Squeezing a Classic Jupiter 4 into a MicroFreak – Sounds and Presets
Plus sounds for the OB-X8 and KORG multi/poly
4,6 / 5,0 | 
How do you fit a Jupiter 4 into an Arturia MicroFreak? Why, you sample the heck out of one and load it into the other!
Sounds and Presets
Roland Jupiter 4 Soundset for Arturia MicroFreak
Arturia’s MicroFreak is already a massive synth packed into a tiny box. And Arturia continues to make it bigger and better with every firmware release! Its crazy but immensely useful hybrid architecture, and pressure-sensitive touch keyboard with full-on polyphonic aftertouch makes it quite the unique beast.
Nick Klimenko thought it wasn’t quite enough, though. He managed to get his hands on a Roland analogue classic, 1978’s Jupiter 4, and sampled it to within an inch of its life. 330 samples in total that captured the very essence of the first Jupiter.
With version 5 of the MicroFreak’s firmware, Arturia introduced user sample importing, a sample playback engine, 3 new granular engines, enhanced envelopes, and more. Quite how the MicroFreak doesn’t explode is beyond me.
Aaaaaanyway… A short while after, these samples were squeezed into 100 unique presets that cover a wide range of sound types and genres, poured into a MicroFreak and are now available for your delectation.
Having this much fun with something so tiny ought to be illegal! To stuff these Jupiter 4 sounds into your little MicroFreak, simply buy them here for €25.
OB-X8 Stereo Bank by INHALT
Matia Simovich, aka INHALT, has a reputation as a great preset sound designer. In fact, they were responsible for a number of original factory presets for a wide range of synths, including Oberheim’s OB-X8.
In this new bank, they have focused on the OB-X8’s ability to split four voices to each left and right output channels, a function that gives incredible width and a naturally occurring chorus effect. If you thought your OB-X8 sounded big already, you need to hear these!
Comprising of 32 unique patches, this bank is presented in two ways. Each patch has a single and double version, so you as a user can decide whether you want the split stereo version of if you’d just like to have the standard single patch to play.
Check out the lengthy demo and I’m sure you will want to grab these for your OB-X8 straight away. INHALT’s OB-X8 Stereo Bank can be bought for $29.99 from their online store here.
Sound Bank ’79 for Cherry Audio Yellowjacket by Polydata
Cherry Audio got a lot of love for their latest synth plugin release, the superb Wasp recreation ‘Yellowjacket‘, which beautifully emulates that classic EDP synth from the U.K. that was Chris Huggett’s first foray into the commercial synthesizer world.
We’re also very familiar with Polydata who have an ongoing series of patch banks that we have covered a number of times in this column entitled ‘Sound Bank ’79. Designed for a range of software and hardware synths, these are sounds that could easily have been made in 1979.
They’re wonky, quirky yet eminently usable tones that are dripping in nostalgia and are perfect for anyone wanting to give their compositions an air of vintage authenticity. And now, Yellowjacket has received the Sound Bank ’79 treatment.
There’s little, if any, need to push your synth through any FX to get that vintage quality, as Polydata have baked this in right out of the box. If you’re making music that needs to sound like late 70s TV or adverts, this bank, and all of its siblings, is just what you need.
Sound Bank ’79 for Yellowjacket can be bought here for just $15.
Phantasm for Arturia JUP-8000 V
I’ve said it before, and I’ll happily say it again, but Arturia’s inclusion of their JP8000 recreation in the recently released V Collection 11 was a master stroke, beating Roland to the punch and giving everyone a chance to explore this legendary synth.
It pains me to say that the hardware is likely to be classed as vintage these days, making this correspondent feel decidedly ancient! But it is a great synth and the Arturia version captures that sound perfectly. So it’s no surprise that LFO.store have jumped on the bandwagon.
Phantasm has something for everyone, but with this synth being inextricably linked with genres such as trance, house and techno, you probably know what’s coming down the tracks. Admittedly, there’s more to dig into here, so do check out the demo.
So whip out your glow sticks, grab some water, a whistle and start banging out trance classics in no time! You can pick Phantasm for Arturia’s JUP-8000 V here for just €15.
PPG Wave Collection for KORG multi/poly by The Digital Lifestyle
We close this week with another collection of sounds from Ian Dixon, aka The Digital Lifestyle. Ian is quite the expert when it comes to KORG synths, not least their latest range of Pi-based instruments. This new bank focuses on what many are saying is KORG’s best synth in years, the amazing multi/poly.
The multi/poly is a true powerhouse and capable of doing many forms of synthesis. Ian has taken classic wavetables from the granddaddy of wavetable synths, the PPG Wave. Taking these classic sound sources, Ian has painstakingly recreated many of those classic PPG sounds.
Similar to the PPG Wave, the multi/poly takes these distinctly digital sound sources and passes them through multi/poly’s superb analog-modelled filters to deliver a quite unique tone. There is something quite magical about taking 8-bit sound sources and then using analog-style filtering to turn that gritty texture into something very easy on the ear.
TGrab the full pack of 52 performances, including the 32 original PPG wavetables, here for just £9.00! You can grab 5 free performances to try these sounds out here!
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