In 1975, Roland released the JC-120 Jazz Chorus Guitar Amplifier, a game-changer for a number of reasons. Thanks to its solid-state construction, it was able to deliver a ton of gain while maintaining a clean tone. It also marked the debut of the Dimensional Space Chorus, the legendary stereo widening effect that was soon broken out into its own device, the BOSS CE-1 chorus pedal.
While the JC-120 has been a firm favorite with guitarists for decades, electronic music producers now have access to its magic in the form of a plug-in, the Roland Cloud JC-120 Jazz Chorus. While you might not immediately think of reaching for a guitar amplifier emulation for synthesizers, re-amping has long been a secret sauce for making synths sound big.
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Roland Cloud JC-120 Jazz Chorus Overview
Before we proceed, it may be helpful to examine the layout of the JC-120 Jazz Chorus plug-in. Thankfully, it’s not that complicated, although there are a few extras that even owners of the original amps may not be familiar with.
The plug-in’s main view looks identical to the iconic guitar amplifier. Across the top are controls and jacks for two channels, one with and one without effects.
Channel-1 has knobs for Volume as well as three for EQ: Treble, Middle, and Bass. These do what you would expect and are helpful in shaping tone. Additionally, there are two inputs: High for high-input instruments like guitars, plus Low. In the context of a plug-in, think of High as a quick ticket to gain and distortion. Lastly, there’s a button marked Bri for Bright, and this adds extra bite to the sound.
Channel-2 replicates the controls of Channel-1, plus adds dedicated knobs marked Distortion and Reverb, the latter being an emulation of a spring reverb tank. Finally, there’s the famous chorus circuit, with Speed and Depth knobs plus a three-way selector for Chorus, Vibrato, and Off.
The JC-120 Jazz Chorus hides some additional controls under the tab at the bottom. Click it to reveal a handy block diagram of the signal flow plus additional parameters, including a Speaker Simulator. We’ll look at these in more detail throughout this guide. Note that you can collapse the GUI to just the knobs and tab controls to save on-screen real estate.
Bigger Bass
Re-amping is a technique by which you run a synth or other instrument through a speaker and record the output with a microphone. The sound of the room and its moving air can give the sound additional weight and make it feel “big.” This works great on synth bass, such as this one from Roland Cloud SH-101.
Access Channel-1 (you won’t need any effects) by clicking on the Low jack. Dial in EQ as appropriate, using the mids and highs to bring out the grit inherent in the sound. You may even need to reduce the amount of bass to prevent boxiness.
Next, use the Speaker Simulator to fine-tune the sound. Choose a microphone model that accentuates the tone you need. Use the Mic Position knob to move the microphone from the middle of the speaker out. The center emphasizes the mids, while the edge does the bass, so push the mic out until you hear the bass frequencies solidify. Distance changes the sound, too; a short distance gives you more bass. Use the Level knob to adjust the amount of “air.”
Searing Leads
Are your leads getting lost in the mix, or do you want to spice up a basic synth sound with a little more personality? Try this trick to add grit and presence to any lead, such as this one from Roland Cloud SYSTEM-1.
Using Channel-2 on the JC-120, dial in a bit of distortion and engage the Bright button for extra attitude. Bring in some of the famous chorus as well for extra width. However, there’s no need to overdo it; it just needs a little movement and enough depth to help it stand out. The Speaker Simulator is your friend here, too—play around with the microphone, position, and distance controls until your lead really jumps out.
For even more personality, try adding some spring reverb. Be careful with this, though, as it can get nasty quickly with all of the distortion and overloaded frequencies happening, especially with a lead sound with a lot of resonance.
Atmospheric Chords
Rather than keeping your techno chords ultra clean, you can exploit the many atmosphere-adding parameters of JC-120 to strong effect. There’s the classic chorus, of course, but there’s a lot that re-amping can do as well.
You can plump out a sound by using a combination of spring reverb and microphone distance. Here the microphone has been placed just off center with a long distance with the Level knob cranked right up. For extra widescreen ambience, add a heaping helping of spring reverb, and push the width out and level up with the Ambience controls.
Don’t be afraid to dial in effects on the source synth, as with this Roland Cloud JV-1080. Some of the most famous uses of the JC-120, like Neil Halstead from Slowdive, made it the final stop after a whole cascade of effects units.
Moving Pads
There’s nothing that says you have to use the speaker emulation every time. JC-120 Jazz Chorus makes a great effects plug-in, whether you’re after that famous chorus or even the vibrato, which is amazing for adding movement to static pads.
This chord progression made with the Roland Cloud JUPITER-8 sounds nice but could be more interesting. Turn off the Speaker Simulator so you don’t get the amp emulation, and then choose the Vibrato effect. Hit the Tempo Sync button to match the speed of the vibrato to your DAW’s tempo, then dial in an appropriate ratio. Dual stereo mode helps increase perceived width. Finally, use the EQ controls to shape the sound for your mix.
