One of the great things about modern music production is the abundance and availability of affordable synths. It really is great. But sometimes having 10,000 options can be a bit overwhelming. So, I recently decided that I would challenge myself to produce some tracks using only 1 synth. It’s amazing how much creativity one can find within pre-set limits. You can expect to see more of these from me in the future!
I’m starting off with what is probably my all-time favorite synth: the Roland Juno-106.
When it comes to synths, today producers rave about the sound of Serum or Omnisphere. Back in the day it was all about the Juno-106 for me. It still is. To this day, to my ears there is not a synth that sounds better than that one (honorable mention goes to the Juno-60). Unfortunately, I never actually owned one. When it was released in 1984 it was an “affordable” synth, but I was 16 years-old and my job at Burger King didn’t quite pay enough for me to buy one. Thanks to the wonderful people at Arnoldt Williams Music who allowed this somewhat nerdy teenager to hang out in the store for hours at a time, I did get to play it quite a few times so I am very familiar with the sound of the real thing.
I am very impressed with the digital emulation of this synth found in the Roland Cloud. It sounds exactly as I remember it. That is the only synth you hear on this track. I intentionally kept the sound simple and phat. I’ll experiment with some modern FX on future tracks, but to start out the series I just wanted to let the wonderful warm sound of this great synth shine through. Enjoy!