Roland System-8 FM tones and melodies

video by MIDERA

"The first thing I did - wasn't this video. I first compared my JX3P to my System-8. I came to realize they are just so dissimilar. I can't tell if my JX3P is out of balance or the System 8 just doesn't do it justice, but anyway, I didn't like what I had done for a demo, so I dropped it and went to this, something I had been thinking about doing.

I spent the first few nights with the System 8 trying to see if it could replace my SY77. I learned very quickly that, no, it can't. The SY77 is the Prophet 5 of the FM world, in my opinion. Just super powerful, sounds beefy/sharp/thick, any of those adjectives. I just don't really get that feeling from the System 8. I think it's one of those things where it's a Jack of all trades, master of none. I haven't really been able to feel how the S8 will fit in to my studio/setup. Because of the first paragraph (comparison of JX3P and S8) I don't even think I could replace my JX3P either, so now I've got 3 devices where I previously had two.

I've stopped caring about how the S8 looks, and it DOES sound phenomenal, it just doesn't warrant me replacing anything else and that's a problem for me. It does have a ton of hands on controls, but I never feel like using them with FM anyway, so that doesn't really matter. Plus, the knobs just don't feel classy. But that's obviously a matter of taste. I have a lot to say on this matter - but honestly, I'll save that for the JX3P v S8 demo (that is, in no way, a very good demo/comparison).

So what do we have here? A bunch of FM-ish patches like pads and bells. So - hopefully you enjoy everything I did here. I messed up occasionally. Sorry about that.

Used Eventide Blackhole VST for reverb."