John Bowen Solaris Has Arrived

A few pics of my newly arrived John Bowen Solaris in the studio. I've wanted one of these since they were announced, but could never afford one until a couple of years ago. I talked myself out of one in the beginning, as I already had a Waldorf Q rack and an XTk keyboard, along with plenty of other virtual analog and real analog gear. In the back of my mind though, I knew I might one day own one. A few years ago I reached the breaking point with the synth collection I picked up over the years. I found myself going into the studio and spending time with synths I wasn't sure about keeping to see if I indeed wanted to keep them. I'd decide yes, this synth is great, I should keep it, only to walk out of the studio neglecting other synths that I honestly wanted to play more. I did this for years. The breaking point for me was when a few of the older analogs started exhibiting problems and I realized I didn't have a solid tech in the area. The only way to fix them would be to ship them off incurring the shipping costs to and back over the cost of the repairs. I also began to realize how redundant my synths were. Seriously. They are all either subtractive analog, wavetable, FM, additive, or PCM/sample based in the end. They are all just different flavors of the same thing. I mean how many different brands of vanilla ice cream do you really need? For me synths are about getting lost in the sound - about exploring sound. So yes, the more brands the better, but... just like there's only so much space in my belly for ice cream, I only have so much time in the studio. I realized it was time to let some go and in doing so I could use the money on other gear I'd been GASing on, like the Sequential OB-6, Elektron Digitakt, a Jupiter-XM to replace some vintage Rolands I gave up, and of course the Solaris. The Solaris was actually the first on the list. As I said, I wanted one since the start. I also know John Bowen, and no I did not get a deal on my Solaris. The Solaris is a labor of love and John pretty much runs the show on his own. He does work with others on building them of course, but this is a small enterprise. You can't find these in shops. They are exclusively sold on John Bowen's website: https://johnbowen.com, and there is a wait time. When I reached out to John about finally getting one he let me know this might be the last run. It was run number 7 and I asked him if I could get the last one. He said yes so I went for it. A couple of years later it arrived. (P.S. I heard there might be another run and John is still working on the OS, an expander, and possibly a desktop version, see the update in red below).

Do I have any regrets? I can emphatically say no. This is an amazing synth. What sets it apart is it has four, not three fully blown oscillators that can be morphed with a joystick for vector synthesis of wavetable and virtual analog synthesis. No other synth that I am aware of can do this. It is also fully modular. If you look at each display panel section, each knob, you can essentially load anything into them and route them however you want. Things aren't locked in place like other synths. The Solaris also runs at a super high resolution - 96kHz to be exact. People say it sounds analog and this is not an overstatement. It sounds amazing. I hate to say it, but it leaves my Q in the dust. It just sounds so much more bold and present. It is hands down the best sounding VA and Wavetable synth I own. I've owned a lot of synths over the years including some of the most sought after - Jupiter-8, OB-Xa, Matrix-12, Prophet-5, Rhodes Chroma, Alesis Andromeda A6, Yamaha CS-60, original Minimoog Model D, ARP Odyssey with CMS mods, and more. The Solaris is right up there with them if not surpassing them. It is that good. It feels different too. It feels like a powerhouse design tool. A synth of synths, so to speak. Note it also has the Prophet VS waveforms. I have a Prophet VS rack (you can see it in the top right), and I can say the Solaris sonically matches it - it has that transparent, bold presence missing in many digital synths. An unintended added bonus is the Solaris joystick actually works with the Prophet VS! :)

That said, if you do plan on picking up a Solaris or a Solaris expander, reach out to John first. This isn't an order now and get it next week sort of synth. It's more of a long term investment. How long? For me it was two years as I wanted the last of the final run. It was worth the wait.

Update: I should note my Solaris has a unique serial number out of the standard sequence. It's 10041. I'm curious if anyone will recognize the reference. :) So, although this might not be the last Solaris keyboard, it will have an interestingly unique SN. :) I also updated the above with the following: "Note it also has the Prophet VS waveforms. I have a Prophet VS rack and the Solaris sonically matches it - it has that transparent, bold, presence missing in many digital synths."

As for a new Solaris, there is work on a Solaris expander and possibly a desktop version. See this post for some desktop pics including an OS update (also in my studio), and see here for the expander sitting on top of two 1U mixers in the top right. You can find a demo from Sonicstate at NAMM 2020 posted here.

