Tutorial: How to use the Roland JV1080 with Cubase 15 Pro

delta-c · April 2, 2026, 2:54pm

Version: 1.0 (April 2026)

Upon inhereting a fully functional Roland JV1080 I started to investigate how to use this synthesizer in Cubase Pro 15 to the fullest extent. Being rather unfamiliar with MIDI-programming and -technology I took a steep learning curve getting the results I wanted.

Although the JV1080 is a little bit dated, it still has great sounds and instruments and a lot of them easily stood the test of time. To make it easier for other people to configure the JV1080 with Cubase I decided to write this tutorial.

This tutorial taken as a whole enables you to use the JV1080 with its multitimbral features and also select all the patches from expansion boards with a mouse click or a MIDI-command. I’ve split the tutorial in various sections. So if you’re fine with just using one patch (instrument) at a time using the standard patches, you may skip some of the sections below.

Please note that I’m rather new and unfamiliar with all sorts of MIDI and Cubase. So there may be more optimal or efficient approaches or solutions than those found below. Happy to read your constructive comments, I gladly stand corrected.

Overview

Connecting, configuring and fully utilising the JV1080 with Cubase Pro 15 takes some steps and actions. The first step is to physically connect the synthesizer with your audio device (1. Connecting the JV1080 with the audio device). After the cables have been connected, a very basic configuration can be done using Cubase standard features (2. Initial Configuration of the JV1080 in Cubase). So the first two steps in this tutorial enable the use of the JV1080 as one instrument using one patch of the synthesizer as the instruments are called in Roland terms.

To utilise the 16 voices in multitimbral mode, the JV1080 has to be put in so called Performance mode using a set which enables all 16 MIDI channels, therefor up to 16 voices can be used at the same time (3. Multitimbral Configuration of the JV1080). If you have installed Expansion cards in your JV1080 and are happy just to use just a few of the instruments in the Expansion, it could be sufficient to add those, say, 12 instruments by hand in the MIDI Device Manager (4. Adding patches in an extension by hand). But if you want to make full use of all instruments, you should create a configuration script which saves a lot of time. By doing so, you will be rewarded with up to 1024 additional instruments provided by the expansion boards (5. Creating scripts for Expansions). Appendix A describes, how to send MIDI commands to the JV1080 to change the instrument in one MIDI-channel programmtically during the play of a track. In Appendix B I have prepared easy to adapt scripts for the Expansion boards SR JV80 01, SR JV80 02, SR JV80 08 and SR JV80 16.

1. Connecting the JV1080 with the audio device

I am using a fairly common Behringer UMC 1820 as my audio device for Cubase. To receive the output of the JV1080 you have to connect the »MIX OUT Jacks« on the back at the very right of the JV1080 with two inputs of the audio device. In my setup I have connected the two MIX OUT Jacks with inputs 7 and 8 of the UMC 1820. We’ll get back to this in a moment.

To control the synthesizer you need to connect the MIDI OUT of the audio device with the MIDI IN of the JV 1080. In my setup I’ve also connected a MIDI-keyboard with the MIDI In of the audio interface. so the JV 1080 receives MIDI messages either from Cubase or directly (via Cubase) from the MIDI-keyboard.

2. Initial Configuration of the JV1080 in Cubase

If you have connected the JV 1080 with your audio device as described above it’s time to setup Cubase for the initial configuration. So start Cubase, create a new project (or load an existing one) and then select Studio • More Options • MIDI Device Manager. In the Device Manager you then select Install Device. This opens a small window (Add MIDI Device) in which you have to select JV-1080 (ROLAND) for the appropriate configuration script. After clicking OK you will be confronted with the window JV-1080 Setup. In this window you can keep the standard configuration with all 16 channels being set to Patches. Close this window and you will find the synthesizer in the list Installed Devices. In the list Output you then have to select your audio device. You can now close the window MIDI Device Manager and you’re done with the standard configuration to control the JV 1080 from Cubase.

To utilise the sounds produced by the JV 1080 in Cubase you have to setup the audio connection for the synthesizer. In Cubase select Studio • Audio Connections and then switch to the view External Instruments. In the new window you click the button Add External Instrument. In the new dialog you enter a name (i.e. JV 1080), set Mono Return(s) to 0 and set Stereo Return(s) to 1 and under Associate MIDI Device you select the JV 1080 in the submenu of your audio device. In this setup it was the UMC 1820. After clicking OK the JV 1080 will appear in the list of instruments. Expand the name and then the entry Return Bus 1 and then select in the column Device Port the inputs in which you have put the cables as described in section 1. In my setup, the JV 1080’s sounds go into inputs 7 and 8 of my audio device.

