Members kpatz Posted June 18, 2008 Members Share Posted June 18, 2008 Last night, I was playing around with my recently acquired Rev. 3 MKS-80. My goal was to recreate a sound that was on a JX-8P I had last winter and subsequently sold. It was a sound in the internal bank, I28, called "ORCHE *1*". I don't know if it was a preset or something loaded/programmed by a prior owner, but it was a wonderful sound, and worked perfectly in the song I created for my late sister. Here's a clip of that sound: JX-8P Orche 1 Pad Basically it's just 2 slightly detuned sawtooths run through the JX's built-in chorus, with a slowish attack and release. Now for the MKS-80: The MKS doesn't have a built-in chorus like the JX does, so after creating the patch, I ran it through a chorus effect in my Motif XS, to get it closer to the original sound. MKS-80 Pad with MotifXS Chorus It sounds a bit different than the original, due to the architectural differences between the synths (VCO vs. DCO, different filters, different chorus, etc.), but I got it pretty close. Someday I'll attempt to program the XS's chorus to sound more like the JX/Juno chorus. So, with a little coaxing, it is possible to get melancholy pads out of an MKS-80. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gilwe Posted June 18, 2008 Members Share Posted June 18, 2008 If you're into JX sounds you should get yourself a MKS-70 ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kpatz Posted June 18, 2008 Author Members Share Posted June 18, 2008 If you're into JX sounds you should get yourself a MKS-70 ! Well, since there are only a couple patches on the JX that are must-haves, I think I can handle recreating them on the MKS-80. BTW, what does I28 in your JX-8P have? Does it have the same patch I posted? I'll have to see if I can recreate Soundtrack on the '80. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gilwe Posted June 18, 2008 Members Share Posted June 18, 2008 I can check out later but anyway, this is quite a straight-forward JX pad. The MKS70 is by far a versatile instrument, you should really check into it IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Don Solaris Posted June 18, 2008 Members Share Posted June 18, 2008 The showdown i'd like to really hear would be JX-8P vs MKS-70 !!! From so many users i've heard stories MKS doesn't sound that warm. I wonder is it just the output op-amp filtering or something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gilwe Posted June 18, 2008 Members Share Posted June 18, 2008 It's not that it is not as warm, rather than being brighter and cleaner. The JX8P is dirtier and darker, in general, yet many versions to it which seem to sound slightly different from each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sleepykeith Posted June 18, 2008 Members Share Posted June 18, 2008 cool to hear the differences. thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChristianRock Posted June 18, 2008 Members Share Posted June 18, 2008 It's funny that the DCO sound sounds thicker. But I'm sure that's mostly down to programming... kpatz, you're not done with that patch yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gilwe Posted June 18, 2008 Members Share Posted June 18, 2008 Juno 60 will sound thicker than many other VCO synths, yet uses DCO's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sleepykeith Posted June 18, 2008 Members Share Posted June 18, 2008 Juno 60 will sound thicker than many other VCO synths, yet uses DCO's wrd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kpatz Posted June 18, 2008 Author Members Share Posted June 18, 2008 It's funny that the DCO sound sounds thicker. But I'm sure that's mostly down to programming... kpatz, you're not done with that patch yet A lot of that thickness is the chorus. The JX has the same chorus (I believe) that the Juno-106 has. The MKS patch is going through a chorus on my Motif XS that I didn't get around to tweaking. I think the JX is a bit darker on the outputs, which might add to the perceived "thickness" as well. If I still had the JX, I could record the patch without the chorus and we'll see how thick it sounds then. EDIT: Comparing the recordings, the JX has a bit of a swell at the beginning of the note (sustain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gilwe Posted June 18, 2008 Members Share Posted June 18, 2008 I find the pure waves created by the JX and MKS80 quite similar actually. The fatness of the MKS-80 is really at its features IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members P321 Posted June 18, 2008 Members Share Posted June 18, 2008 It sounds a bit different than the original, due to the architectural differences between the synths (VCO vs. DCO, different filters, different chorus, etc.), I'm not sure about that. To be honest, I got it closer (to my ears) in under 5 minutes using the mighty OP-X Pro VST + TAL chorus 60 (Although TAL 60 kills the high end way too much in its attempt to be "warm", so I had to EQ some top end back to compensate). Quicky sound here: JX8P then OP-Xpro then MKS80r3.mp3 (OPX is the middle one in the low then higher examples, JX8P first, and MKS80 last.) So, with a little coaxing, it is possible to get melancholy pads out of an MKS-80. Hmm, the overall tone from the MKS80 there was slightly "tinny" perhaps. Maybe the Motif Chorus (or just the filter setting) was to blame? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChristianRock Posted June 18, 2008 Members Share Posted June 18, 2008 P321, your MKS80 also sounded a bit thinner. It sounded good, but it's not cold molasses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members P321 Posted June 18, 2008 Members Share Posted June 18, 2008 P321, your MKS80 also sounded a bit thinner. It sounded good, but it's not cold molasses It's not my MKS80.. I just took the 2 examples posted and stuck OPX Pro in the middle (I find) It's easier for your ears to tell differences when you compare stuff in quick succession Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChristianRock Posted June 18, 2008 Members Share Posted June 18, 2008 It's not my MKS80.. I just took the 2 examples posted and stuck OPX Pro in the middle (I find) It's easier for your ears to tell differences when you compare stuff in quick succession DUH!!! My bad. Yeah your OPX pro sounded very, very close to the real thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jauqq Posted June 18, 2008 Members Share Posted June 18, 2008 It's these types of thick Roland strings and brasses that i've been trying to coax out of Arturia's Jupiter 8V, but i'm failing miserably. Has anyone been able to get such sounds out of the 8V? