ROLAND ALPHA JUNO-1 Analog Synth 1985 | DEMO

I played all sounds dry without any external effects.
The Roland Alpha Juno-1 is an great analog, polyphonic, programmable synthesizer with MIDI. It came out 1985. Like all Junos, it has 1 oscillator and 1 suboscillator per voice. It also has a resonant 24 dB lowpassfilter as well as a highpass filter. The chorus effect is better than on earlier Junos - the modulation speed is variable.
The "tone modify" on the front panel allows someting like "easy edit" to tweak sounds easily (MOD RATE, MOD DEPTH, BRILLIANCE, ENV TIME). The most comfortable way to tweak sounds is using a programmer - but it also works with the alpha dial wheel.
To be honest, the best Juno sound comes from the Juno-6/60. Somewhat less fat sound offers the Juno-106, following the Alpha Juno series with the (relatively) weakest Juno sound. But don't get me wrong, the Alphas are anything but weak sounding - it's just that the Juno-60/6 have an insanely great sound, which can be topped at best by the Jupiter-8. But the Alpha Junos offer a decent sound and are affordable, compact and lightweight.
This video is from 2009 - I made a new Alpha Juno demo, which is much better (2015):
• ROLAND ALPHA JUNO 1 / ...

[@DarqeDestroyer]

It's incredible how much of EDM, even to this very day, is full sounds that came from this synth. It's defined the last 30 years of the genre, in all its forms,. Whether jungle, or gabber or trance or house or dubstep, you're never far away from hearing something that originally came from the Roland. It's the fucking Stratocaster of EDM.

[@isaiahromero9861]

Not only that, but it's a staple in hypnogagic pop, dream pop, and ambient music as well, such a warm and nostalgic sound

[@MattGreerMusic]

Never have listened to a demo of these. Within the first few seconds, I was immediately reminded of about fifty classic Jungle/Hardcore records.

[@clamsnake5401]

yo dude i aint talked to you in minute hows your wife's boyfriend doing

[@vladimirukrainian2268]

yea hardcore machine

[@ericty8782]

I know I am kinda randomly asking but do anyone know a good site to watch new movies online?

[@adamharris7775]

In the song "I Might Be" (2021), the Roland Alpha Juno-1 patch "Bell-Chimes 1" was really heard.

[@stue5257]

The envelope generator on the AJ1 is why I keep mine.Seven stages with time and length sets it aside from it's relatives.You can work a simple pattern into a track slowly adding stages.The AJ1 LFO also has a longer sweep than its predecessors.Crazy amount of waveforms on offer.

[@gjc82071]

About 15 years ago, I traded my Roland D-10 for one if these. I thought it was a good trade. I still have it & I love it!

[@Dtchmastrkilla7]

Wow that plane sound effect is unbelievably realistic

[@bhweber1]

This is an awesome demo. I bought one last June and love it to pieces.

[@Henrik_Mikkelsen]

I had a juno 1 and sold it after having it a few years 😢 A great little synthesizer with nice analog sounds

[@Whateverdudeyeah]

@Keybern Under menu, you scroll to a parameter (let's say, LFO speed), then press "value" button to make it editable, at which point you rotate the dial to your preferred value. Not complicated since only one parameter can be displayed on the screen at any time, but definitely not too practical for creating your own sounds (many parameters to tweak!). Luckily, you can hook it up to your computer via MIDI, and use one of the many programs that can edit its parameters and store sounds.

[@thehistoryofchingfordwater8933]

Best synth ever made. This can do what a jupiter 8 can't.

[@jackercrackbox]

There's that warriors sound from the movie!!

[@TheSynthFreq]

Great video! I love the Alpha Juno 1, I use mine in almost every song I write. It has a classic sound! VERY easy to program. The patch sheets are simple too. Makes for fast sound designing. :)

[@BrontoScorpioMusic]

The most underrated synth of the Juno family!

[@lundsweden]

So true. In 2022 we have iPatch patch editors for this thing too, which just increases its awesomeness!

[@EarmonkeyMusic]

I bought one of these for $20 a few weeks ago. Best $20 I've ever spent.

[@user-sq5xv6dr1v]

My jaw just dropped down

[@3434abab]

Earmonkey Music nice. im about to pay $200 for one.

[@evetsnitram8866]

I popped $500 for one back in '86 but the DX7 was all the rage and I kept noticing the Juno didn't sound like it. I traded it for a Mackie 1204 in the 90s which I've gotten a lot more use out of but all of a sudden analog was God.

[@awesomekid8922]

M Loch how? And where ?