To have the JV1080 show up in the list of VST Instruments, you have to open the VST Plug-in Manager via the menu Studio. In the manager, select the tab VST Instruments and drag the entry JV 1080 to the list of available instruments in the right panel.

After closing the Manager, you can create a new track to use the JV 1080 with a single voice. Just add a track, select Instrument and in the list of available instruments, you will find the synthesizer where you’ve put it in the VST Plugin-Manager. Upon creating the track, you will get a small dialog regarding Delay and Return gain. Usually the standard settings (0) are sufficient.

On the synthesizer you have to select PATCH as the mode to use. (This is sufficient for using only one voice. For the multitimbral configuration see below.)

To select one of the standard patches (instruments) of the JV1080, you will find the list of installed pateches in the tab Routing. The list of patches is located below the MIDI Channel (Channel 1). When you select a patch in Cubase, your choice will be reflected on the front display of the synthesizer.

You are now able to enter MIDI notes or play and record on your keyboard.

(Please note: For this setup the Control Room has been deactivated.)

3. Multitimbral Configuration of the JV1080

While the Patch-mode of the JV1080 allows you to play only one instrument (or patch) at the same time, the Performance-mode gives you the ability of playing up to 16 instruments simultaneously.

On the JV1080 you first select Performance instead of Patch as the mode of operation. A good setting to be used in conjunction with a DAW like Cubase is the Pop Set 1. You can select this by first choosing Preset, then A und finally scroll the wheel until you have PR-A: 12 Pop Set 1 selected. This set is suitable in its standards setting because all 16 MIDI channels are already activate. You can check this by looking at the lights under Part Switch. All eight lights should be lit initially and by pressing 1-8 9-16 also the channels 9-16 should be lit.

To prevent confusion when sending program change messages via MIDI, one additional configuration step for the selected performance is necessary. Select System and then use the Dec and Inc buttons so that the value for Control Channel is OFF. With this configuration, all 16 MIDI channels are being used to play instruments. Press System a second time to save the change.

With this setup you can create up to 16 MIDI tracks in Cubase, assign each of the track to a MIDI Channel (i.e. Channel 1) and below the menu for the MIDI channel select the instrument (or patch) from the standard list you want to assign to this track.

You are now ready to play or enter MIDI data as you like.

4. Adding Patches in an Extension by Hand

If you have installed expansions in the JV1080, their patches are not initially available in Cubase because the installation script for the synthesizer is - for obvious reasons - limited to the standard instruments. To access the patches in the expansions you have to add the necessary configuration for your individual setup. If you just want to play a couple of instruments, this can easily done by hand as explained in this section. If you want to use all instruments, and these can sump up to nearly 1.000 if you have installed four expansion cards as I did, you better use a script which is explained in the next section.

When dealing with expansions in general, there are a few technical details to consider. I have installed four expansions in my setup. In slot A sits the Orchestral Expansion Board (SR JV80 02), in slot B the Orchestral Expansion Board II (SR JV80 16), in slot C the Pop Expansion Board (SR JV80 01) and in slot D the Keyboards of the 60’s and 70’s (SR JV80 08).

First you have to understand that the expansions are split into two banks. The first bank contains the instruments 1 to 128, the second bank the remaining instruments from 129 upwards. So if you want to play Xylophone I with number 208 in SR JV80 02, you have to address the second bank in slot A. I will refer to these banks in the form of A.1 and A.2.

The second point is the numbering scheme which you use in the MIDI-commands to address an instrument. This is due to the values of MIDI-commands being 7Bit integers. If you’re not familiar with computers this may sound strange, but in fact it’s rather simple. The possible values of a 7Bit integer range from 0 to 127. Therefor you would sent number 0 to get the first instrument, 1 to get the second, 2 for the third, … This also applies to the second bank. So to use instrument Wood Sect 1 - this is number 140 in SR JV80 02 - you have to sent the number 11 as the selector. The calculation here is as follows: you take the overall number (140), then substract 128 to omit the first 128 patches which sit in bank 1 and then substract 1 because of the aforementioned 7Bit integer.

