JP-4c Super Saw Emulation

JP-4c is a Reaktor patch designed to emulate the infamous Super Saw oscillator.

(133 Votes)
Alex Shore
1.7 (Updated 6 years ago)
4.2MB
July 22, 2013
Reaktor 5 or lower

DESCRIPTION

JP-4c

In 1996 Roland released the JP-8000, their first virtual analogue modeling synthesiser. The JP-8000 became very famous for one thing, the Super Saw. This unique sound helped define the trance music genre and is still commonly used in electronic dance music production today.

The JP-4c is a Reaktor patch designed to emulate the infamous Super Saw oscillator.

The JP-4c is built upon a combination of research conducted by myself and other individuals, with the patch being able to effectively emulate the original Super Saw's unique timbre. Detailed research and analysis of the Super Saw found that the oscillator exhibits some interesting characteristics giving it a particular sound.

Detune Curve
Perhaps the most important element is the detune curve. Whereas many synthesisers would commonly use a linear detune amount, the Super Saw was found to have a varying detune amount through the use of a curve. This curve allows the user a much finer control over the detune amount applied to the oscillator, allowing them to create very smooth sounds with a minimal amount of detune or seemingly harsh textures as the amount is increased. This parameter has been accurately implemented within the JP-4c to achieve the same detune characteristics as the original.

Oscillator Shape
The original Super Saw oscillator makes use of a high pass filter to cut the harmonics below the fundamental frequency. This filter helps give the Super Saw its characteristic bright sound by attenuating the low frequencies while also shaping the waveform, producing a smoothing effect seen at the peaks. This effect has been carefully recreated within the JP-4c to achieve the same rich tone as the original.

Along with these, additional features have also been reproduced and implemented including a built array of sound shaping controls and effects detailed below.

SPECIFICATIONS

Super Saw Oscillator - Effective emulation of Roland's original layering of seven sawtooth waveforms

Second Oscillator - Four switchable waveform types (Triangle/Sine/Saw/Pulse)

Filter - Selectable Low Pass, Band Pass and High Pass with key follow

Modulation - 2x LFO, Filter Envelope and Pitch Envelope

Effects - Tone Control, Distortion, Reverb, Chorus, Delay, Stereo Spread and Portamento.

32 Factory Presets - 12 Leads, 8 Pads, 5 Plucks, 4 Basses and 2 Effects

REQUIREMENTS

This patch requires Native Instrument's Reaktor version 5.9.4 or later. Please refer to Reaktor's manual for further information.

DOWNLOAD

Includes -

JP-4c Reaktor Patch
An Analysis of the Super Saw Oscillator and its Relation to Pads within Trance Music (Research Project)
Read Me Guide

http://alex-shore.com

COMMENTS  (46)