[@thehistoryofchingfordwater8933]

That's really great. Watched it 3 times

[@pupation]

@Cds56 The PG-300 is an external MIDI device. You can control the Alpha Juno without one, but because of the way you have the alpha wheel as an input, it's impossible to control more than one parameter on the fly without the programmer, or some other kind of external input. These synths still sound great; I just fired mine up again recently and it has this fatness that no new virtulog can match (although it cannot compete with classic analog equipment either).

[@loneraver2]

I soooo miss my alpha juno 2. I couldn't take with me when I moved so I left it at my folk's house and now I miss it.

[@cubdukat]

@afterstars And no effects. This was just before they started including FX sections on synths. At most it had chorus; even the original Juno-6 had that. With only one oscillator, you need it :)

[@DanM-ys5pz]

Great synth. Wish I had never sold mine.

[@bwack]

I mis my Juno-1 too!

[@gjc82071]

Odds are that you probably already know this....but....you do know that the Alpha Juno IS in fact "touch/velocity sensitive", right? Not on it's own, but if it's MIDI'ed to a controller that IS velocity sensitive, you do have control of the velocity/volume & the filters depending on how hard you press/play the controller's keys. Pretty cool IMO. The Korg Poly-800 doesn't have that ability.

[@anstonian]

Lovely synth. I remember trying one out in a shop, Wish I'd bought it now. If I remember rightly, There was an Alpha juno 2 as well. Thanks for posting. great Demo. Pete. LOL .

[@alhadhy8095]

I have this one.. just for my collection

[@javiceres]

I sold mine years ago after comparing it with my Waldorf Q and finding the Q sound much livelier (and of course it has a much wider palette). But I kinda miss it for certain applications.

[@phk70]

@lvrsnvy Go for the Juno -I've had both. The Poly 800 have only one VCF shared between all the voices, which means retriggering when playing an additional note. However if you modify the Poly-800 with the Moogslayer mod the filter will be much more aggresive than the Juno. But Still I find the Juno much better and it's one of my all time favorites (I've had one Alpha Juno 2 and tree Alpha Juno 1 -still keeping one)

[@betex_]

The best demonstration on Web

[@phk70]

@lvrsnvy Thanks for the tip on the SQ80, I have now got an ESQ1 after seeking half a year. It was boken when I bought it, tried to repair it myself but ended up paying for a repair. So it hasn't been cheap, but well worth the money :-)

[@2Steppa2]

This synth is all over Terminator by The Metalheads.

[@0e0]

@TR0jAX no...you can program a chord and play that with one key..there is no sequencing. still a fun feature.

[@AdamSamuelHarris]

Roland JX Strings are from 1983-present.

[@joegozz443]

Just won the bidding on one of these:]]] thinking of picking up a delay or reverb pedal to accompany. Does anybody have suggestions for a complimentary pedal?

[@xnonsuchx]

@trolmper - I wish even the Juno-106 sounded like a Juno-6/60. I looked at a new Juno-60 as my first polysynth and was advised by the salesman to wait a month for the Juno-106 and I bought it. I wish I'd bought the Juno-60, though, w/ DCB-to-MIDI/CV interface. Much better filters!

[@gjc82071]

Great synth! I have both, so no need to choose! :-) The Polly 800 was my 1st keyboard. My mom bought it new for me when I was 13yo. The Juno, I traded a Roland D-10 for. BTW, anybody think that was a fair trade? Also consider i had a Korg M1 @ the time, so didn't really need the D-10. BTW this keyboard by itself is NOT touch sensitive. BUT if you MIDI it to something that is, it recognizes & responds to after touch/velocity sensitivity, etc. That, is AWESOME! Poly 800 doesn't do that.

[@sticksquash]

What the... hoover patch @ 5:56 For a single ACO/3 DCO synth, this sure can make some sick noises.

[@i-never-look-at-replies-lol]

This was the synth originally responsible for that sound

[@norepetitivebeats]

4:12 Used in a Prodigy tune? Not sure with one though. Something off Jilted maybe.

[@AnalogAudio1]

@maccagrabme I would prefer a Poly-800 MK 1 - because I'm more familiar with it, it's easier to program and it has 2 DCO's per voice instead of one. And I like the sound of the filter more than the Alpha Juno's one. Both are good instruments, it's a matter of taste.

[@civ1]

excellent demo!

[@0e0]

@lfar666 the u-control doesn't send out programmable sysex..so you would need a computer inbetween to convert the ccs to sysex.

[@Nyama74]

There are a few videos floating around of Blade Runner-type sounds on a Juno 60. If you can do it on a 60, you should also be able to do it on an Alpha.

[@AdamSamuelHarris]

Roland JX Strings got heard in the beginning and at 5:00.

[@ElectronicazMusic]

Mine in 2 days. Yee hah!

[@pleasurepatterns5022]

love mine so much.

[@afterstars]

Can anyone tell me how many effects/ or sounds this keyboard comes with? I don't know much about these things.

