ARTURIA Jupiter-8V 1.0.3 (Mac/Win)

Nov 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Brian Smithers

           

Classic '80s keyboard with some new twists.

BONUS MATERIAL
Web Clips: Listen to audio examples of bass patches, pads, and more from Jupiter-8V

FIG. 1: Like all of Arturia’s classic-synth emulations, the Jupiter-8V interface looks just like the real deal.

Having successfully reproduced the Minimoog, Moog Modular, Yamaha CS-80, ARP 2600, and Sequential Circuits Prophet 5, the retro-synth-loving techies at Arturia have turned their attention to Roland's famous Jupiter-8. With its built-in arpeggiator, a keyboard that could be split or layered, and the ability to sync to its stablemate the TR-808 drum machine, the Jupiter-8 helped drive the wave of synth pop that dominated radio in the 1980s.

In typical Arturia style, Jupiter-8V does its best to emulate the original and then throws in some appropriate extra goodies. The Jupiter-8 offered 8-voice polyphony, whereas 8V allows up to 32 voices if your CPU can handle it. The rest of the basic sound engine is strictly emulative except for effects, a flexible step sequencer, and an imaginative x-y modulator called Galaxy. Jupiter-8V is available for the PC or the Mac, including Universal Binary, and works as a standalone instrument or as an AU, RTAS, or VST plug-in.

Original Recipe

Like the original, 8V features two oscillators, two filters, and two envelopes, all with controls patterned after the hardware version (see Fig. 1). Knobs are set by moving the mouse vertically, as though they were sliders. I ordinarily find this behavior preferable to circular motion, which the manual says is the default mode. As it turns out, circular motion is not even an option.

Another manual error suggests that either right-clicking or Shift-clicking on a knob or slider offers fine adjustment, when in fact only Shift-clicking works. That's unfortunate; right-clicking is a lot more convenient because it requires only one hand.

The architecture of the Jupiter-8 was not revolutionary, but its actual implementation — the character of the oscillators, filters, and envelopes — gave it a sound all its own. The sound of 8V is immediately reminiscent of the original and distinct from the rest of the virtual field. Although it lends itself easily to light sounds with air and bounce, with a bit of digging you can find beefier tones (see Web Clip 1).

Extratasty Goodies

FIG. 2: The Galaxy module is good for some serious fun, with an x-y modulation grid that you can rotate. You can map each axis to three different destinations.

Possibly the most interesting aspect of Jupiter-8V is the Galaxy modulation module (see Fig. 2). Were it merely a straightforward x-y modulation grid, it would be welcome. What sets it apart, however, is the ability to rotate the axes, creating wonderfully complex modulation patterns (see Web Clip 2). Each axis is controlled by an LFO, as is the grid's rotation. You can set each LFO to sine, square, saw, or triangle waves, and you can vary the initial angle of the grid's x axis. You can map each axis to three parameters, including the pitch or pulse width of either oscillator, the cutoff of either filter, the lowpass filter's resonance, or the VCA. You can set the modulation amount of each assignment independently.

Galaxy's LFOs optionally sync to tempo, and they can retrigger with each note or run freely. These two settings are not independent, though — your choice applies to all three LFOs. You can adjust all ten knobs (six modulation amounts, three LFO rates, and grid angle) in real time or automate them with MIDI Control Change messages. If, despite all this, your pads are static and boring, you have no one to blame but yourself.

The modulation section also features a single step sequencer with up to 32 steps that you can map to any 3 of the same 8 parameters as Galaxy. The sequencer syncs to project tempo or runs at its own rate, and it will optionally retrigger with each note. You can quantize its three outputs to semitones when mapped to oscillator pitch. The sequencer will run forward, backward, forward then backward, or randomly, and it offers nice subtleties such as smoothing, accents, glide, and swing. You might wish for a second sequencer to build complementary patterns, but at least each part of a keyboard split or layer (called Dual mode) has its own sequencer.

Subtle Effects

The effects section (see Fig. 3) is divided into voice effects, which are independent for each part of a layer or split, and patch effects, which are global. The voice effects include chorus-flanger, distortion, parametric EQ, phaser, and ring modulation. You can insert one between the oscillator section and the filter section and another between the filters and the VCA. Additionally, you can insert two stereo patch effects (chorus-flanger, phaser, reverb, and delay) at the instrument's output.

I don't ordinarily take much interest in the built-in effects of a software or hardware synthesizer. Often they are provided as conveniences for live performance, and the first thing I do in the studio is defeat them. The patch effects are perfectly serviceable, standard effects. But aside from their ability to sync to tempo, you may find them less useful than your DAW's standard plug-ins. The voice effects, however, are a worthy exception because of the way they are integrated into the synth's signal flow and can be shaped by any of the instrument's modulation sources.

In a perfect world, it would take a single mouse-click to disable all the effects, or at worst one click for the voice effects and another for the patch effects. Instead, it can take as many as eight clicks, and that's assuming the Effects page is already displayed. By itself this is a minor quibble, but if this and a few other mouse-intensive operations were streamlined, the user interface would provide a much smoother flow for designing sounds. For example, there should be an easy way to bypass Galaxy or the step sequencer should you want to tweak a sound in isolation from those modules.

BONUS MATERIAL
Web Clips: Listen to audio examples of bass patches, pads, and more from Jupiter-8V