Roland Jupiter-80 Tech Brief

Tech Brief: Roland SuperNATURAL and Behavior Modeling

Roland’s proprietary SuperNATURAL® modeling technology delivers a quantum leap in
realism in both sound and expression when digitally emulating traditional instruments.
First introduced in 2008 with the ARX Expansion Boards for the Fantom-G,
SuperNATURAL technology has appeared in more recent Roland products including
the Music Atelier
the AX-Synth
first synthesizer based entirely on SuperNATURAL sound engines. Moving forward,
SuperNATURAL is the foundational technology upon which Roland will base many of
its next-gen instruments.

Historical Perspective. For decades before the advent of SuperNATURAL, the industry
standard for reproducing the sound of traditional instruments has been PCM sampling.
The challenge with sampling is that most acoustic instruments respond differently
depending upon how hard they are struck, blown, bowed or otherwise energized by
the player. (As a simple example, most acoustic instruments grow brighter as they
get louder.) Recording a sample of an instrument played with a given amount of force,
however, captures and delivers only that one-dimensional rendition of the sound.

In attempts to mitigate this, manufacturers have employed workarounds such as
using velocity-driven filters in conjunction with bright samples. More sophisticated
technology uses multiple samples of a given note at multiple energy levels—then maps
those samples to different velocity ranges where they are “velocity switched” during
performance according to the amount of force exerted by the player. Additional sample­related workarounds include memory conservation when emulating long decays by
applying an envelope to a looped portion of the sample.

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AT-series organs, the RD-700GX and HP-307 digital pianos, and

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shoulder synthesizer. Debuting in 2011, the Roland JUPITER-80 is the

In even the most sophisticated implementations, this technology is far from perfect.
The piano is the quintessential challenge for a variety of reasons including dramatic
dynamic range, extreme pitch range, exceptionally long decay times and the sympathetic
resonance of all the components of the entire instrument—to name just a few. Even
attempts to digitally reproduce the piano with gigabytes of multiple samples fall short
in realism, expressiveness and flexibility.

The wide range of performance articulations inherent in many instruments further
complicates realistic use of sampling technology. Orchestral string players, for
example, employ a variety of bowing styles. With traditional sample-based instruments,
an array of samples for each of these styles must be captured distinctly from the other
styles and typically assembled into entirely separate sets. To alternate between legato
and staccato violins, for example, the player of a sample-based keyboard would have
to switch patches, play different keyboard zones or develop a unique playing style to
accommodate different sets on different velocity layers.

Enter SuperNATURAL Technology. Roland’s revolutionary SuperNATURAL technology
adds powerful sound modeling to the equation. Each SuperNATURAL instrument—
piano, violin, trumpet, etc.—has its own specialized engine. That’s because, just as the
sounds of a piano, flute and tympani are very different, so are the attendant modeling
needs.

Each SuperNATURAL engine is indeed based on top-quality studio samples of the
original instrument, however that’s where the similarities to PCM-based gear stop.
For starters, SuperNATURAL does not employ sample looping—resulting in smooth,
organic decays. Moreover, Roland engineers developed technology that creates
models of the formative characteristics and responsive aspects of each instrument.
The SuperNATURAL engine transparently handles how those parameters react to
performance dynamics and nuances from a controller such as a keyboard—just as
they would in the original instrument.

As a simple example, volume and brightness in SuperNATURAL instruments respond
to nuances in playing force smoothly as pure, natural sounding/feeling articulation—
without any velocity switching and inherent stepping sounds between sample layers.
SuperNATURAL goes much deeper, however. Looking at the orchestral strings
scenario mentioned earlier, SuperNATURAL modeling translates the keyboardist’s
natural use of playing styles such as legato and staccato into appropriate variations in
bowing technique and associated sound. Further, use of a pedal or switch seamlessly
invokes tremolo or pizzicato styles.

SuperNATURAL technology is designed to be transparent for a natural playing
experience that requires no thinking, programming or changes to playing style. For
users who do wish to dive deeper, most SuperNATURAL instrument engines do provide
some modicum of access to key parameters such as how much growl and noise brass
instruments have. In perhaps the most sophisticated example, the SuperNATURAL
piano engine in the JUPITER-80 allows players to easily adjust the desired amount of
string resonance, key-off noise, hammer noise, stereo width, tonal character and more.
These continuously variable modeled characteristics in SuperNATURAL engines are
a sharp contrast to what are largely snapshots of timbres in electronic instruments
relying solely on samples. The upshot is a distinct leap in realism with respect to both
sound and responsiveness.

New Behavior Modeling Technology. Where SuperNATURAL technology models
the natural sound qualities and expressiveness of traditional instruments, Roland’s
groundbreaking new Behavior Modeling technology goes a step further by intelligently
recreating on demand the articulations that happen when those instruments are in
the hands of seasoned players. Behavior Modeling acts as an interpreter between a
keyboard player’s phrasing and the performance technique/phrasing associated with
the original instrument.