NAMM: John Bowen Solaris Videos

YouTube via jzbowen

Videos:
Solaris-Rotors
Solaris-Vector Mixers
Solaris-VCAs, EGs, & LFOs
Solaris-Oscillator Types
Solaris-Global pages
Solaris-Global pages
Solaris-Mixers & Insert FX
Solaris-Looping Envelope
Solaris-graphics display & AM sections
Solaris-FX
Solaris-The Filters
Solaris-Arpeggiator & Step Sequencer
Solaris-Oscillator extras and Modulation pages

John Bowen SOLARIS Demos by Christopher Simmons

John Bowen SOLARIS Demo by Christopher Simmons - PART ONE

YouTube Published on Jul 14, 2012 by NeotropeMusic

http://johnbowen.com/
"John Bowen SOLARIS Demo by Christopher Simmons - PART ONE. An audio walk through of some of the bank one patches in the SOLARIS limited edition keyboard synthesizer. Content, performance and audio contained in this video is Copr. © 2012 by Christopher Laird Simmons and Neotrope® Entertainment; all commercial and derivative rights reserved. HD, stereo, 20min. Note; audio is recorded from Event 20/20 speakers in studio. Turn up speakers to hear sound fully. View the text for this video review, here: http://musicindustrynewswire.com/2012/07/14/min5681_175032.php .

*correction to audio on video one: John B informed me that, "Presets are automatically selected when you use the Inc/Dec buttons - you don't need to press Enter for those! Only if you use the dial or keypad to select do you need to press Enter." (doh)

This video shows some of the sounds from bank one (aka 'Bank Zero"). The second follow up video will have direct audio from the Solaris outputs, and have examples of banks 2, 3 and 4 (aka banks 1,2,3). There is a bank "5" (aka bank 4) but I won't have time to demo that, unfortunately.

VIDEO TWO with direct audio:"

John Bowen SOLARIS Demo 2B (HUM REDUCED) - HQ Audio - by Christopher Simmons

YouTube Published on Jul 17, 2012 by NeotropeMusic

"UPDATED VERSION: John Bowen SOLARIS Demo 2 (*HUM REDUCED) - HQ* Audio - by Christopher Simmons

John Bowen SOLARIS Demo - PART 2 - with HQ* direct audio (*NEW VERSION WITH HUM/NOISE REDUCTION*), by Christopher Simmons. An audio walk through of some of the bank 2,3,4 patches in the SOLARIS limited edition keyboard synthesizer. Content, performance and audio contained in this video is Copr. © 2012 by Christopher Laird Simmons and Neotrope® Entertainment; all commercial and derivative rights reserved. HD, stereo, 20min.

NOTE: since I had very limited time, I just played a bunch of keys and didn't spend a lot of time modifying patches with the knobs as I did a bit of in the first video, and went through the patches very quickly; so don't expect any free 'riffs' you can snatch, or any brilliant keyboard chops (I do play very well). This is all I had time to do, and hopefully somebody finds it of value. Considering less than 100 people on the planet have a SOLARIS, this is going to be a unique video until other owners upload something similar. AGAIN: I'm not auditioning for best performance here, just hitting some keys to make noise to demo the patches since there are very few demos online of entire banks, and almost no videos like this. It is what it is, folks. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: YES! I know these SOLARIS demo videos are not perfect. I had only a couple of hours to shoot "something" or "nothing" and went for something. I would find these useful in shopping for a Solaris keyboard; but your mileage may vary. I sold mine to help finance new house, so I shot these AFTER I had sold it before boxing it up, as a "what the heck" kind of thing. Not planned, not perfect, but they don't entirely suck. :-)"

John Bowen Solaris Modular Comparisons via Elhardt

Below are some notes on the John Bowen Synth Design Solaris posted on the AH email list by Kenneth Elhardt, reposted here with Elhardt's blessing. One thing that can be argued as standing out the most on the Solaris is it's ability to freely rearrange various components of the synth engine. Typically synths have a basic signal path that goes something like this: oscillator --> mixer --> filter --> output, with various modifiers for each section. Not so with the Solaris. The Solaris is a bit closer to a modular. The beauty of a modular is that you typically have each component of the sound creation process as a separate module with input and output jacks that can be arranged however you like. You connect the various inputs and outputs of modules with patch cords. Apparently the same concept applies to the Solaris, minus the cords of course.

via Elhardt (be sure to read my note on the Oscillators and Rotors further below):

"Since John Bowen reads my posts on AH, I'll have to give you a positive biased rundown. :-) Almost every possible thing you can think of can act as a mod source to just about anything else, including external audio inputs (there are 4 of them) and virtually any component in the synth. So you could mix two Supersaw waves, run them through a filter and use that to modulate an Osc. Virtually everything can become an audio input to anything else, so you could take that above example and run it through a ring modulator. It has 4 simultaneously available filters (each with its own VCA) and mixers, each with a choice of what you want going into them, meaning you can configure them anyway you want without limits, just like a modular synth. There are lots of filter types. 4 lag processors are provided that you can use to smooth out any signal which I'm currently using to provide analog drift to the Osc's, though analog drift may be a future feature. I used the included envelope follower with a Mic to get an expressive Mic controlled trumpet sound. Because of the number of VCOs, filters, VCAs, LFOs and EGs, sounds that required a bi-timbral synth can be done on a single Solaris voice.

I'm also liking the way the OS and patches are all stored on a Compact Flash card. This means no more limits as to how many presets you have available to you. If you have 2000 sounds, then they're all there on the synth. It also makes it easy to back up patches on computer and easy to upgrade the OS because [there's] no more need to connect Midi to a computer, pull up a sequencer, and send streams to data back and and forth. I'd like to see more companies use this method.

