Why seven? Is it sins? Dwarves? I don’t see sevens in the design. There wasn’t an Integra-6. Or was it like RoboCop – took a few goes?
OK this is an interesting one I think. It’s the top dog of the SuperNatural series, which included the JD-XA, the Jupiter-80, the Jupiter-50 and probably some other stuff I don’t recall, seeing as that all got buried quite quickly. SuperNatural came after the V-Synth GT Articulative Phrase Synthesis and before the deeply retro AIRA range and seems to have been a bit of rough patch. I like it (as I like Fugglers) but many people were pissed off at the Jupiter-80 not being an exact copy of the old Jupiter-8. It also had some novel ways of sorting out sounds, with terminology that was perhaps… ‘unhelpful’.
Roland are always coining new buzzwords. Permit me to translate these into simple and familiar terms. The Integra-7 is a rack module with 16 tracks on which you can place one of three types of instrument. Those types are
- SuperNatural Acoustic and Drums, which are multi-samples of acoustic instruments with cross-fades and articulation added to the samples to make them more realistic.
- Then SuperNatural Synthesiser – which I’ll cover in more detail below.
- Next are “Sample and Synthesis” Synthesisers and Drums which are identical to those of the XV-5080, released 13 years before.
The XV-5080 (or as I call it ‘The Yacht’) was quite a landmark. Machines from the 1980’s D-50 era lead up to it, current ZEN-Core machines still reference it. The Yacht is Roland’s pope. The Integra-7 references the Yacht and includes all the SRX expansion cards that could be installed in it – but only four can be available at a time. Because … the original could only hold four cards? Sorry but what? The original could also house 4 of the older JV cards (mine has 4), but do you see them here? No you don’t. That sucks, because I have some noises from the oddball ones I really like. And another thing – you can’t add your own samples. Because la la la I’m Roland I’m blocking my ears can’t hear you.
In some ways it’s better than the Yacht – it’s got all the expansions, has two kinds of synthesis. But I still must keep Yacht and Granddaughter of Yacht for all the samples and patches I’ve created. Poo.
Supernatural Acoustic is pretty good – especially the articulations. But if you have a decent sampler library on your PC you’ve probably got these sounds. Omnisphere is more varied but doesn’t have the range of articulation on offer here. Kontakt would do in a pinch. You can’t really mess with these acoustic sounds, except for using the single MFX available on the end of each track. They’re not particularly distinctive.
SuperNatural Synthesis
I’m more interested in synthesis. This is the same recipe as on the JD-XA but without the analogue part. The JD has 4 digital parts that stack up when you play the local keys – but are voiced on different MIDI channels when played remotely (which is very confusing when you first do that). The Integra has 16 parts. Each is effectively a virtual analogue synthesiser with three partials of oscillator, filter, amp. Compare that to S&S on the JD, XV and Fantom X – you have four tones, in teams of two. The filters can be chained and there are ‘boosters’ – a different work flow.
SuperNatural includes eight modelled analogue waves which can have pulse-width and synch. There is a form of cross-modulation. You then have a menu of 450 PCM waves which are distinct from those in S&S synthesis. You can of course set two or more parts to have the same MIDI channel and then mix and match the different types of synthesis. Or go hog wild for 16 of them. Why not? The total number of internal sets (which are the stored combinations of 16 parts) is 64. On the JD-XA every patch is actually a set and you can store lots of them. Here you might have to get a software library going on a nearby PC if you’re being extra creative.
ZEN-core
Now Roland would much prefer you to be using Zenology alongside one of their recent toys – the MC-707, Jupiter X or a Fantom. Are you better off? I have a patch on the XV-5080 which combines a couple of ‘OB saw’ waves, an orchestral ‘Triangle’ and ‘Asian Gong 2’ located on the physical expansion cards. Zenology doesn’t include these waveforms unless bought as Wave Expansions. If you have Roland Cloud, you will find the software XV-5080 also lacks the expansions. The separate World SRX instrument has the gong, but not the other waves. And so on.
The other important thing is that you can edit the sounds directly on the Integra using an iPad or computer. You can’t do that on an MC-707, which is the only vaguely rack-able ZEN-thing so the Integra is your best shot at a single rack with all the waveforms. There’s probably a big Fantom that could do it and have samples as well but I like to be able to fit in the same room as the keyboard.
Yes yes but what about art?
OK – less tech more art. The reason I have so many S&S machines is the combination of precise waveforms and samples that have unusual timbres and overtones. Abbott and Costello, or Laurel and Hardy – the combination of straight man wave and comic sizzles/hisses/glows/hums – this gives me the slight anxiety and madness that energises the music. I have my own sample library of ‘Costellos’ – the zip drive on top has 175 of them which go with the XV-5080. The Fantom XR has a similar library. You could just use a sampler but then you miss out on the ‘Abbots’. The Integra-7 has a slightly different take on this which I will explore, carefully, over time. Because that’s the way I paint, and slightly different mediums offer subtle but useful contrasts.
The other way to get this ‘feel’ is with FM (on the opsix) or, to a certain extent with spectral distortions (on Vital). But the cheapest way if you are interested is most likely Cherry’s Dreamsynth.