The Roland Jupiter-6 is a synthesizer

Synthesizer

A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...

 manufactured by the Roland Corporation

Roland Corporation

is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on April 18, 1972, with ¥33 million in capital. In 2005 Roland's headquarters relocated to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture. Today it has factories in Japan,...

 introduced in 1983 as a less expensive alternative to the Roland Jupiter-8

Roland Jupiter-8

The Jupiter-8 is an eight-voice polyphonic analog subtractive synthesizer introduced by Roland Corporation in 1981.The Jupiter-8, or JP-8, was Roland's flagship synthesizer for the first half of the 1980's...

. The Jupiter-6 is widely considered a workhorse among polyphonic

Polyphony (instrument)

Polyphony Instruments that are not capable of polyphony are monophonic.-Synthesizer:Most of early synthesizers were monophonic musical instruments which can play only one note at a time, and are often called monosynth as opposed to polysynth...

 analog synthesizers, capable of producing a wide variety of sounds, such as ambient drones, pads, lead synthesizer lines, and techy blips and buzzes. It is renowned for its reliability and easy, but sophisticated programmability.

The JP-6 has 12 analog oscillators (2 per voice), and is bitimbral, allowing its keyboard to be "split" into two sounds - one with 4 voices, and one with the remaining 2 voices (either "Split 4/2" or "Split 2/4" mode). "Whole Mode" is also available, dedicating all 6 voices to single (monotimbral) sound across the entire keyboard.

The JP-6 was among the first electronic instruments (alongside the Roland JX-3P

Roland JX-3P

The Roland JX-3P is a synthesizer produced by Roland Corporation of Japan in 1983. It is notable as the one of the company's first products to incorporate a MIDI interface, limited to note-on/note-off data only.-Features:...

 and the Sequential Circuits

Sequential Circuits

Sequential Circuits Inc. was a California-based synthesizer company that was founded in the early 1970s by Dave Smith and sold to Yamaha Corporation in 1987. The company, throughout its lifespan, pioneered many groundbreaking technologies and design principles that are often taken for granted in...

 Prophet-600) to feature MIDI, then a brand new technology. Sequential CEO Dave Smith

Dave Smith (engineer)

Dave Smith is an engineer and guitarist who pioneered many groundbreaking technologies in music technology. Smith was responsible for the first polyphonic and microprocessor-controlled synthesizer, the Prophet 5...

 demonstrated MIDI by connecting the Prophet to a Jupiter-6 during the January, 1983 Winter NAMM Show

NAMM Show

The NAMM Show is one of the largest music product trade shows in the world, founded in 1901. It is held every January in Anaheim, California, USA, at the Anaheim Convention Center...

.

Europa, a popular firmware replacement available from 'Synthcom Systems' adds modern enhancements to the instrument's MIDI implementation, user interface and arpeggiator, turning the Jupiter 6 into a contemporaneously adaptable machine.

Notable Users

• Tim Friese-Greene
  Tim Friese-Greene
  Timothy Alan Friese-Greene is an English musician and producer. From 1983 to their breakup in 1992, he worked with the band Talk Talk. He currently releases solo albums under the name "Heligoland".-Producer:...
  
   of Talk Talk
  Talk Talk
  Talk Talk were an English musical group, active from 1981 to 1991. The group had a string of international hit singles including "Today", "Talk Talk", "It's My Life", "Such a Shame", "Dum Dum Girl", "Life's What You Make It" and "Living in Another World"....
  
  
• The Unicorns
  The Unicorns
  The Unicorns were a Lo-Fi/Indie Pop band from Montreal, Canada formed in December 2000 by Nicholas Thorburn and Alden Penner , who were later joined by Jamie Thompson in December 2003.-History:...
  
  
• Vangelis
  Vangelis
  Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou is a Greek composer of electronic, progressive, ambient, jazz, pop rock and orchestral music, under the artist name Vangelis...
  
  
• Blur
  Blur (band)
  Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
  
  
• Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
  Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
  Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark are a synthpop group whose founding members are originally from the Wirral Peninsula, England...
  
  
• Inner City
• Rob Preuss of The Spoons
• Devo
  Devo
  Devo is an American band formed in 1973 consisting of members from Kent and Akron, Ohio. The classic line-up of the band includes two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs and the Casales . The band had a #14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It", and has maintained a cult...
  
  
• King Crimson
  King Crimson
  King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
  
  
• Orbital
  Orbital (band)
  Orbital are a British electronic dance music duo from Sevenoaks, England consisting of brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll. Their career initially ran from 1989 until 2004, but in 2009 they announced that they would be reforming and headlining The Big Chill, in addition to a number of other live shows...
  
  
• Mike O' Donnell and Junior Campbell Thomas and Friends
• Human League
• Men at Work
  Men at Work
  Men at Work are an Australian rock band who achieved international success in the 1980s. They are the only Australian artists to have a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United States . They achieved the same distinction of a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United Kingdom...
  
  
• XRY
• Chemical Brothers
• Thomas Gandey

External links

• [ftp://ftp.roland.co.uk/ProductSupport/JP-6/01_JP-6_OM.pdf Jupiter-6 owner's manual]
• Sound on Sound's Jupiter retrospective
• Vintage Synth Explorer's Jupiter-6 entry
• Harmony Central's user reviews of the Jupiter-6
• Synthmuseum.com's Jupiter-6 entry
• Sonic State's Jupiter-6 entry
• A personal review of the Jupiter-6