MSB	LSB	Patch Group	(MIDI #)
80	0	User	(10240)
81	0	Preset A	(10368)
81	1	Preset B	(10369)
81	2	Preset C	(10370)
81	3	Preset D (GM)	(10371)
82	0	Data Card	(10623)
83	0	PCM Card	(10624)
84	0	Expansion A.1	(10752)
84	1	Expansion A.2	(10753)
84	2	Expansion B.1	(10754)
84	3	Expansion B.2	(10755)
84	4	Expansion C.1	(10756)
84	5	Expansion C.2	(10757)
84	6	Expansion D.1	(10758)
84	7	Expansion D.2	(10759)

(Source: Roland (1997): MIDI Sequencing with the Roland JV-1080, p. 7)

With the numbering scheme now outlined, we can move to the MIDI-commands to select the patches. There are two ways to sent the MIDI-commands. The first, which is used here, consists of three MIDI-commands. I’ve opted for this, because it’s more transparent when creating your own configuration scripts. The second approach consists of two commands, which Cubase uses as its default method.

The three command approach consists of consecutively sending the commands BankSelMSB (CC0), BankSel LSB (CC32) and finally a Program Change. The table above contains the relevant data. The expansions are all in MSB 84. With LSB you address the bank within an expansion. You would have to send MSB 84 followed by LSB 3 to select a patch in the second bank of the expansion in slot B. The final Program Change contains the number of the patch according to the calculation described above. Example: To select the patch Marimba with number 204 in the expansion SR JV80 16 in slot B, the commands would be MSB 84, LSB 3 and Program Change 75.

The two command approach utilizes the command Bank Select 14 Bit instead of MSB and LSB. Bank Select 14 Bit requires the unique number of the bank. Those are listed in the column (MIDI #). Example: To select the patch Marimba with number 204 in the expansion SR JV80 16 in slot B, the two commands would be Bank Select 14 10755 and, again, Program Change 75.

To add some instruments by hand, you have to select Open Device in the MIDI Device Manager. In the new window you first select Patch Banks in the top menu and then activate the box Enable Edit. The left column contains the standard features of the JV1080. Besides the patches, this also includes the Drums and Performances of the synthesizer. Upon expanding the entry Patches, you will get the list of patches that are already familiar from the MIDI editor. You can create a New Folder within the folder Patches and name it something like Expansion.

Having the folder Expansion selected, you create a new entry with the option Add Multiple Presets. In the new window you select the MIDI-commands in the left column. Please note that the order of the MIDI messages is important, so the order is MSB, LSB and Program Change. Otherwise the selection of the patch won’t work. You can also provide a Default Name for the patch like Fancy Piano. After clicking OK, you will find a new entry in the folder Expansion. The previously explained values for the MIDI-commands can now be entered in the column Value.

After closing the MIDI Device Manager, you will find the created patch in the list of instruments in a MIDI track. Upon selecting the newly created entry, Cubase will sent the three MIDI-commands to the synthesizer and select the configured instrument.

5. Creating Scripts for Expansions

Adding some patches by hand is convenient as long as there aren’t too many. When there are multiple expansions installed, entering almost 1000 MIDI-configurations is not only tiresome, but also a giant waste of time. And this is the point where the configuration scripts come into play. These scripts contain predefined features and abilities for the respective synthysizer. The scripts are being loaded and executed one time when a new synthesizer is configured in the MIDI Device Manager. These scripts can be altered to suite your individual configuration and it’s not that difficult.

To modify a script for your configuration, the following things should be at hand:

a list of patches in the expansion
a tool for automatic numbering and minor text processing.

For the latter purpose I’ve written a very basic script in Python (see below). But since all roads lead to Rome, you can also use VisualBasic, JavaScript and even the automatic numbering and formatting features in Microsoft Excel to accomplish this task.

The list of patches in the expansion can usually be found in the internet with some searching. The PDF files which Roland has provided are usually easy to find when googling for the name of the expansion card, i.e. “SR JV80 15”. With some copy & paste, you can create a simple text file in which each patch name is contained in a separate line. So if the expansion has 223 instruments, the text file should also have 223 lines. (Tipp for users of Apple macOS: If you hold down the key option when selecting text, you are able to select columns as pictured above.) For the card SR JV80 01, the list would look like:

770 Grand 1
MIDI 3 Grand
     [several lines omitted]
Snare Set
Tom Toms

Let’s say, you have prepared the list of patches in your expansion card and have them in a file patches.txt, the next step is to find, backup and then modify the patch script. On macOS^[1] the scripts are located in the Library of your user account and can be found in the folder Preferences in the subfolders Cubase 15, Scripts, Patchnames, inactive, roland.

Since we are messing around with Cubase configuration files, you definitely should make a copy of the file roland jv-1080.txt and save it somehwere else. So if things go wrong, you can always revert back to the factory setting.

