Altitude 5 for the JP-8000 and Many of its Clones! – Sounds and Presets
Plus sounds for modwave, CZ-1 Mini and Absynth 6
The Roland JP-8000 has seen a bit of a reemergence in recent months, mainly because of clones and recreations. Now, Altitude 5 breathes more life into this vintage VA, as well as its imitators.
Reach for the Sky! – Sounds and Presets
‘Altitude 5’ Trance Soundset for Roland JP8000/8080/Variants by Kulshan Studios
Roland’s legendary VA synth, the JP-8000, has seen a bit of a rise in awareness in the last year or so. Sadly, it hasn’t been down to Roland themselves releasing a reissue in hardware or software, but the likes of Arturia with their JUP-8000 V and the even more exciting JE-8086 from The Usual Suspects.
To be honest, the allure of this and other early virtual analogue synths hasn’t really gone away, but the JP-8000 holds a special place in many people’s affections, not least because of its legendary Supersaw oscillator! Not many sounds can launch an entire genre, but this one did.
With this resurgence of interest in the JP-8000 and its imitators, it’s no wonder some sound designers are jumping at the chance to deliver new sound banks that bring these synths into the 21st century, whether they like it or not!
Enter Altitude 5, Kulshan Studios fifth (clue’s in the name!) sound set for the JP-8000/JP-8080 which, by virtue of the fact that Arturia’s JUP-8000 V, TUS’ JE-8086, the slightly controversial Retromulator from discoDSP and even the Adam Szabo’s Airwave can all read JP-80×0 data, is compatible with these recreations.
Drawing heavy inspiration from the Trance genre, Altitude 5 will be ticking all of Florian Pilz’s boxes! Created for Kulshan Studios by Dawnchaser, Altitude 5 does exactly what it says on the tin. Huge Supersaw, plenty of the JP’s FX, there are plenty of pads, leads, plucks and basses, all of which are royalty free.
Altitude 5 contains 50 patches for $27 and can be bought direct from Kulshan Studios website.
‘Spectrum’ for Behringer CZ-1 Mini by ASLMusicLab
Behringer seem to have hit a veritable sweet spot with their range of pocket synths! Who would have thought that you could be carrying around a 3-voice phase distortion synth in the palm of your hand for less than £100?
Not only that, they managed to squeeze in an analogue low pass filter, 16 step sequencer and an arpeggiator too! Phase Distortion synthesis first came to prominence with the Casio CZ range of synths in the 1980s, their answer to Yamaha all-conquering DX range of synthesizers.
Behringer distilled that technology into this pocket rocket, adding the analogue filter and even a chorus effect as well as a whole host of synthesis parameters that can be monitored via the built-in OLED screen. And now we have a bank of sounds for it, courtesy of ADLMusicLab.
The bank, like the synth is small, but then so is the price. For your €7, you get 16 new, original patches making full use of the CZ-1 Mini‘s features and suitable for a wide range of styles and genres. Check out the demo video!
‘Echoes of Dawn’ for Native Instruments Absynth 6 by Ilian
Brought back from the dead last year by Native Instruments, I was blown away by Absynth 6 and how much more accessible and bonkers it had become in this latest iteration. Whilst retaining all that made Absynth so unique, the user interface was somewhat more intuitive, resulting in a more rewarding experience.
It also took advantage of many modern technologies, such as MPE and surround sound support. Our very own Adam Douglas was equally blown away by it when he reviewed it last year. So it is nice to see sound designers getting to grips with it and delivery some pretty cool banks.
The latest edition to be added to Absynth’s arsenal is ‘Echoes of Dawn’, a collection of 50 presets by Ilian for Anton Anru. Described as dark and cinematic, this pack is ideal for those of you looking for moody, atmospheric and dystopian sounds.
Every patch employs eight macros to control things like distortion, balance and modulation depth with the modwheel specifically set to control brightness. There are 13 pads, 13 strings, 13 textures and 11 drones, all inspired by sci-fi and cyberpunk. Grab it now for $19.95.
‘Ocean Wave’ for KORG modwave by Ocean Swift
It sometimes feels that not a week goes by without there being a new bank of sounds for KORG’s modwave. I suppose it hints at the popularity of this synth, and why not? It’s a cracking instrument, available as keyboard, desktop/rack and native plugin.
Now our friends at Ocean Wave have released a bumper pack of presets, wavetable and samples for this highly regarded synth. Check the stats!
- 242 Performances
- 356 Programs
- 93 Wavetables
- 150 Samples
- 157 FX Presets
Plus there are a huge bunch of sequencer lanes, motion lanes and Kaoss Physics set ups. In total, 800MB of samples, 65MB of presets and 27MB of NKS-ready presets. This library will work with all versions of the modwave, including the Mk.1, Mk.2 and native plugin.
This is a huge package and could well be all your modwave needs in one, easy to access collection. It’s actually more of a toolbox for your modwave. Move beyond the presets and take the elements and mix them up however you see fit.
Better still, Ocean Wave is only €55, but for a limited time, you can pick it up for just €29.99!
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