Old-School Synth-Pop Tutorial/workflow Videos by Espen Kraft

Espen Kraft
Published on Mar 27, 2017

Note: this completes the current run of Espen Kraft posts on the site. If you are coming in on the main site you can just scroll down for previous posts in order. If you are coming in directly to this post, click here for all Espen Kraft posts in reverse order. There have been a couple of updates, so be sure you haven't missed anything. These are some great synth videos with that classic 80s feel.

http://www.espenkraft.com
https://soundcloud.com/espenkraft
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1dMWi...

Playlist:
1. Old-school synth-pop tutorial/workflow - Retrowave/synthwave - Free patches Roland JX-8P download
2. Italo Disco - Old-school synth-pop tutorial/workflow - Free patches DX7
3. The Golden Boy - Old-school synth-pop Synthwave tutorial/workflow breakdown & multi track
4. 80s MIDI synthesizer setup explained - tutorial/workflow 2017

Details for each:

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Studio recording - Roland JX-8P synthesizer & Juno 6 / 2

Espen Kraft
Published on Jan 3, 2017

"A studio recording in session. Preparing the last track for my forthcoming synth-pop album due february 2017.
I'm auditioning sounds for the track while multitracking as well. Tonight I was going through the sweet Roland classics JX-8P, Roland Alpha Juno 2 and the Roland Juno 6 for sounds. All analog classics.

This album will be a homage to all my childhood synth heros, bands and artists that've inspired me throughout the years.

Some of the tracks will be instrumental, but most of them will have vocals in various degree.

Listen to more of my music on:

http://www.espenkraft.com
https://soundcloud.com/espenkraft

My tracks pay homage to all synth.pop acts of the 80'ies like Howard Jones, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, New Order, Thompson Twins, Tears for Fears, Ultravox, OMD, Euryhmics, Duran Duran, Giorgio Moroder, Jean Michel Jarre, Jan Hammer, A-ha and many more.

A use mostly old gear on my tracks and among them Roland Juno 6, Alpha Juno 2, D550 and JX-8P. Korg DW-8000. Roland TR-626 drum machine. Yamaha DX7 and TX802 and drum machine RX11. I use the Novation Mininova as a vocoder on all my tracks. Effects are usually handled by Strymon and TC electronics. Sampling is done on my E-MU ESI-4000 and I mostly use that for drums."

And one more minus the synth spotting:

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Roland JX-3P or JX-8P? Smoothness Wars!

Espen Kraft

"For years these two synthesizers have divided opinions. Which one is the one to get?
The 3P with its sequencer and stylish casing or the 8P with unison and mono modes?
Do they sound the same or is it best to have them both?

Be aware that an original JX-3P has very limited MIDI functionality, it's in constant Omni-mode, and therefor cannot be in a MIDI sequencer chain without problems. It cannot receive or send MIDI sysex either.
The 8P is not 8-voice polyphonic even if the "8" should indicate that. It's 6 voices like the 3P. The 8P also have a custom fluorescent display that can be tricky to upgrade and the transformer can often become very noisy (acoustically).

The demo track that starts the video can be found here:"

Roland JX-8P - 32 new patches Vol.2 | for Synthpop/Italo/Synthwave

video upload by Espen Kraft

Espen Kraft JX-8P posts

"Roland JX-8P - 32 new original retro sounding patches for your own music.
My follow-up Vol.2 of my highly popular Vol.1 patch bank for the JX-8P.
Also included in the download is a custom PG-8X bank with the same patches.

You can purchase the patches here:
https://thepatchbay.co.uk/product/esp...
https://sound7.co.uk/products/retro-j...

The original bank can be found here:
https://thepatchbay.co.uk/product/esp...

You can also contact me directly if you want, maybe to get a bundle of several packs, or whatever. My email address is in the 'about' section at the front of my channel.

Patch names:

CLICK FOR MORE »

Roland JX-08 vs JX-8P | There will be blood...

video upload by Espen Kraft

"Can the new Roland JX-08 Boutique replace the classic JX-8P synthesizer?
More polyphony, more memory, a sequencer, arpeggiator and more. Is this enough for the 08 to beat the classic? Can the sound match up?

