The Hoover: Alpha Juno Preset which Defined an Era

US DnB mainstay & iconic Rave lead in one      03/03/26

You may think that the Hoover Sound (aka "What the?" to give it it's original name) was only used in cheesy Hard House, blasting out in Asda car parks across the late 90s, but it is in fact an INTEGRAL sound to Drum and Bass, as well as being hugely influential in the rave scene (in both instances, being pitched up). This video seeks to explain all that, detailing the preset's history with Eric Persing, courtesy of a Sonicstate interview (!) - and delves into the origination of the sound on the Roland Alpha Juno - Roland's digital response to the success of the Yamaha DX7. Fascinating stuff, and some tunes below to trigger some memories... 

In this video we'll be taking a look at the history of the hoover sound. From its origins as a joke preset on the Roland Alpha Juno, all the way to 90s rave music domination and its lasting legacy on electronic music. Along the way we'll talk about its creator Eric Persing, the various ways it can be recreated and we'll look at a few different tracks it has been used on.

0:00 Intro
0:52 80s Synth Presets
2:10 Juno vs DX7
2:48 Alpha Juno
3:32 Roland's failures
4:18 Mentasm
5:01 Dominator
5:22 Evolution of the sound
6:49 Recap
7:16 Eric Persing finds out
9:21 How is it made?
11:10 Legacy
11:55 Outro

Here's more from Alex Ball:

 

And some examples of the Hoover in use... 

 


 


More from Mixed Signals

About the author [midierror]: midierror is co-founder of Potato Audio, he makes nifty Max For Live devices, award-winning Sample Packs and hosts the 'midierror meets...' interview series speaking with all kinds of people working in sound & music. 


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