BASIC RIG #1

VR-730 V-COMBO with JUNO-DS88

Ideal for playing live gigs, needing rock and pop sounds

This is a compact but powerful keyboard rig offering great playability and control, perfect if you’re playing more than one gig on the same night. You have the comprehensive options of the Juno-DS88 (huge sound pallette, sample import, phrase pads for triggering, mic input and weighted action 88-note keyboard), and the focused control of the VR-730, with authentic organ tonewheel sound and harmonic drawbars.

BASIC RIG #2

JD-Xi synth with JUNO-DS61

Ideal for studio work, especially dance related genres

By combining the Juno-DS61 and JD-Xi synths, up and coming producers get maximum versatility at an affordable price – including the ability to work with powerful digital sounds and rich, warm analog sounds. In addition to over 1,200 ‘industry-standard’ sounds, the Juno-DS61 contains an array of powerful music production tools including sample import, pattern-based sequencing and phrase trigger pads, and brings them all together inside a fast and intuitive music production environment. The JD-Xi brings a new perspective to your production setup, thanks to its unique analog/digital crossover engine that offers a monophonic analog part to complement the four-part digital engine. The JD-Xi is also a great musical sketch book, perfect for getting ideas started, thanks to its onboard sequencer, drum part, integrated effects and even a vocoder/gooseneck mic as standard. It’s also a great board for sound tweaking, featuring the most important basic controllers. And although it’s small, the JD-Xi has already been used on some big gigs, played by Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran and Kola Bello, on Ellie Goulding’s Delirium world tour. Designed to fit into modern production setups, both the JD-XA and JD-Xi have seamless DAW integration, including low-latency USB-based audio/MIDI interfaces.

THE JUNO PHILOSOPHY

When Roland brought back the Juno name in 2003, many people were expecting a synth that reflected the original Juno models that were so popular in the 1980s. But the Juno philosophy was always about offering a versatile collection of sounds in an affordable package, although the original technology wasn’t really capable of recreating the ‘real’ sounds typically demanded by musicians of the day. Instead, the warm, approximated Juno sounds were adopted by the pioneering electronic bands like Duran Duran and Depeche Mode who loved the fact that these synths didn’t sound like anything else. Fast-forward a few decades, and with the technology now in place, the new Junos were packed with hundreds of gig-tested sounds including pianos, organs, strings and bass, alongside the signature sounds from Roland’s analog era. A range of affordable, portable synths with a huge choice of professional sounds, the Juno family has gone one to become one of Roland’s most popular synth line-ups.

EXTENDED RIG #3

FA-06 Workstation with Juno DS-88

Studio-class power that can also be gigged

This rig is the perfect bridge between studio-based work and live performance. The FA-06 is a great keyboard to place at the heart of the studio, with many controllers including 16 phrase trigger pads. You also have the mic input and weighted action 88-note keyboard of the Juno-DS88 - great for the studio but also good enough – and light enough – to gig with. When you’re not gigging, you can chain these two powerhouse synths together, giving more than enough audio power for even the most complicated productions – and all with no latency issues and with studio quality sounds and effects.

ARTIST PROFILE: Berenice Scott

It all began at the age of seven, when Berenice Scott performed her first classical pieces on the piano and trumpet. Soon enough, though, she’d fallen for the pop hits of the era, and found her voice with her own self-penned material. Fast-forward to present day, and this London-based songwriter and session musician splits her diary between live work for stars like Heaven 17 and Tony Visconti, while finding time for projects like 2015’s acclaimed solo album Polarity. A capable guitarist and captivating vocalist, Berenice describes herself as having a “love affair with the piano”, and her latest passion is the new Roland JUNO DS-88 synth, which has become a cornerstone of both her home production setup and touring rig.

EXTENDED RIG #4

JD-Xi with JD-XA analog/digital crossover synths

An analog/digital crossover platform for creating seriously powerful sound

When it comes to synths for performance, power and stage presence the combination of JD-XA and JD-Xi is hard to beat. Based on Roland’s analog/digital crossover engine, both models offer genuine analog sound generation – mono for the JD-Xi and four-part for JD-XA – as well as powerful and versatile digital parts complete with DSP-based effects. The JD-XA is a sound designer’s dream, thanks to the generous array of knobs, sliders and controllers and with a powerful engine underneath the hood, you have the power and control to create your killer sound set.

ARTIST PROFILE: Kola Bello (Ellie Goulding)

Sound engineer. Programmer. Musical director. Kola Bello has worn plenty of hats since he broke onto the British music scene at the tender age of 16, but it’s probably his talent as a keyboard player that takes top billing. Since 2013, Kola has worked with Gentleman’s Dub Club on the Big Smoke album, and toured with British DJ Naughty Boy, but things really went stratospheric when he joined pop superstar Ellie Goulding’s lineup to visit over 20 countries on the Delirium World Tour. As an open-minded modern synth player with a flair for sampling and triggering, it’s no surprise that Kola chooses the trailblazing Roland JD-Xi, JD-XA and RD-800 to recreate the epic tracks from Delirium on the stage. Look out for him in a stadium near you.

ADVANCED RIG #5

FA-08 workstation with JD-XA analog/digital crossover synth

88-note pro-grade sounds with analog/digital crossover power

The perfect choice for a professional synth player with a piano background. Through its 88-note weighted-action keyboard, the FA-08 delivers top-quality “bread and butter” sounds alongside sample import options while the JD-XA is perfect for detailed sound sculpting and unique sound design possibilities. You can send the analog parts directly though the analog output section, or route it back into the digital effects bank and stack up with the digital parts to truly blow the roof off. Since many pro-players often have a laptop full of music software on tour, both instruments include low-latency audio/MIDI interfaces with numerous mappable controllers on the front panels.

ADVANCED RIG #6

The ultimate stage piano with the ultimate performance synth

The perfect keyboard rig for the ultimate playing experience on live stages. The RD-2000 Offers the most authentic grand piano feel and sound on the market, whereas the System-8 gives the ability to use ultra-realistic recreations of Jupiter-8, Juno-106 and ProMars in a reliable and powerful onstage keyboard.

ARTIST PROFILE: Peter Gordeno (Depeche Mode)

Even now, after two decades in the music industry, Peter Gordeno is still a man in motion. As producer and songwriter, his credits include artists like JLS, Il Divo and Seal, while his work as a top session keyboard player, arranger and musical director has brought him into the orbit of U2, The Who and George Michael. In perhaps his longest-running role, Peter has toured with electronic legends Depeche Mode since 1998, ensuring that synth-pop classics like Personal Jesus retain their dark majesty in the modern age. As an analogue aficionado who lived through the digital revolution – not to mention a self-confessed “piano snob” – it takes a special kind of keyboard to catch Peter’s ear. Look out for the new Roland JD-XA and RD-800 in his setup when Depeche Mode hit the road in 2016.