The JX-08 has no Sysex abilities, so it cannot import patches nor be used as a controller for the 8P. It cannot do Unison detune, so forget those extra fat patches. The envelopes are very different, and the filter does not sound the same.
You can dial in different effects settings, including parameters to mimic the classic 8P chorus, but again it's not enough to make the 08 sound good enough in my opinion.

I've taken all my custom made patches for the 8P and programmed them into the 08 and I've taken all parameters into consideration when doing this, but since so much of the sound engine of the 08 sounds so different, it's impossible to get any exact match for a lot of sounds. Some are easier than others, while some sound very different even if the settings match up, if you know what I mean.
The demo track uses these patches. They're on both machines and are triggered over MIDI. All external reverb is applied the same to both machines. I use only chorus from the 8P and 08 respectively, set up to match. The PG-8X has the 8Ps sysex loaded into it.

Another big annoyance of the JX-08 is there's no way to power this except over USB. This is a big mistake as it means ground hum and noise you'll have to use Di-boxes to get a clean recording signal. Not all of us love USB, I hate USB myself and want as little of this as possible.

* the story about the dead grandmother was fiction to illustrate my point. This is NOT legal i Norway."

Roland JX 8P 32 Retro Synth Patches Sysex Download Demo

Espen Kraft
Published on Apr 6, 2017

"A downloadable pack of 32 patches for the Roland JX-8P (or the PG-8X) in the sysex format.

Download it here:

https://thepatchbay.co.uk/index.php?r...

These patches are created by me and some of the sounds is taken directly from my album "Those Days" which is a tribute to the glorious 80s synth-pop and synthesizer sounds used in tv/movies at the time. I use the 8P extensivly on that album.

The album can be purchased here:
https://espenkraft.bandcamp.com/album...

You can also stream it on Spotify. Click the Spotify icon at the top of my channel graphics. Plese follow me in there if you do. Thanks! :)

CLICK FOR MORE »

Midnight Drive 2 | Roland JX-8P Juno 6 Emax Akai S1000 Korg DW8000

Published on Feb 8, 2018 Espen Kraft

http://www.espenkraft.com

"A sequel/follow-up to my popular track Midnight Drive.

I wanted to make the sequel a little faster and add a little more "oompf" to the bottom end. Without being TOO modern of course... can't have that! :P

The bass is the Juno 6 (sampled into the Roland S-10 sampler for sequencer playback) and all pads/strings is off the 8P

Piano is the Emax and the drums are the Akai S1000. Arpeggio ++ KOrg DW-8000. Some additional drums from Yamaha RX11 and Roland TR-626.
Novation MiniNova plays some hits as well.

There's even some Nord Lead A1 in there although you don't see it in the video.
The Nord Lead A1 provides all wind/noise effects.

Reverbs are Strymons Bluesky. Delay is TC Flashback.

The patches for the JX-8P/PG-8X can be downloaded here:
https://thepatchbay.co.uk/products/?d...

The track is conceived on the Roland MC50 sequencer, my old school MIDI setup, but ultimately multitracked in my DAW for better control at the mixing stage.

My tracks pay homage to all synth-pop acts of the 80'ies like Howard Jones, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, New Order, Thompson Twins, Tears for Fears, Ultravox, OMD, Euryhmics, Duran Duran, Giorgio Moroder, Jean Michel Jarre, Jan Hammer, Alphaville, A-ha and many more.

A use mostly old gear in my music and among them Roland Juno 6, Alpha Juno 2, D550 and JX-8P.
Korg DW-8000, Elka EK22, Yamaha DX7 and TX802 and drum machines Yamaha RX11 and Roland TR-626.

Effects are usually handled by Strymon and TC electronics.

Sampling is done on my E-MU ESI-4000, Akai S1000, Roland S-10, Emax 1, 2, Yamaha A3000."

Midnight Drive | Roland JX-8P | Synthesizer

Espen Kraft
Published on Jul 29, 2016

"Listen at Soundcloud:
http://soundcloud.com/espenkraft/midn...
Listen at Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/0PCiw7...