[@rm2kmidi]

The only onboard effect is chorus, which is pretty nice. You didn't really start to see onboard effects until the Roland D50 a year or two later.

[@lambertlambert7076]

You can have more than only the synth on its own. You may buy the rare and expensive PG 300, or you may be wise and buy an iPad, a midi Interface for iPad, and the 5$ app iPG-800. iPG800 works with many Roland vintages synths including JX8P and Alpha JUno.

[@rm2kmidi]

By the time I got around to getting one of those new programmers, I was able to find a PG-300 for less. *shrug*

[@NachoMartyMeyer]

very good video, thank you!

[@AnalogAudio1]

@TheMilford no, all sounds you are hearing are factory presets, which I modified "live"...

[@MisAnnThorpe]

The D10 may be a "rompler" but I consider its Warm pad fades preset to be one of the best string sounds I've ever heard. You'll probably laugh but I own about 10 synths, 3 of which are analogue and yet this is still my go to ambient string sound. I do like the Alpha Juno though. Oh, and by the way, I'm not stalking you!

[@afterstars]

Thank you for the info! I'm contemplating this or a juno Di. I kind of understand they are probably two different things. I'm a guitar player, but I want to expand my song structure with some keyboards. Any recommendations?

[@gjc82071]

Hey, that sound from 6:09 to 6:11, it would make a sweet techno kick.

[@geekyruth]

@1:33 - CosmoSweep - *love* that sound!!!

[@ttoxique]

My Moog Slim Phatty is digitally tuned, though >.> At least, there's an automatic tune functionality within it. It can be manually tuned as well, in addition to oscillator 2s detune.

[@0e0]

@browxside13 there is a preset called spit valve.

[@Nyama74]

For as bad a rap as that alpha dial gets, it looks like an awesome modulation controller. I think I need one of these.

[@gjc82071]

@casiblake There are 2 or 3 on Ebay now.....

[@ericdrouin2000]

Hello AnalogAudio1, I have yamaha dx7 v1 and somebody want to trade her alpha juno 1 with my dx7, what do you thing about that (sorry for my english)

[@AnalogAudio1]

I think the deal is okay, more or less both instruments are worth the same

[@ttoxique]

So... the DCOs- if I'm understanding correctly, they're analogue oscillators pitched digitally? How does this differ from, say, the analogue oscillators of my Moog Slim Phatty- or is it the same concept?

[@LFOVCF]

Still very usable today, unlike some.

[@zonersatlanta8786]

wow! this rules im considering getting for sure

[@gjc82071]

The Korg Poly-800, Casio HT-3000 & Roland Alpha Juno are my hybrids. What analog synths do you have? I got a LOT of use out of my D-10. I really pushed it to the limit. I had no sequencer, but I'd swap some of the drum sounds in the drum kits, with tones & use the custom patterns as a make-shift sequencer, LOL. My 3 favorite D-10 patches: Atmosphere, Sound-?(a pad, soft attack, 2 part harmony 1 sound set at a 7th note) & Synthvibe I think? Do those seem familiar? Stalking me? Roland JX10? LOL =D

[@skiatik]

Amazing sounds! Very nice quality like sauermusic mentioned :o

[@kimowasabe]

I just bough one of this babies for $17 CDN today --what a happy Monday.

[@Phantasma999]

Things were crazy back then. 17 bucks for a poly synth

[@gjc82071]

Back in the mid-90's, I traded a Roland D-10 for an Alpha Juno-1. $ for $ I may have came out on the short end, but in reality it was the best trade ever! The D-10 was a decent keyboard in it's day. But considering that it's a "Rompler" (& a limited one at that) it now sounds badly dated by today's standards. But being a digital/analog Hybrid, the Alpha Juno 1's sound will never get old.

[@DanMowry]

First - congrats on getting a J1 - I have mine (bought new when it was released) and it has a revered spot in my keyboard rig. You'll love yours! I believe you are correct with the momentary switching... there's some pedals that do this correctly while others don't. Sorry, but I'm away from my studio otherwise I'd just give you a flat-out correct answer but if you have one handy... try another pedal. I have sustains as well as switch pedals that react differently, as expected. Congrats!!

[@CarlSvenssonCarlvonminds]

love this :)

[@65Superhawk]

OK. I just scored one of these for $85 in my local pawn (out the door, no tax). Feeling good about it as it appears they go over $200 on ebay. It came with a Mutec VFP1 footpedal. However the pedal does not seem to have any effect. If switched to normally closed no effect, if switched to normally open it works opposite of what it should. (sustain until I push down). Any ideas why no effect when the polarity of the pedal is switched. It appears to be an unlatched momentary switch.

