Flintlock Juno-106 versus the real thing.

[jackson]

The 106 is a flagship synth of late 90's DnB lines. It might not be that fantastic for old man typical subtractive synth sounds but its saw wave through its chorus and then through a distortion pedal has actually produced reports of people dying.

Yeah, I hear fanboyitis is deadly. Second only to OhMyGodMyFavouriteProducerUsedItanella in number of deaths among up and coming artists.

[Z3R0T0N1N]

lot's of people like the juno 106, for a lot of reasons.
but i don't like it, therefore there is no point in emulating it.
lots of people think the ESQ1 is crap, but i like it, so emulating it makes perfect sense.

and, emulating any synth that i don't like really calls into question the skill and talent of the developer.

-d.0.

[The Chase]

The 106 is a flagship synth of late 90's DnB lines. It might not be that fantastic for old man typical subtractive synth sounds but its saw wave through its chorus and then through a distortion pedal has actually produced reports of people dying.

Yeah, I hear fanboyitis is deadly. Second only to OhMyGodMyFavouriteProducerUsedItanella in number of deaths among up and coming artists.

Sometimes yea fanboy-itis can be obnoxious, but there is a reason for everything, and even if I'm nostalgiacally (i know that's not a word) attached to the 106, and even if I know that some of my favorite producers using it doesn't make it better on that fact alone, neither of these make the 106 any less badass for distorted lead and bass lines.

Granted, if the 106 wasn't so inexpensive, this cult following probably wouldn't exist, but I don't think that's important.

[Yagushi]

Okay, I finally downloaded the Flintlock VSTi and quickly slapped this patch together...

It's a rough approximation of that "74 Sweep II" sound Modeler was trying to recreate... but it falls short for the following reasons:

1) There's no chorus on the VSTi.

2) I didn't tweak this for very long so the sweep durations are screwy. Notice that the sweep is faster if you play the notes staccato rather than holding them... is this emulating the behavior of the real thing?

3) I doubt the plugin is too accurate of an emulation... but it appears to capture the general spirit...

Sorry, I couldn't be arsed to post an mp3 or fxp... just copy the screenshot and compare for yourself...

[Modeler]

It's a rough approximation of that "74 Sweep II" sound Modeler was trying to recreate... but it falls short for the following reasons:

1) There's no chorus on the VSTi.

2) I didn't tweak this for very long so the sweep durations are screwy. Notice that the sweep is faster if you play the notes staccato rather than holding them... is this emulating the behavior of the real thing?

3) I doubt the plugin is too accurate of an emulation... but it appears to capture the general spirit...

I'll try your patch and post an MP3 when I get home. Note that the positions of the sliders do not have the same effect on the sound on the real Juno.

[Rangtangtang]

I think I like this. I can't remember exactly what one Juno 106 sounded like. It sounds more computer than hardware to me, but still maybe not too far off. I do think one would realy need the samples of the real thing to even having a chance at emulating it well. I think I can use this one....mmmm..

Of course Flintlock would have problems whith Roland on this cause he is using the Roland logo. Somehow think Roland is more concerned about their logo and how close the packaging rather than the actual samples. If you had bought a Juno 106 selling the samples would not have been remotely even considered. It must be at least a 30 year old logo...mmmmmm.....? I think you have a better chance whith your customers if you treat them whith a bit of respect. People are always going to pirate, but get them all angry and they will all go out of their way intentionaly to do it.

[Bruce Bartlett]

Sorry, but Roland has every right to be miffed that their logo was used without permission. Putting a company's logo on something implies that they either made it, or at the very least, endorsed it, which Roland did not. This can actually be quite damaging to a company, especially if the product in question is not of good quality. Not to mention all the people who will hassle Roland for "their" VSTi which they had nothing to do with.

If someone put out their own music and used your name, wouldn't you want to put a stop to it?

[thecontrolcentre]

I used a Juno 106 on a few tunes during the '90's ... I liked it a lot at the time. This emulation doesn't sound much like what I remember the hardware sounding like, but it's been a long time ... and we used to smother it in FX too, now that I think about it

[kritikon]

and I don't know why you use synths you think sound like crap.

I don't. It's used as an ashtray and drink holder. Weeeelll...not an ashtray holder any more as I gave up last year. So my 106 really only has one single use nowadays. But useful for that...I'd rather spill wine or beer over the 106 than any other piece of gear that is actually valuable.

[dirty oscillators]

and I don't know why you use synths you think sound like crap.

I don't. It's used as an ashtray and drink holder. Weeeelll...not an ashtray holder any more as I gave up last year. So my 106 really only has one single use nowadays. But useful for that...I'd rather spill wine or beer over the 106 than any other piece of gear that is actually valuable.

if you'd like, i'll trade you my drink holder for yours. believe me, you'll like mine better - it's made out of wood, not plastic and it's sort of like an end table that looks nice at the end of your couch. i'll even pay for your shipping!

[Modeler]

Okay, I finally downloaded the Flintlock VSTi and quickly slapped this patch together...

It's a rough approximation of that "74 Sweep II" sound Modeler was trying to recreate...

Okay, so I neglected to use enough resonance or filter envelope. Forget everything I said about the release behaviour of the plug-in! Yagushi did a better job at recreating this than I did, and I had the real thing next to me...

I played with the patch on my real Juno and I don't think it is using the saw wave or the noise generator though.

Here's the clip again with the revised patch. This was put through the chorus plug-in within FL Studio.

Here's the patch itself if it's of any interest.

[aMUSEd]

Creamware Scope systems ship with a free plugin cunningly titled U-Know 107



Creamware are well respected for the detailed accuracy of their emulations but in this case since it's a freebie I'm not really sure how close it is to the original though I suspect it's closer than the synthedit ones. If it is close though then it does make me wonder about the musical qualities of the original as it's rather boring to be honest.

[kritikon]

If it is close though then it does make me wonder about the musical qualities of the original as it's rather boring to be honest.

Sounds like it must be pretty close to the original then.

[aMUSEd]

If it is close though then it does make me wonder about the musical qualities of the original as it's rather boring to be honest.

Sounds like it must be pretty close to the original then.

Yes - as I suspected

[Modeler]

This is the last example I am posting before my real Juno-106 goes back in its flight case for the next however long.

Same patch as the "Just Can't Get Enough" example earlier (no chorus used, but IMHO very characteristic of the Juno), but with slightly more articulation. Early Vince Clarke stuff aside, this is taken from Bach's "Invention No.1 in C Major" *

Real Juno-106
Flintlock Juno-106 VSTi



* Well, okay. So it was taken from the Commodore 64 version of Jet Set Willy, same diff.