Help with Jupiter 50

[john Ackerson]

Just purchased a jupiter 50 (had a yamahas90xs) Not sure I made the right move. IN any event, I've been trying to pull up ( and store/write) "upper" sounds to the "solo" section of a split. when I try to get say a phaser clav to sound on the solo part... i can't find it.. it only gives me certain ones, but not that particular one thats in the :"upper" sounds. Any help here would be sooooo appreciated. Tough going from Yamaha to Roland, but I really love the pianos on the jupter.
Thanks for any help anyone could provide!
John.​

 

[Ted Nicoson]

John

It sounds like you and I both bought the JP-50 for about the same reason. I wanted a reasonably priced 76 key unit with some decent piano voices, and in that respect, I got what I wanted - the vast synth capabilities were just extra icing on the cake. BUT . . . I have found that when I try to go beyond simple "piano play", like you, I am very quickly lost. From what I have seen on other forums, we are not alone. Others are finding the JP's difficult to fathom, and I believe owners of the new Casio XW synths are having similar problems. Both of these lines are far different from anything we have seen in the past couple of decades. Here is a link to a post from a similarly disgruntled JP-80 owner:

http://forums.rolandclan.com/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=45948

You might want to post your question on that forum as well for more coverage. Note that they have separate JP-50 and JP-80 sections. Unlike the poster at the above link, I am not about to sell my JP-50. I just realize that if I want to learn how to do more with it, it is going to be a struggle from start to finish. Anyone with a knack and capabilities for making tutorial videos could sure clean up on these.

I will get my JP-50 racked back up on the main rack here this afternoon and see if I can replicate what you are trying to do, and see if I can help you figure it out.

 

[john Ackerson]

Hey Ted! THanks for responding. Although I absolutly concure regarding the piano sounds (and the trumpet sounds as well!) I actually sent the keyboard back and purchased another Yamaha S90XS. I had spent so much time on this keyboard I could write a "beyond the Manual" on it! Bottom line is the layered sounds are only applicable to the "upper" part of the keyboard. So if you have an outstanding piano for the "upper" but want a killer organ on the "lower" forget it. There is a set of specific "tones" for the lower that are NOT layered and canNOT be layered... you are at the will of the sounds Roland assigned to the lower section. in other words, you can't have the LAYERED sounds on any other part of the keyboard except the UPPER. Also, the SOLO part of the keyboard, for the most part, is NOT polyphonic. it is "SOLO" as the word implies. So if you want a nice piano on the upper and a nice warm string section on the solo, your up the creek!
In my opinion, the Roland Jupiter has the horns and pianos NAILED, but falls short to be the "main" keyboard in a set up. If I get enough money, the Jupiter-50 will be my 2nd keyboard and a killer one at that!
John

 

[Seratone]

Hey John and Ted - I've had my Jupiter 50 for about 12 hours and I'm hitting the same wall you apparently did - I was under the assumption I could do simple splits with any of the sounds or patches in the board - then independently adjust their octave so the sounds make sense. Luckily I bought it at Long and McQuade in Toronto so a return wont be an issue....

It's replacing a Yamaha Mox 6 in my live rig, my other board is a Nord Electro 4d. I got the Jupiter to create some patches (perhaps 10 in all) that contain splits - usually no more than two.


I've been through the manual several times and looked for online tips. This is my first Roland Keyboard of any significance and perhaps I don't know the 'lingo', or something is seriously eluding me here. I realize I don't know what the actual definitions of 'Registration' and 'Live set' are.

Here is a really simple example of what I want to do:

Have the 'Lower' section of the Split contain the patch EP3 (#554).
Have the 'upper' section of the Split contain the patch Brass Section#3 (#927).
I want the split to take place at Middle C - or C4.
I want to be able to adjust the octave of each split independently so they sound reasonable.

Is it a fair assumption that I can put any patch on the Jupiter 50 in any of the split sections and pick the octave that patch plays in? If I could get some assistance with this in step - by step instructions I would be extremely grateful. I think I just need a 'nudge ' in the right direction.

 

[Ted Nicoson]

Sorry, Seratone !

I sold my JP-50 well over a year ago. I purchased it primarily as a stage piano, so I never used the Lower or Solo "splits". I just used the 4-tone Upper Live Set, usually spread across the entire keyboard. What splits I did use were done within the Upper Live Set, but I set up all those when I first got it - some three or four years before I sold it. I am afraid I just do not remember, at this late date, how I did it. I was going to suggest posting over in the JP-50 section of the Roland Clan Forums, but I see you have already done that, so you should be in good hands. If you don't get a timely response in the JP-50 forum, try thr JP-80 forum. The splits you are asking about are essentially the same on both units. Most of the folks in the JP-80 forum never bother to look in the JP-50 forum, so would not see your post there. Good luck !

 

[John Vintage]

Hey Seratone,

I, too, bought a Jupiter 50 believing that it would have the same ease of use and power as my JX-8P and JX-10.

It does....and it doesn't. And it is extremely confusing. There must have been some serious nuts designing the UI.

Things I THINK I have learned about it....

1. If a sound (patch) starts with "U" it will only show up in the UPPER section
2. If a sound starts with an "L" (I think it's an L) -- Lower
3. Some sounds are replicated between the two.
4. Get to know REGISTRATIONS if you want to later and detune sound patches. There are way too few RIEGISTRATION buttons, but if you are looking for customer sounds to play live, you can layer, pan and transpose easily.
5. I still have to figure out Key zones....I wish that this thing was as easy to use as my old Ensoniq VFX-SD