You can open the file roland jv-1080.txt in any text editor. Upon inspecting its content and structure, you will easily connect the script with the appearance in the MIDI Device Editor. You will find three entries [mode] with Patches, Performances and Drums. Within each of these modes you will find various groups, which are defined with [g1] followed by the name of the group. Under the group, the patches are listed adhering the following pattern:

[p2,<patch number>, <MSB>, <LSB>] <name of instrument>

So the task at hand is to create a new group based on the list of patches in the expansion adhering this pattern. A final entry may look like this

[p2,98, 84, 5] Trumpet

The following Python-script is a simple solution for this conversion. Place it in a folder together with the file patches.txt and adjust the variables str_bank_number_1 and str_bank_number_2 according to the table above to match your setup.

#!/usr/bin/python3

##################################
#        User Configuration      #
##################################

str_patch_file_name = "patches.txt"
str_bank_number_1 = "6"
str_bank_number_2 = "7"
str_output = ""

# read list of patches from file
file_with_patches = open (str_patch_file_name)
list_of_patches = file_with_patches.readlines()
file_with_patches.close()

##################################
#    Patches in Bank 1 (1-128)   #
##################################

# for loop, iterating from 0 to 127 for bank 1
for i in range(0,128):
	str_output = str_output + "[p2,{0}, 84, {1}] {2} {3}".format(i, str_bank_number_1, i+1, list_of_patches[i])

##################################
#   Patches in Bank 2 (129-256)  #
##################################

i = 129

# while loop, iterating from 128 until the end for bank 2
while i <= len(list_of_patches):
	temp = i - 1 - 128
	str_output = str_output + "[p2,{0}, 84, {1}] {2} {3}".format(temp, str_bank_number_2, i, list_of_patches[i-1])
	i += 1

# write results to new file
file_for_results = open ("results.txt", "w")
file_for_results.write(str_output)
file_for_results.close()

print ("===============================================")
print ("Done!")

When you execute the script in a Terminal^[2] with something like ./script.py, you get a new file results.txt. This file contains the instruments based on patches.txt in the form

[p2,119, 84, 7] 248 Rox Strings

Note: In the script I’ve included a small mechanism which numbers the instruments in the same way as they are in the Roland documentation. So this instrument would appear as “248 Rox Strings” in Cubase.

The next step is to add a group identifier for this list of patches. You could add a line at the very top in the form of

[g1] XP A: Orchestral

or similar. To make this list available in Cubase, you have to include it in the file roland jv-1080.txt. Just copy all lines in results.txt into the clipboard and paste then in roland jv-1080.txt between the following lines:

[p2, 127, 81, 3]	Gun Shot

[mode]	Performances

At this position the patches in the expansion will appear at the bottom of the original list of patches in the menus in Cubase.

You may proceed in this manner until you’ve added the patches of all your expansion cards. After saving the file roland jv-1080.txt and starting Cubase, you would have to delete an already existing entry for the JV1080 in the column Installed Devices in the MIDI Device Manager. If you add the synthesizer again, the additions in the configuration script will be considered by Cubase and you can select each instrument in the expansion cards directly from the menus.

6. Appendix A: Change Patches with MIDI Commands

Changing the patch for a MIDI channel during the performance of the track is trivial. You just have to add the three commands (MBS, LBS and Program Change) to the controller lane of a MIDI track and then adjust the values as described in this tutorial.

7. Appendix B: Configuration Scripts for Download

For your convenience I’ve attached the scripts for the expansions SR JV80 01, SR JV80 02, SR JV80 08 and SR JV80 16 as templates. To use them in the file roland jv-1080.txt you have to do a search&replace for <LBS1> and <LBS2> and replacing these placeholders with the number (0-7) of the bank in the expansion as documented in the table above.

SR-JV80-01-Patchlist.txt.zip (2,2 KB)
SR-JV80-02-Patchlist.txt.zip (3,0 KB)
SR-JV80-08-Patchlist.txt.zip (3,3 KB)
SR-JV80-16-Patchlist.txt.zip (3,4 KB)

I would be happy if a Microsoft Windows savy user can provide a comment with the folder in which these scripts are stored under Microsoft Windows. Would like to update this passage then. ↩︎
Please note that I will not be able to provide individual support for running Python scripts under macOS. The task at hand is a very trivial one and I’m absolutely sure that anyone with basic knowledge of scripting, programming and/or web development may easily help you if necessary. ↩︎