Listen to more of my music at: http://www.espenkraft.com

The track is dominated by the Roland JX-8P analogue synthesizer from the mid 80'ies- About 70% of the sounds on this track is from it. The sweeping synths is the Roland Juno 2 and the drums is provided by the Roland TR-626. The arpeggiated sound in the beginning is the Roland Juno 6. It's arpeggiator is synced to MIDI clock.machine.
The main solo comes from the Novation MiniNova.

Stock footage provided by http://www.beachfrontbroll.com/ under CC.
additional stock footage provided by https://videos.pexels.com under CC.
All other footage done by me with the Sony A6000.

My tracks pay homage to all synth.pop acts of the 80'ies like Howard Jones, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, New Order, Thompson Twins, Tears for Fears, Ultravox, OMD, Euryhmics, Duran Duran, Giorgio Moroder, Jean Michel Jarre, Jan Hammer, A-ha and many more.

A use mostly old gear on my tracks and among them Roland Juno 6, Alpha Juno 2, D550 and JX-8P. Korg DW-8000. Roland TR-626 drum machine. Yamaha DX7 and TX802 and drum machine RX11. I use the Novation Mininova as a vocoder on all my tracks. Effects are usually handled by Strymon and TC electronics. Sampling is done on my E-MU ESI-4000 and I mostly use that for drums."

The Controller Duel | PG-800 Vs. MPG-8 | Roland JX-8P/MKS-70/SuperJX

Published on Jan 3, 2020 Espen Kraft

"If you're looking for a controller for the Roland JX-8P/MKS-70/JX-10 you have many options.
The classic original controller, the PG-800 is great if you're a collector mostly concerned about the authenticity of your collection. The original controller works very well IF the faders are still working ok.
The MPG-8 from Retroaktiv is great if you want a new controller that has some extra features, is small and ready for the Vecoven mods for these synths.

Check it out here: https://retroaktivsynthesizers.com/

The opening music is called "We Can Do It" and is mostly made with a actual Roland JX-8P. The song can be found here: https://spoti.fi/2MNbOow"

The Perfect Pad | Twin Peaks Breakdown w/Roland JX-8P, Juno-106 & Jupiter-8

video by Espen Kraft

"The best music to any TV-series in my opinion. Only rivalled by the Miami Vice soundtrack. The synthesizers used in this video are Roland JX-8P, Juno-106 and Jupiter-8. And a touch of Alpha Juno 2 that does the signature bass line in the climax, it's mixed pretty low though.

I've made a version that is not a note for note copy of the beautiful Angelo Badalamenti original, but a free interpretation of how I remember it.
It's also a Roland fest, where I use no other synths than the JX-8P, which is also used for the pad/strings in the original (MKS-70 though), the Roland Juno-106 for the muted bells in the build up and the Jupiter-8 for the bass/piano and solo, but I use the arpeggio and play the arpeggio in a slightly off-beat way, which I show.
All played and recorded by hand, no MIDI involved except for sending a clock pulse to trigger the arp of the Jupiter-8. This comes from the DAW as MIDI and is converted in a Doepfer MSY2 that converts it to a clock/trigger pulse feeding the Jupiter-8.

The first 3 minutes are filmed with a Panasonic M7 VHS camera from 1987 and ripped over to the computer. The edit is done in Premiere Pro. All my demo songs with videos will be shot on VHS from now on. Mostly. Tutorials and breakdowns will still be in HD or half HD. I don't own any 4K cameras nor do I feel I need it. My videos will not be optimized for mobile phones in the near future either. I recommend watching my VHS videos on a CRT monitor. ;-)"

Hardware vs Software Synth Showdown with Woody & Espen Craft

Published on Apr 4, 2018 Espen Kraft

"Woody from the excellent channel "Woody Piano Shack" has thrown down the gauntlet! He's challenged me to make an original piece of music using my old hardware synths from the 80s which he will then try to recreate using software and emulations. In the box.

As I gladly accept these kinds of challenges, I've cooked up a track I think he'll enjoy recreating.
You can too as I've included the live stems for the track here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1OjT...

For my version I've used the following gear:

Yamaha RX11 - Drums
Roland D-550 - Pads
Roland Juno 2 - Synth Guitar
Roland JX-8P - Poly synth
Roland Juno 6 - Bass (sampled in S-10 for MIDI sequencing)
Yamaha DX7 - Fairlight Flutes and Italo Poly synth
Yamaha TX802 - PPG Digital Guitar Bells
Elka EK22 - Synth bells

I play live on top of the sequenced synths controlled by the Roland MC50 sequencer."

