Seaweed Factory has released a series of free sound packs featuring a sampled Roland JX-3P vintage synthesizer.
This series is divided into three parts, each covering different patches of this synthesizer produced by Roland Corporation in 1983. JX-3P is a six-note polyphonic synthesizer with 61 keys, and the first that incorporated a MIDI interface. Because we talk about sampled patches here, it must be mentioned that JX-3P has 32 factory programs in its ROM, plus a user memory allowing 32 programs.
The JX-3P first pack by Seaweed Factory is about string and pad patches, as the Roland JX3P Synthesizer is well known for these types of sounds. The second pack features the effect patches, while the third contains the sampled bass patches and a bonus vibes patch.
The free sound packs contain four sampled patches each (12 in total) that have been multi-sampled directly from the synthesizer. Each note had been individually sampled for an extended period of time to capture the behaviour of the built-in chorus. Samples are labelled by patch name and MIDI note number. Each folder contains a full set of all the sounds the JX-3P can make for that patch.
Of course with so many sounds, the question is how the hell to use them in your music. You can use the sounds as they are if is about few notes to drop in the context. But ideal would be to create your own instrument patch by using a software sampler such as Grace by One Small Clue. Grace is free, easy to use and also comes with high-quality filters, AHDSR envelopes, LFOs, 2 step sequencers and 4 XY control pads.
The three Roland JX-3P free sound packs are available for instant download via Google Drive (no registration required). They’re delivered in WAV format.
Please note the link below is for the third part, but the links for the previous two are included in the description.
More info and download links:
Roland JX-3P free sample packs by Seaweed Factory
