Roland JV-90

The JV-90 is an excellent mid-nineties keyboard controller and MIDI synthesizer. It featured a full 76-note semi-weighted keyboard. There are also several sliders above the keyboard with assignable parameters for fast hands-on editing. The sounds of the JV-90 (and JV-80) were the basis for the JV-1080, JV-2080 and XP-80 synths that came later. You'll find basses, synth sounds, pads, leads, strings, percussion, drumkits and more. One additional ROM slot allows you to add an 8MB SR-JV80 expansion board for more great sounds.
Unfortunately, the JV-90 is not a workstation like the XP-80. With only 28 (or 56) voice polyphony and no built-in sequencer, you aren't likely to make this your ONLY synth. But its keyboard feels great and many of its sounds are still useable, making the JV-90 a nice master MIDI keyboard. The JV-80 is basically the same thing as the JV-90 except it has a typical 61-note keyboard and less memory.
26 VISITOR COMMENTS
- Specifications
- Polyphony - 28 voices (expandable to 56)
- Oscillators - Digital Acoustic simulation via 4MB (expandable to 14MB) of ROM
- Arpeg/Seq - None
- Filter - Digital filters
- Effects - 2 effects units with chorus, reverb and delay
- Memory - 256 Patches (can expand to about 600); 64 Performances
- Keyboard - 76 semi-weighted keys (responds to velocity and aftertouch)
- Control - MIDI (8- to 16-parts)
- Date Produced - 1994
- Est. Value - $750 - $1,000
- Websites of Interest
- Resources & Credits
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Images from Joel Marks.
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Press Edit
Press Common
Choose 'Zone' as key mode.
Press Part button (stay in edit)
browse to assign patches to one of the eight parts
Press 'Int Zone' button
browse to assign key ranges to the eight parts
I split and layer all of my patches to fatten up the 'thin' sounds of the Roland synths.
Pages 65-77 of the manual cover all of this.
Performance mode is everything on the JV-90.
When saving, make sure write protect is off for internal. Write button then Enter button.