[@ucerealrightnow]

Can some one tell me the parameters to make a nice bass ripple effect on one of these? i could use some help....

[@sneakykebab]

Cool Demo Dude! :)

[@Cds56]

Is there a way to program this without the "programmer"? is the "programmer" external?

[@NachoMartyMeyer]

@lvrsnvy both are great, yeah... not an easy choice! good luck!

[@kautle]

FUN!

[@AmIonArock]

TY

[@fareastmanilavideoproducti4499]

reminds me of the synth from billy idol song eyes without a face

[@zwete]

@kingofkeyboards Cool, haven't really tried anything analog. I've heard you can program it trough the computer too.

[@J._Campbell]

0:17 pad is very similar to Duran Come undone. Like it. Also 7:21

[@theothertonydutch]

When stuff like this was light weight. :P

[@whatistau]

funny that this Juno weights kinda a lot

[@stevensalinas1994]

What is the patch you're using for the beginning?

[@maccagrabme]

Do you prefer the Alpha Juno over the Korg Poly 800?

[@digitalstrings3052]

Is it my imagination or does the juno-1 sound warmer and have better pads, i have juno-2's and they dont sound as good :/

[@royggbiv]

awesome

[@glennefx670]

Hello does anybody know, if the chorus effect in the alpha series and mks-50 is analog or digital? Thx

[@AnalogAudio1]

it's an analog BBD chorus

[@glennefx670]

@@AnalogAudio1 Thank you very much. Do you know, if the other roland synths use the same chorus, or are there any notable differences? I am asking because Im looking into the TC Electronics June-60 chorus. Wonder if it sounds the same?

[@AnalogAudio1]

No, it does not sound the same and the things I heard about it are not very positive

[@mr.dikkens]

@t1mTV I have an alpha 2 aswell, I was more meaning in terms of sound, algorithms and oscillators, there being no difference what so ever, so buyers know that.

[@harmoncollege]

Mind blown @6:23

[@MrPaulinho777]

muy chulo primer timbre como se llama?

[@Soundsforbeats]

Fuck, if I'd only knew back in the day that this was the synth with all those sounds. In the 90s I used to check loads of keyboards for the classic hoover sound at 5:56. I could never find it. There was no internet where you could just download great soundbanks. There was just shitty sample CDs stucck to magazine covers with a few wack sounds, maybe one ok one. LOL, happy days.

[@rg7120]

They sound good to me.

[@jordangregory8514]

You have some really nice sounds on here, can you tell me if : the opening synth sound; @00:57 synth; bass @1:17 and @1:26; bass @6:30; synth @7:52 are factory presets or your own?

[@AnalogAudio1]

some presets, some of them edited, some of my own creations.

[@jordangregory8514]

They're really nice man, I'm thinking of purchasing this as my first synth. Just summing up a few different options. The Alpha Juno-1 seems like a good one

[@AnalogAudio1]

Check my latest Alpha Juno-1 video, it's better in sound and resolution: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rGO1YombjdGbjrs maybe it helps you with your decision

[@dominikumberto]

Sold mine early 90ies and never regretted it. Sound was ok but I missed knobs and faders.

[@stef25ify]

You can connect BCR 2000 controller to it. The dial is a huge pain.

[@eviljester]

@destinationstation thanks!

[@inanesilence]

In your opinion this synth could be an alternative to the matrix1000 or they are very different synths..

[@AnalogAudio1]

they are very different

[@HansVonNachtnebel]

Are these factory patches?

[@AnalogAudio1]

For the most part... which I edited more or less

[@TheDanceluver37]

@6:11 Stock Aitken Waterman toms

[@AnalogAudio1]

Yes, the Rick Astley toms...

[@dxtrs_mnpltr]

The filter does not self oscillate and it does not have a high pass filter... still a great synth!!!!

[@javiceres]

I recall it having a basic HPF

[@gerryhoey]

I think I still have one in the attic

[@lesscunning9651]

nice.

[@dirkprins]

are these the standard presets?

[@AFiestOfFriends]

On a scale of one to impossible, how hard is it to get Blade Runner-esque sounds out of one of these?

[@javiceres]

You’d need two oscillators but you can kinda fake it with a slow chorus setting

[@zwete]

Apparently my dad has one of these stored away in the attic, should i feel lucky?

[@eviljester]

does this work with just headphones?

[@MichaelJHuman]

8 DCOs on this board?

[@AnalogAudio1]

I don't know, it's 4 years ago

[@AnalogAudio1]

thanks... but sorry, it doesn't sound like a Juno-60 - this sounds much better. The best Juno sounds delivers a Juno-60 / Juno-6. Fater basic sound and snappier envelopes. The Alpha Juno's basic sound is rather comparable with the Juno-106 - it has a typical sound for the later Juno's.