Update:

Espen Kraft hardware vs software SYNTH SHOWDOWN!

Published on Apr 14, 2018 Woody Piano Shack

"Here's the result of the hardware versus software synthesizer showdown! in this video I'll share the track created using just free software VST plugins and Reaper DAW.

To recap, Espen Kraft composed and created a track on his vintage hardware synthesizers and drum machines .The challenge was for me to re-create it using just software."

The Roland JX-8P and JX-3P doing serious harm to grumpy moods

video upload by Espen Kraft

"The Roland JX-8P and JX-3P doing double duties in this short edit from a much longer video here on my channel. They can sound remarkably similar at times, but they can each go into directions the other one cannot. So having both can be a good option. If I had to chose one, I'd go for the 8P."

Roland JX-8P or Jupiter-8? And why? | Studio time (faux live stream)

video by Espen Kraft

"Roland Jupiter-8 and JX-8P. Two very different synthesizers.
If you take away the price, cult-status and looks of the Jup-8, and THEN compare it to the 8P. Which one would you rather have? Or if I put it like this, if you had BOTH, would you always use just ONE, and why?
If I had a better broadband connection I would do the occasional (or maybe even more than that) live stream and this is how it would be, me fleshing out new ideas by hooking up a couple of synths, and a sequencer and just keep going for an hour or two. If I'm doing non-pop, sound design, paid gigs for event music or other types of music, I often sit and just play/design quite random sounds and motifs.
Today I used the Jupiter-8 and the JX-8P and a MSQ-700 sequencer on occasion. Some of the ideas that emerged will become larger pieces."

80s synth-pop/Italo disco LIVE from the studio - Old school MIDI sequenced setup

Published on Nov 23, 2017 Espen Kraft

"- Never Let You Go

80s inspired synth-pop Italo Disco LIVE in the studio

Everything is played by hand and/or sequenced live. Nothing pre-recorded.

The Emax II bass in the verse and the underlying drum-loop in the verses are lifted/sampled from my own released version of this track. The track can be heard on my website:

https://www.espenkraft.com

Gear used:
Drums: E-MU ESI4000, Akai S1000, Roland TR-626 (sequenced for the most parts, some live playing in the bridge)

Bass: Roland S-10 (sequenced) and Emax II (live playing)

Synths: Roland D-550, Roland JX-8P, Roland Alpha Juno 2, Yamaha TX802. (all sequenced)
Emax & Korg DW-8000 (live playing)

Strymon BlueSky & TC flashback delay effects

Sequencer: Roland MC50 sequencer drives everything through a Opcode 128X MIDI patchbay

Drums, Bass, Synths are recorded through a Yamaha 01V digital mixer and piped optically into Audient ID4 and into Nuendo. From there I have 2 separated stereo tracks + two mono bass tracks ending up in Nuendo for further processing/mixing.
This gives me a much better chance of balancing the mix instead of having just a stereo track of everything without the possibility to adjust the separate “stems”.

My tracks pay homage to all synth-pop acts of the 80'ies like Howard Jones, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, New Order, Thompson Twins, Tears for Fears, Ultravox, OMD, Euryhmics, Duran Duran, Giorgio Moroder, Jean Michel Jarre, Jan Hammer, Alphaville, A-ha and many more.

A use mostly old gear in my music and among them Roland Juno 6, Alpha Juno 2, D550 and JX-8P.
Korg DW-8000, Elka EK22, Yamaha DX7 and TX802 and drum machines Yamaha RX11 and Roland TR-626.

Effects are usually handled by Strymon and TC electronics.

Sampling is done on my E-MU ESI-4000, Akai S1000, Roland S-10, Emax II."

Bad Gear - Roland JX-8P - An 80s Miracle

video upload by AudioPilz

"Become a Patron and get access to music clips from the show, additional content, Bad Gear samples and even more AudioPilz madness

https://www.patreon.com/audiopilz

Welcome to Bad Gear, the show about the world's most hated audio tools. Today we are going to talk about the Roland JX-8P. Is this very Yamaha DX7 - like knobless sibling of the famous Roland Junos and Roland Jupiters an 80s miracle? Will the Roland Boutique JX-08 be worth it? Will Espen Kraft be upset? Merry Christmas!!!