Magluss Música y Naturaleza
2 years ago
It's Very good work!! Thank ypu very Much for all. Donwloading
Tao Ndanga
2 years ago
Howcome it doesn't recall settings when you save a preset?
Koldunya
2 years ago
I swear I typed this, but thank you so much! It sounds wonderful
Koldunya
2 years ago
I converted the controls on this to work with a Maschine+ in standalone in a pretty organized way :D
Maxim Emelianov
3 years ago
Thank you so much!!!
a a
5 years ago
yeaaaahh
Pierre-Emmanuel Maréchal
6 years ago
thank you!
D B
6 years ago
Thanks for the demos and the synth of course.
gennaro lorusso
6 years ago
:-O COOOOOOOOL
Andrew Madden
6 years ago
This sounds great!
Woodpecking Mantis
6 years ago
Loved to read the "An Analysis of the Super Saw Oscillator and its Relation to Pads within Trance Music - Research Project - A. Shore.pdf" included with the patch! Congratulations and thanks for sharing!
Bart Leblans
6 years ago
"Raise the alarm" sounds great! :-)
Andrew Campbell
6 years ago
Wow this is great. Brilliant work. Thanks!
Matz
6 years ago
PS: The snaps are beautiful as well! I´m such a lazy bone so pleeeease give us more! Thx in advance...;-)
Matz
6 years ago
Simply outstanding! Best build in the new millenium (as far as I can judge). Perfect sounds, perfect structuring, perfect GUI. Great little feature you miss too often: the octave switch in the main field. Let´s point it out again: There are people who work hard to give the community at no charge possibilities you would have paid 2k$ and more in the 90ies. Thank you so much! You´re the real Wizard of Us...
Geoffrey Holt
7 years ago
This thing is completely awesome. Got that super squelch I was looking for. Thanks!
Gennaro Giugliano
7 years ago
many thanks Alex for your add synth
Vladimir Trinity
7 years ago
What a true FANTASTIC instrument !! My eyes just don`t want to believe in this. But my ears speaks me the truth. It sounds like a hardware synth! I just closed my eyes and played on a real hi-end VA synthesizer! Sound so crisp, so alive, so smooth/sharp and so detailed (through the HD598 and ATH-M50 headphones). Airy complex pads, brilliant keys and bells, powerful fat basses ... Any sounds. No clicks, no strange noises, no crushes. 5-10% CPU. It`s analog-like sounds even more better than one from the new Roland JD-XA/Xi, which I played last week! Very strange story, aren`t I? JP-4c reminds me a bit of the astonishing YAMAHA AN1x with it`s alive analogish sound. Congratulation, Mr. Shore - great, really greate work you did! And of course big thanks to NI for the Reaktor wich sounds like a real hardware!
Mark Wadewitz
7 years ago
Wow, your Analysis Doc is quite impressive. You spent alot of your time into the Super Saw. Good work!!!
Rejor Jiao
7 years ago
love the sound
GG.G SakabeaT
7 years ago
nice synth btw
GG.G SakabeaT
7 years ago
thx
Alex Shore
7 years ago
Sure. I added a simple Stereo Spread module as quite a few people had requested it. Very useful for wide pad sounds. Enjoy.
GG.G SakabeaT
7 years ago
so is it possible to know what's new in this update? thx
Sam Mover
8 years ago
https://soundcloud.com/andreigorlov/epilogue-no-future
Sam Mover
8 years ago
https://soundcloud.com/andreigorlov/epilogue-no-future
Alexander Houben
8 years ago
This is awesome! Thank you a lot!
Panos Ghekas
8 years ago
EXCELLENT. Presets are super fine, but indeed one can create superb sounds from zero with it. Sounds IMVHO very very close to the real 8000 and better than any other VSTi incarnation there is. THANK YOU ALEX.
Phil Durrant
8 years ago
The synth does not seem to have been updated?
Paule
8 years ago
sharp as the teeth of a shark
Daniel Helmstedt
9 years ago
Damn. The sound demos are incredible!
RICHARD CHRISTY
10 years ago
Really great work. Congratulations. I love how you packaged the paper you handed in for your degree with the download. Very grateful!
mibarbaro
10 years ago
*Must...
mibarbaro
10 years ago
Really useful! Most have a try!
CC4
10 years ago
Nice synth.
nanu nanu
10 years ago
wicked sawing
Lars Bo Hermansen
10 years ago
Thanks. Need supersaw? This synth can produce. A bit cold. But very useful and great sounds too. The new version has corrected output issues. Thanks. Lars Bo Hermansen
Bill McDonald
10 years ago
This thing rocks!
Alex Shore
10 years ago
John - Email me info@alex-shore.com and I will send you the original ensemble.
John Bleech
10 years ago
It won't open in Reaktor 4 or Reaktor 5.62. Could you upload the Reaktor 4 version (just the ensemble)?
Kimmo Kivelä
10 years ago
10% on my Intel. Sounds really good.
Pekka Savilampi
10 years ago
Omg Alex, luv it already.. thnx a lot:)
Alex Shore
10 years ago
Yes this was built for my dissertation. Thought it would be nice to give it away for free so people can use it themselves or even build on the research a little further. Thanks for the comments, hope you enjoy it!
Paule
10 years ago
Is it your dissertation, Alex? Sounds very good by low cpu usage. Thank you, and all snapshots quite well!
Poul Vestergaard
10 years ago
Fantastic scientific work, and a great synth !!
francois elie
10 years ago
thks a lot ! wonderful synth !!!
now