When producers and artists from Dr. Dre to Mark Ronson, Tame Impala to Jake One, and thousands more can all agree on an instrument, you know there must be something special about it.
Roland's Juno line of synths has that special something.
The classic 1980s originals—the Juno-6, -60, and -106—were immediate hits. And the immediacy of the instruments, how quickly even novice musicians can create a record-ready sound from the expertly crafted presets, meant that Junos, right after their release, were suddenly everywhere. On countless hit records across genres and countless soundtracks across TV and film.
These days, Juno sounds are still everywhere. But they need not be made with a vintage Juno.
A lot of modern Roland hardware—the AIRA Compact J-6, Boutique Series JU-06As, MC-101 and MC-707 grooveboxes, the full-size Juno-X, and other workstations—has Juno sounds. Truth be told, a lot of non-Roland gear has a bunch of Juno sounds within it. And this is all before mentioning the incredible array of virtual instruments available.
In our video above, Fess Grandiose walks us through what made Junos so great to begin with and then explores just some of the ways you can get Juno sounds on smaller budgets.