Chapters:
00:00 Intro tune
01:31 Overview
05:03 Hate
05:27 Jam 1
06:25 Jam 2
07:23 Finale
08:02 Verdict
09:28 Patreon Vocoder Shoutout"

AudioPilz Bad Gear posts

Roland JX-8P Unison Detune Tutorial - Can the JX-08 Boutique do this?

video upload by Espen Kraft

"Quick demonstration of the Unison detune functionality of the original Roland JX-8P. After the news of the Boutique JX-08 from Roland I was asked if the 08 can do this. I can't find any answers in the info so far. Does anyone know? Let us know in the comments."

TAL-U-NO-LX Patch Bank by Espen Kraft | Download now

video upload by Espen Kraft

64 New Patches! Perfect for Pop, Synthpop, Italo Disco, Synthwave etc.

Find the pack here:
https://thepatchbay.io/product/tal-u-...
https://sound7.co.uk/products/tal-u-n...

The drums in the demo can be checked out in the link below. They're part of my "ultimate synthpop/Italo disco" sample pack:"

Italo Disco/SynthPop Sample Pack | Get it NOW!

"I've spent a long time recording, sampling and processing the sounds in this pack, with focus on quality and usability. Each drum sample is taken directly out of the hardware.
Many of the sounds has been made by layering different samples and effects.

This is not a free pack, but I hope you'll see it's priced quite reasonably considering the quality and quantity of the sounds. :)

Get the pack here:
https://sound7.co.uk/products/italo-d...
https://thepatchbay.co.uk/product/the..."

"WELCOME TO THE 80S - A SAMPLE PACK DRIPPING WITH AUTHENTICITY.

Looking for some truly unique samples? Don't want to settle for lesser grade sound-a-likes? This is the the 80's sample pack for you and it's simply oozing retro nostalgia.

With weeks spent recording, sampling and processing the sounds in this pack, there's an unparalleled commitment to quality and usability.

Each drum sample is taken directly out of hardware and many of the sounds have been made by careful layering of different samples and effects to give you the sound that's just ..'perfect'.

With over 600mb of construction kits, on-shots, melody loops, bass-lines and vox shots the hardware kit list in this sample packs creation includes:

Korg Poly-61
Korg DSS-1
Roland Alpha Juno 2
Roland Juno 6
Roland JX-8P
Roland R8
Roland TR-808
Roland TR-909
Roland S-10
Yamaha DX7
Behringer Model D
Sequential TOM drum machine w/EPROM binary Linndrum, DMX and Emulator chips.
E-MU Drumulator

Dr.Böhm "The German Linndrum" drum machine
Elka OMB-5 and Drumstar 80 drum machine
Simmons SDS800 drum machine/brain
BOSS DR-55
BOSS DR-110
Akai S1000
Akai S612
Akai S700
Casio SK-1
Kurzweil K2000"

Sample Format: 44khz / 24 bit

2 synths - 2 sounds | Roland JX-8P & JX-3P

video upload by Espen Kraft

"The Roland JX-3P and JX-8P. Sometimes very similar in sound, sometimes quite different. They support each other perfectly and occasionally I bring both out to do some chilled out stuff. I do this to give to birth some creativity and inspiration."

Back to 1986 - PSB & Jarre with old samplers and synths

Published on Sep 21, 2018 Espen Kraft

"This track is a mix of three favorite synthpop tracks. 'Paninaro' and 'Domino Dancing' by the Pet Shop Boys and 'Zoolookologie' by Jean Michel Jarre. It has the tempo of Paninaro and the vocal oohs inspired by Domino Dancing.
The signature 'voice' sample in my track is created by myself by sampling a friends voice on another track of mine and processing it heavily and sampling it back into the Emax.
Most of the sounds in this track is samplers and most, if not all the samples are my own work, including the thunder in the beginning and other effects.

The track is called "Americana" and in reality this was the nickname of a girl I once knew. Way back and back I was....

https://open.spotify.com/album/2fsq51...
https://soundcloud.com/espenkraft

Btw, this track has been 15 years in the making.

