The Story of the Roland Juno - Rise of the DCO

A documentary short detailing the history of Rolands 1980's Juno series synthesizers.

[BruceRichardsonMusic]

Don't forget: Roland had three separate MIDI implementations in the Juno 106. In a mode designed to let one J106 keyboard to control a connected duplicate via the sliders, it passed SYSTEM EXCLUSIVE messages. Once software sequencers gained the ability to record these SYSX messages in real time, the Juno 106 became the first MIDI keyboard to offer programmable filters!!! I still have my original Juno 106, purchased immediately after it was released in '84. I paid around $1200 for it, as I recall. That synth got me a LOT of gigs, and continued to serve me for decades to come. And in a stroke of good luck, I never had to replace a voice card.

[SamStormsKBD]

These videos of the classics synths are pure gems here on YT. Thank the algorithm that brought me here!

[jdkoftinoff]

The Juno 60 was my first synth ever! Thank you for the memories!!

[rayderrich]

My first synth ever was the Roland D-10, I never had the pleasure of owning a Juno series, but this docu was very nice to watch, thanks.

[jeffperonto]

WOW. I love your attention to detail and coverage of the Juno line. Thanks!!!!

[edenhunter]

I bought the Juno 6 when it first came out. A poly synth for about $1000! It kept me off the streets for a few years - I reckon I teased every sound the thing could make out of it and had a bunch of fun doing it.

[TonyAndersonMusic]

Love your channel and these films! And your music!

[jeffblack]

I had another DCO synth - the JX-3P. It wasn't immediately as programmable, but if you patiently changed one parameter at a time, you had a dual oscillator synth with full midi and 32 memories that didn't go out of tune. Back in the days when even midi-ing one keyboard to another was experimental, I had someone else's Yamaha DX7 providing the attack, while the JX-3P did the analogue. It sounded faboulous in the studio and i haven't been able to reproduce that combination since. So I was delighted to find it included in the Roland System 8

[gallo]

Awesome documentaries you are posting here on YouTube !!! I wrote and recorded my 1st solo cd...Psycho Bitch(available on iTunes, spotify, etc..) in its entirety using my Juno 60 !!! such an amazing synth !!! J.J. Alemany

[AveMcree]

Amazing channel! Great voice & narration skills!

[JB-uotn]

What a lovely video. I found it because I recently thought about buying a used Juno-6 just for fun, having owned one several decades ago.

To my total shock, these used synths now go for the same price as a modern day Oberheim. Unbelievable. 30 years ago people were literally giving them away. Not joking, I found a Polysix in the dumpster once. And bought a Prophet-600 for 100 dollars.

Still beat myself over the head for not buying more stuff back then (and for selling all of my remaining analog synths in 1997).

Anyway, the Juno is a lovely sounding machine. This video brought back many memories, thanks!

[RundFyrkant]

The chorus actually has three modes. If you press both mode I and II simultaneously it will combine the two to a third mode as a fun easteregg. Thanks for the video

[craig_z]

First synth I ever touched, back in 1988 high school music class. Instant amazement to a 12 yr old.

[Hybridi]

Cut my teeth on these in the 90s when they were cheap as chips. The Juno 106 was my first learning path into programming synths. Awesome video!

[infestedalien]

Thank you soo much to do these documentaries! For me this is pure gold since I love synthesizers and work in the electronic field. History is what everyone needs to look at to fully understand what we should move forward to in the future.

[mrmostlyharmless]

Super educational and a great synthwave tune you composed there!

[mattmar]

Thank you so much for this. I absolutely adore this synth and had a wonderful time watching this.

[karmicselling]

Thanks for the great vid. Had a Juno 6 for many years but I got lazy. If I had bought the 60 instead I would probably still have it.

[mrz]

I'd wanted a Juno ever since the first edition came out when I was in school, but never could scrape together the money and spousal approval at the same time. When Cherry Audio unleashed their DCO-106 plugin, I fell all over myself buying it. For thirty clams, I can finally, all these decades later, scratch my Juno itch. Happiness is. 😁 Now to get the GP-10 and the laptop talking to each other so I can trigger the thing from my guitar.

[Johnsormani]

Very nice video, especially with the technical details on the chips. I had a Juno 6 back in the early 80ies.