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kpatz Posted June 19, 2008 Author Members Share Posted June 19, 2008 Ok, here's my 2nd attempt. MKS-80 Pad 2 This one is closer than my first attempt. I tweaked the detune, filter, dynamics and envelopes, toned down the (Motif XS) chorus a bit and added a touch of EQ on the bottom end. It seems the output of the JX-8P is more compressed, not as dynamic as the MKS-80. That might contribute to its perceived "thickness". The JX seems to have more bass boost on the bottom end. Maybe I should see how close I can come using the D-550. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eric Posted June 19, 2008 Members Share Posted June 19, 2008 Well, since there are only a couple patches on the JX that are must-haves, I think I can handle recreating them on the MKS-80. BTW, what does I28 in your JX-8P have? Does it have the same patch I posted? I'll have to see if I can recreate Soundtrack on the '80. Your I28 JX sound is not one that was a loaded preset, so someone edited or it was a 3rd party patch loaded into yours along the way. It sounds like a very basic edit on the ubiquitous factory preset "Soundtrack" - basically a great pad sound and for your I28 they just opened up the filter a little more and maybe added a bit more resonance. Nice sound. I've been a JX8P owner since 1985 when I bought mine new. I had an MKS70 for awhile in the later '80s. I have just recently snapped up a great deal on a JX10 + PG800 so I'll have even more JX goodness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members raffor Posted June 19, 2008 Members Share Posted June 19, 2008 It seems the output of the JX-8P is more compressed, not as dynamic as the MKS-80. That might contribute to its perceived "thickness". The JX seems to have more bass boost on the bottom end. As you can hear already with your comparison of the obx and jx-8p, the filter of the mks introduces some resonance. Same with my JP-6. And when you have the same voiceboards, believe me, there are no warm pads to be had. The JP-6 has the advantage of high and bandpass filtering and thus you get these airy pad sounds that are actually very unique and pleasant. However, in lowpass mode compared to other synths, the warm pads are a little disappointing. The funny part is that the Roland Chorus, that does so much to the DCOs in the JX line is not working well with the VCOs of my JP-6. At least you do not get the WOW effect as with the jx synths. For pads I am using other synths and even the Juno-2 is doing a better job. However, to compare the jx-8p with the mks-80 is probably the worse you can do because they cover two different spectrums. If you want to really warm up things and do not loose the feeling of the VCOs I found the sdx-330 a great chorus box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members P321 Posted June 19, 2008 Members Share Posted June 19, 2008 It's these types of thick Roland strings and brasses that i've been trying to coax out of Arturia's Jupiter 8V, but i'm failing miserably. Has anyone been able to get such sounds out of the 8V?Try the free TAL 60 chorus ..or use a better VST Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members P321 Posted June 19, 2008 Members Share Posted June 19, 2008 It seems the output of the JX-8P is more compressed, not as dynamic as the MKS-80. That might contribute to its perceived "thickness". The JX seems to have more bass boost on the bottom end.Which is ironic, since the MKS-80 is supposed to have a bass boost circuit! The first thing I noticed when copying the sound is that the lowest frequencies on the JX8P example do stay louder than the higher ones. Either by design (or flaws), or maybe just tracking peculiarities? Either way, it's obviously an important characteristic of that particular sound, and it seems (from other comments) it might apply across the whole sound character of the JX8P? Anyway, your second attempt is much better, but I'm thinking maybe the MKS80 doesn't work quite as well for that sort of sound Would've been curious to hear the JX8P without chorus, just to see how much you notice those frequency differences without it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kpatz Posted June 19, 2008 Author Members Share Posted June 19, 2008 Which is ironic, since the MKS-80 is supposed to have a bass boost circuit! It does, but so does the JX-8P, and apparently the JX boosts the bass more than the MKS. It could be an effect of the chorus unit too. The first thing I noticed when copying the sound is that the lowest frequencies on the JX8P example do stay louder than the higher ones. Either by design (or flaws), or maybe just tracking peculiarities? Either way, it's obviously an important characteristic of that particular sound, and it seems (from other comments) it might apply across the whole sound character of the JX8P?The JX8P is often thought of as a "dark" or "sad" sounding synth. The bass boost/high end roll off is probably a large contributor to this. Also, the "compression" that it seems to have. Anyway, your second attempt is much better, but I'm thinking maybe the MKS80 doesn't work quite as well for that sort of sound Would've been curious to hear the JX8P without chorus, just to see how much you notice those frequency differences without it. Comparing A-B directly, you're probably right, but it gets close enough to work in a mix. Maybe I should concentrate on creating lead sounds instead of pads with the MKS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pawnz Posted June 19, 2008 Members Share Posted June 19, 2008 I've had an MKS-80 since the mid-80's, and I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gilwe Posted June 19, 2008 Members Share Posted June 19, 2008 Leads and bass. That what it does the best Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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