I use DistroKid for all my releases onto streaming services.
Try out Distrokid yourself and get a 7% discount off your first year by using this link:
http://distrokid.com/vip/espenkraft

Growing up I listened to so much synth-pop and it's only natural that my own tracks takes inspiration from many of the acts I loved back then. I still love them and listen to them!

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Roland MKS-80 Super Jupiter | The Prince of Analoge 80s Power!

video by Espen Kraft

[Clarification in case the synth police shows up: The MKS-80 is closer to the Jupiter-6 than the Jupiter-8.

Internal chips:
Jupiter-6: 12x CEM3340 VCO, 6x IR3109 VCF, 6x CEM3360 Dual VCA
MKS-80 (to serial #511799/early models): 16x CEM3340 VCO, 8x IR3109 VCF, 8x CEM3360 Dual VCA (4 for X-Mod)
MKS-80 (serial #511800 and higher/later models): 16x IR3R03 VCO, 8x IR3R05 VCF/VCA, 4x CEM3360 Dual VCA (for X-Mod)

The Jupiter-8 also used a Roland IR3109 IC for the VCF, BA662 for the VCA, and IR3R01 for Envelopes.

Via wikipedia: "The voice architecture is almost identical to the Jupiter-6 synthesizer, the service manual states that "The module board of MKS-80 features the following in addition to that of JP-6, its brother module. 1) HPF. 2) Low boost circuit in the 2nd VCA. 3) DC supply current boost circuit (IC50)." The unit is fully capable of producing most of the Jupiter-6's signature sounds, in addition to many sounds unique to the MKS-80. In February 1985, Roland started producing a new revision of MKS-80, known as "Rev 5", that had no ties with any previous Jupiter's hardware, as it used a new generation of both Roland VCO's, VCA's and filter. The Rev 5 filter was also used in JX-8P, JX-10 and MKS-70 synthesizers."

And the following which I thought intersting:

"Confusion with Jupiter 8
In 1998, UK magazine Sound on Sound published an article about MKS-80. It contained a critical typo. Instead of referring to Jupiter 6, the comment about the rack version constantly referred to Jupiter 8, leading to serious confusion and even spreading myths across various online forums. However, once we read that article and replace numbers 8 and 6, the whole part of the article suddenly makes sense: 'The MKS80 delivered the entire Jupiter 6 wish-list and more, including a much larger memory and upgraded internal electronics. Now let's get one thing clear -- despite a few commentators postulating otherwise, the MKS80 had nothing to do with the Jupiter 8. Although there were ultimately to be two versions of the instrument (one with the Jupiter 6's Curtis oscillators, the other with custom chips developed by Roland themselves) both retained the architecture of the Jupiter 6, sounded identical to the Jupiter 6 and, apart from their many enhancements, were the rackmount module versions of the Jupiter 6.'." Also see this post for The Story of the Roland JUPITER-8 & JUPITER-6.]

--- That said, here is the description for the video above:

"Roland MKS-80 - the Super Jupiter. Rolands last analog VCO synth and one that packs all the punch of the mighty Jupiter 8 and 6 into one box

With 8 voices, 16 VCOs, fast envelopes, cross modulation, sync, 2 ADSRs, a very flexible LFO and velocity and pressure sensitivity over Midi, the Super Jupiter was the professional musicians dream module in the mid 80s. Used on countless hit records.

Support this channel on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/espenkraft​

Through the years the MKS-80 came out in a Rev.4 and a Rev.5 and the debate over which one sounds the best never seems to stop. I don't care about that at all. The versions used in this video are both Rev.5, but as I actually compare these to a Jupiter 8 here, no one should tell me that the Rev.5 can't sound like it. It DOES sound like it, down to 99% and that's enough for me.

A big thanks to Joakim Tysseng for the loan of the Jupiter 8 and a big thanks to Brynjulf Blix for the one MKS-80 and the MPG-80 programmer. Anders Jensen has as always been very kind too and thanks for the other MKS-80 Anders, as well and for all the driving!

The other MKS-80 programmer I use here is from Retroaktiv and that's a new one. I did a demo of that just a couple of videos before this so check that out if you want to."