Beatmaking With The Roland JD-Xi Hybrid Synthesizer

In this official Roland U.S. video demo, Eugene “Man Man” Roberts joins host Ed Diaz for a look at beatmaking with the new Roland JD-Xi Hybrid Synthesizer

The video demonstrates one of the JD-Xi’s strengths – its ability to combine drum sequencing with analog and digital synth sequencing.

Roberts has worked with Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Jeremih, J. Cole and others. He’s currently workng as musical director and keyboard player for John Legend.

30 thoughts on “Beatmaking With The Roland JD-Xi Hybrid Synthesizer

      1. LOL indeed!…I only got up to the 3 minute point and switched back to the George Foreman fat free hamburgermaker infomercial.
        Thanks for the info anyway…A Roland-homey infomercial wouldn’t be complete without da beatch shakin’ her thang, now would it?

  1. Not sure if this should have been called “beatz making for dummys” or “jd-xi’s for dummys” Roland’s entire marketing staff continues to embarass themseves. Makes “Ive got something to show you” seem not so bad. Time for the Roland corporarte memo to down vote my comments begin!

    disclaimer – im a JD-xi owner

    1. Well then you can feel safe knowing there is no such thing as downvote on this site anymore. Because we are all precious, fragile snowflakes now, apparently. joy.

      video = nice. beep boop.

    2. Geniuses do not know how to spell, so that is probably not your forte… but I am pretty sure dummies drops the y to add “ies” when in plural.

  2. Seriously? You are criticizing a video that is clearly aimed at beginners.
    I suggest you head to Amazon and get a copy of “Online Commenting for Dummy’s”.
    You need some help here.

    1. Way to turn my justified sarcasm against me – Ouch, Call the fire dept Ive been burned!

      Seriously – There was not even a note played until well past the 2 minute mark – just a lot of talking about what type of beats and what type of kitchen they were in. Then i was enlightened that 90bpm was a good hip hop tempo and told the benefits of 4 measures vs 1. Given Man Man’s resume and accomplishments i thought it was a disappointing video – par for the course w Roland. If your considering spending $500 on one of these I’m guessing your beyond the elementary school level theory presented here.

      1. Sarcasm? Hardly. If aiming for the low-hanging fruit on the interwebs makes you feel good, you would probably benefit from some psychoanalysis.

        I have no stake here; I don’t own one. I do realize that I am not the intended audience though.

        1. As a paying customer of Roland I (along with other paying customers) have the right to express my disappointment or displeasure with the company whenever I want, especially when it relates to the product I have purchased .

          You on the other hand seem to care way too much about what I said and are making statements in terms of a psychological diagnosis you have no formal training or right to make .

          If I did have training in the field of psychology beyond the psych 101 I took in college, I would say something to the extent that it seems as though you’re doing some projecting here.

          I’ll leave it at that – feel free to get your last word in as Im sure it will make you feel better.

          1. Well, actually, I do have training in psychoanalysis. I’m also quite fond of synths. The comments here and other sites are always interesting from an psychoanalytical point of view. Strange you would call my response projection when I was simply responding to your original post.

            It’s interesting you feel some “right” in your critique through your purchase of the said item. I could understand the critique of the object – that’s often the case here. The odd part is your view of a video about the object that may not even be aimed at you.

            You may call it sarcasm, but such critiques often give away a lot more than you believe. You are an interesting lot.

            1. Well maybe your onto something…i hate people who make beats…or claim thats what they do…any idiot can do that. Just like paris hilton can DJ.

              A company i like and buy stuff from is clearly targeting idiots and i have no wish to be associated with them and wish they would put out better matierial. Thats all i was saying. I absolutely have a right to express my opinion as do you – hence the point of the comments section. If you do have training in psychoanalysis how can you make an opinion based on such a small sample size of my thoughts? You said i need help after reading one post; there is no way that is a responsible manner for you to practice your disipline if you are professionally trained.

              For the record I was right about the video as it is a laughingstock at this point and everyone is mocking it. I was also right about your need to have the last word.????

        2. sorry but I have to agree with the sadness – I actually think that the equipment is nice but that was the “hip” equivalent of a corporate marking video and written about as well.

  3. I’m sure it’s tough to make an intro video that covers the basics, but is still engaging for people hoping to hear about your product – but this is your full time job marketing people. The banter is sort of awkward; “if you’re not using an 808 or 909 then I don’t know what you’re using”, “beatz with a zzzz…… right”.

    Marketing departments and people – you have amazing ways to reach your audience who want to know about your products, for the love of god do a much better job.

  4. I just want to know how to get the 4 parts into my DAW. And I want to know this before I shell out the $500. I like to spend the bulk of my time on creativity, not figuring out functionality. Now I know there is always going to be a learning curve with any piece of new gear…but you know what I mean…..

  5. Idk if roland is trying to be intentially funny but the cheese factor in that video is great especially when the girl comes by. Their ” I’ve got something to show you ” video was hilarious but all the 3d exploded synth pieces were pretty cool

  6. next video should be how to turn on your synth 🙂

    seriously I skipped the video 3 times and after the pause I saw them saying 2 times beats and the third the girl dancing, couldn’t stop laughing

  7. Maybe not the most informative video on the new little Roland synth but I sure had fun watching it. Is the lady included or just an option, an extra feature?

  8. As soon as homeyz’ sidekick karate-chopped the table saying ‘you were (chop) on the grid’, I stopped playback…enough said.

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