General Music Chat

Irminsul wrote "Yeah thats me, and the instrument in question is my Roland JX-305. It's basically a GrooveBox with a keyboard attached to it. I love the thing because 1) I'm a Roland fanatic and 2) it's very small, light and easy to travel with. My 88 key piano weighted keyboard is a BEAR to haul around."

You're a Roland fanatic, so you say, so let me ask a quick question. I am thinking of getting a Roland Juno-D. What is your opinion of it?

I just need a keyboard to full in the background and add ambience to a slowcore project I am working on. I am not a keyboardist per se; but I'm doing all of the instruments myself. I don't intend on becoming a keyboardist, so that is why I am looking for more of an entry level keyboard, but I still need it to be versatile with ultra-mega-heavy emphasis on being able to create new age-y sounds.

(For the record, I'd like to hear from anyone who has an opinion on the subject, not just Irminsul. I just posed the question towards him since he is a Roland fanatic.)

First off, I have to get something out of the way....I love ANYTHING Roland makes. Phew. There.

Now that I've said that, I love the Juno-D because it not only made me remember why I was just in love with my old Roland Juno 60 years and years ago when it first came out (sheesh, how time moves...wasn't it in the mid 80s??) - but that the Juno-D has all that familiar analog Juno sound with all the modern improvements. For your project and your ability I'd say go for it.

The one vintage (late 80s) keyboard I have hung onto and will NEVER let go is my Roland Jupiter 8. That was pre-MIDI, and was the first analog commercial synth to offer a split keyboard. Some years ago, during the peak of the techno/trance/DJ thing, I had DJ's offering me several thousands for that thing. Not a chance

Thanks for the input. I saw that it got great reviews everywhere I looked, but not being a native keyboard player, I wasn't sure. I primarily play string instruments, so I never bothered to keep up on keyboard information.

I'll be back in the states in a little over a week and I'll pick one up. I'll let you know how it goes.