as being a slightly extended JUNO-60. The JX-8P was also revolutionary because you could program stuff into it, and it had that little magnetic controller, and that was a really interesting concept: that you could take that on and off and it would fit on the side. The first time I really used one was on Seal’s first record. I used it for bass; I had it MIDI’d up to other things, but I used it as part of the bass and also for pads. I also used it for overdubs and for certain pads. It was amazing for glue. There are still producers to this day that say, “I want something JUNO-60-like,” and the JX-8P does that as well.

I got this Jupiter 8, and it was used on Scritty Politti’s record. I started playing a lot with the producer, Don Was, and I used the Jupiter 8 on my first records with him, and got into programming. It’s also used on Trevor Horn’s Frankie Goes To Hollywood. I liked that I could get choral sounds, brass-like sounds, and lately I’ve been using it for stuff that’s really really thick. It’s great for unison sounds! If you put your mind to it, you can get almost anything out of this instrument. I also loaded in sounds from cassette, such as live conga sounds, so it’s incredibly versatile. The panel is simple to use, but so cleverly designed.

Then I got the JD-800. I can’t think of any other synthesizer where it’s so easy to get to four different sounds with four different filters, where you can instantly get to controlling each of them individually. The other thing it has is a great distortion, which I use all the time, to this day. To me, it was definitely a digital machine, and to this day, it’s great because of that. You need those sounds for raw materials, because you can put them through anything you want. So it’s important to have this kind of instrument if you’re playing sessions. And that’s what I use the JD-800 for more than anything – it’s an amazing raw sound source. I actually have three of these; I bought a couple others as backups just to have around – I won’t do without the JD-800!

You mentioned that you recently got into the VP-550. How did that happen, and what do you use it for?

I was doing this record for Trevor Horn, and I one day I walked up to the VP-550, and I was blown away, because most vocoders distort and they’re very picky. But in this thing, everything that you do, it does. Every vocal inflection that you make, it truly translates it. Really accurate dynamic response. I started using it for rhythm with Trevor; [vocalizes]; and then you can take that and beat-detect it, or do whatever, and tuck it into a track, and it sounds so unique. The synth section does have what some of the original Roland vocoders had; there’s a certain frosty edge to the sound that’s very distinct, and classic. But here, the resolution is higher. The dynamics and the formants translate incredibly well. And this was apparent within the first 10 seconds of using it. It’s truly fun to use!

I see you’ve got a V-Synth front and center here. How exactly are you using it?

I use my V-Synth with my laptop; I keep some samples onboard. What I like doing with it is routing effects, and just getting a chain going on top of samples I already have. I usually use it with my own samples, and I use it a lot for pads. I’ll sample something that’s a note, and I’ll put it up and put it through a bunch of effects, and it’s really great to make these shards of sound. Having pitch and duration separate from each other just makes it so you can do anything. The way the effects are situated, they way you can chain it out is great.

I have used its presets, on a few albums. If you get to know an instrument slow enough, just letting the information bleed in, you can still keep the evocative portion of yourself awake while getting to know it. And with something like the V-Synth, that’s pretty intuitive, it works out well. You can start using it right away, but as you dig in deeper there are more and more layers of possibilities of what you can do, and that’s a great thing!

What is your approach to creating different sounds for different artists?

There are records where everything is completely live, so you have to take the approach that everything you do can be messy. For instance, I’ve done sessions with Joe Cocker, Rod Stewart, and (producer) Rob Cavallo, where you just let go and become a player.

And then there are records where it’s somewhere in the middle. So you let yourself kind of flow freely for a while, and then you have to hone in and do something specific.

A really important part of the job is to let the artist know that you’re going to take their ideas seriously. So your job is to get the best version of that possible. And there are times where you’re also being hired to find out that certain things aren’t going to work. And then they’ll ask you to come up with your own ideas.

Lastly, in this day and age, you have to become somewhat of an engineer, because there’s so much home recording going on. Albums are now being made where they’re finished before the mix. I find that I’m constantly getting rid of low end on overdubs. That’s one of the big revolutions, is that if there are things that are guitar-heavy, you can get out of the way simply by rolling off lots of low end. It sounds a lot bigger in the track – and since I’ve been doing that, I’ve been hearing things I did a lot louder in the mixes. Even the biggest, thickest, sound will just jump out of the mix if you roll off a lot of that low end – for bands and rock music, especially.

What are some of your recent and upcoming projects?

I used the V-Synth for some guitar-like squeals on Chris Cornell’s forthcoming solo release, Carry On. I also used the Jupiter-8, V-Synth, and JD-800 with My Chemical Romance, and I used the VK-7 on the last two John Mayer records. I also worked with Carmen Rizzo on his recent release, The Lost Art of the Idle Moment. I’m definitely keeping busy!

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