Roland Juno-106

Features

The Juno-106 is a polyphonic synthesizer with six voices. It is an analog synthesizer but with digitally controlled oscillators and chorus effects. Whereas its predecessor, the Juno-60, has 56 patches, the Juno-106 has 128. It introduced Roland's performance lever for pitch bends and modulation, which became a standard feature of Roland instruments. It also adds MIDI and was one of the first analog synthesizers to allow users to sequence parameter changes.

Impact

Artists who have used the Juno-106 include Jacob Mann, Vince Clarke, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Chvrches, Leftfield, William Orbit, Paul Frick from Tangerine Dream, Underworld, Reel 2 Real, Jam & Spoon, and Vangelis.Peter Manning, Daft Punk, Electronic and Computer Music, page 297, Oxford University Press

The Juno-106 was Roland's bestselling synthesizer until the release of the Roland D-50 later in the decade. It remains one of the bestselling synthesizers. In 1985, Roland released two versions with built-in speakers: the Juno-106S and the HS60 Synth Plus.

The synth's popularity continues to the present day, especially with EDM and artists such as Tame Impala, Daft Punk, Calvin Harris, Armin van Buuren, Mark Ronson, and Caribou among many others.

Hardware re-issues and recreations

The Roland MKS-7 Super Quartet, a multi-timbral synth module with dedicated sections for each part, used the same 80017 filter chip as the Juno-106 for the bass section.

In 2015, Roland released the JU-06 sound module, a digital recreation of the Juno-106 using Roland's digital Analog Circuit Behaviour (ACB) technology. It is battery powered, has 4-voices and 23 parameters controlled from the front panel. It cost $299 at the time of the release.

in 2016, Behringer released the Deepmind-12, an analog synthesizer inspired by the Juno-106 which features 12 voices. It was priced at $999 at the time of release. In 2020, developer Momo Müller released an unofficial PC MIDI editor with the interface of June-106, called the Deepmind - Juno-106 Editor.

In 2019, Roland released the JU-06A, which is a digitally based synthesizer combining the JUNO-60 and JUNO-106. It has the continuous high-pass filter of the 106, the envelope-controllable pulse-width-modulation of the 60, and the filter of both switchable from the front panel. It cost $399 at the time of the release.

Roland released the Juno-X in 2022, a modern synth featuring digital emulations of the Juno-60 and Juno-106 as well as an additional Juno-X model that features a supersaw waveform, velocity sensitivity and an Alpha-Juno style pitch envelope control. The Juno X's control panel design directly references the controls of the Juno-106 while the sound engine follows on from the Jupiter-X and Jupiter-Xm modern digital synths.

Software emulations

In 2017, Roland released some software synthesizers in the cloud, including Cloud Juno-106. The cloud subscription cost $240/yr at the time.

In June 2020, Roland released Zenology plugins for Roland synths, which includes a Juno-106 emulator.

In 2020, Cherry Audio released the DCO-106 plugin, a juiced up version of the Juno-106 which was priced at $39 USD in 2020.

References

References

1. "The History Of Roland: Part 2".
2. Corporation, Roland. "Roland - JUNO-106 {{!}} Software Synthesizer".
3. Wyatt, Malcolm. (2015-06-18). "Tripping the Alternative Light Fantastic -- the Leftfield interview".
4. Goodyer, Tim. (Nov 1990). "The Heart Of The Bass". Music Maker Publications (UK), Future Publishing..
5. Tingen, Paul. (Oct 1991). "William Orbit".
6. (1996). "Keyfax Omnibus Edition". MixBooks.
7. "Tame Impala".
8. "Recording Random Access Memories {{!}} Daft Punk".
9. February 2012, Future Music20. (20 February 2012). "Interview: Calvin Harris on software, hardware and hit-making".
10. "Armin Van Buuren".
11. "Mark Ronson".
12. "Caribou's Dan Snaith on His Decade-long Electronic Music Evolution".
13. Corporation, Roland. "Roland - Roland Icon Series: The JUNO-106 Synthesizer".
14. (2020-07-02). "Roland Icon Series: The Juno-106 Synthesizer".
15. March 2016, Dan Goldman 20. (20 March 2016). "Roland Boutique JU-06 review".
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17. April 2017, Bruce Aisher 16. (16 April 2017). "Behringer DeepMind 12 review".
18. guest. (2020-01-31). "Behringer DeepMind 12 Gets Unofficial Juno 106 MIDI Editor".
19. (2019-10-04). "Roland JU-06A Review".
20. Rogersonpublished, Ben. (2022-04-27). "Roland's Juno-X is a modern-day synth in '80s clothing".
21. Douglas, Adam. (2022-05-06). "What Connection To The Past Does The Roland Juno-X Have?".
22. (2019-11-06). "Ten Of The Best: Analogue-Style Synth Plugins - Page 10 of 11".
23. July 2020, Ben Rogerson01. (July 2020). "4 classic Roland '80s synths are coming to the Zenology plugin: the JX-8P, SH-101, Juno-106, and Jupiter-8".
24. Abrons, Sara. "Roland Intros ZENOLOGY Software Synthesizer Plug-in – rAVe [PUBS]".
25. October 2020, Ben Rogerson05. (5 October 2020). "Cherry Audio's DCO-106 synth plugin is a juiced-up Juno-106 that won't put the squeeze on your wallet".
26. Anatomy, Synth. (2020-10-04). "Cherry Audio DCO-106 Plugin, New Roland Juno-106 Emulation With MPE Support".