-Elhardt"


With that in mind, one thing I thought worth pointing out here is that the Solaris has four oscillators, and each oscillator can have a completely different type of sound source including standard analog modeled waveforms, Prophet VS waveforms, Waldorf and PPG wavetables, samples and more. Via the specs page:

"Four (4) oscillators. Each can be of the following types:

MultiMode (standard waveshapes, combinations, plus saw stack)
WaveTable (wavetables 1-64 from the Waldorf Microwave synthesizers) [1 - 30 are PPG]
Sample playback (.raw format)
CEM VCO chip model (like those used in the later Rev. 3.x versions of the Prophet 5)
All of the waveforms used in the Prophet VS
(temperature stable) model of the oscillator used in the MiniMoog."

There is also a new form of synthesis called Rotors "Two (2) rotors which are special sound sources, implemented as a looping wavesequence of four (4) assignable inputs, played successively." In short think of a sequencer you can assign to trigger any sound source which you can speed up to the point it oscillates and produces sound. You can watch John Bowen give an example of it at the PNW SynthFest starting at 9:28 in this video (the link should take you to the 9:28 mark). You can also find some audio demos on the Solaris samples page starting with sample #5.

As for other components / "modules" on the Solaris, you can find the complete (massive) spec list on http://www.johnbowen.com/.

Now take all that and think of how you can apply it in a flexible modular fashion.

One synth the Solaris frequently gets compared to in interface is the Oberheim Matrix-12. The Matrix-12 has a reputation for being highly modular in editing as well. It might be worth doing some digging to see which is more flexible.

Be sure to also check out Elhardt's first audio demo of the Solaris here.

John Bowen Teams with SonicCore to produce Solaris

"March 28, 2007 - John Bowen Synth Design today is introducing the Solaris keyboard synthesizer. John's many years of sound design and user interface work have culminated in a synthesizer that is unparalleled for its ease of use and sonic quality. "While I certainly enjoyed many good years at Sequential Circuits (re:all products) and Korg (Wavestation, OASYS), working as an independent plug-in developer for the Scope platform over the last 7 years has allowed me the freedom to explore concepts and designs that I would have been unable to do elsewhere. Solaris represents the pinnacle of this development, and for several years I've had plans to turn it into a hardware version. Finally I can say, it is here."

Drawing on years of experience, John Bowen has crafted a new masterpiece - Solaris is a synthesizer that truly lives up to the idea of 'no compromises':
• Flexible as a modular system, but easier to use - with five 2 x 40 character display sections, one 240 x 64 graphic display, and 40 knobs, the Solaris is capable of great depth in sound manipulation, but designed to be as easy to use as the vintage synths of the past for which John Bowen is known.
• Sound quality is paramount - newly created synthesis algorithms provide unparalleled quality; signal processing handled by SHARC floating-point processors. Internal processing is done at 96 kHz; audio rate modulation provided with sample-accurate precision.
• The Solaris is a purchase which will last for years, through new algorithm "expansion packs" and OS updates.
John has teamed up with Holger Drenkelfort and Juergen Kindermann (SonicCore GmbH) to produce the Solaris synthesizer. "We had all worked together in the development of the Creamware Scope system, which as a development tool I found to be sonically superior to any other available native 'synth construction' programs on the market. However, I needed a new and more powerful system to produce the Solaris properly. Using their expertise, SonicCore has created brand-new hardware and operating system software – there is nothing inside based on the Scope system. Also, we brought in a talented dsp programmer to write completely new algorithm code specifically for the Solaris. However, now that SonicCore has acquired rights to the Creamware dsp library, I will be able to incorporate their special modules as well in Solaris. I'm also discussing licensing other algorithm work for future dsp expansion packs. It's my plan to have the Solaris act as a capable 'host system' for a wide variety of synthesis types, while still providing an ease-of-use factor."

Notes Hans Zimmer, "If anyone out there can take what we love about the elusive quality of analogue synthesizers and add the inventiveness and versatility that we get from digital, it'll be John. There is no question in my mind he understands that fundamentally the sound has to be true and uncompromised for a bunch of circuits to turn into a musical instrument. There are many synths out there that are fun and even inspiring. But it takes a certain magic and voodoo, a certain set of ears and sonic heart to build something lasting, something timeless."

More information will be available at www.johnbowen.com or info@johnbowen.com.

John Bowen started as Moog Music's first official clinician in 1973. Following that, he collaborated with Dave Smith on the Prophet 5 design, and went on to create 99% of all Sequential Circuits products' factory presets, demo and drum sequences, providing user interface (UI) design for many of the products as well. When the core Sequential team was acquired by Korg, John became Product Manager for the Wavestation, handing all UI design, sample ROM processing, and overall product development. He then worked on the initial OASYS keyboard UI design, but left Korg in 1998 to work for Creamware, where he developed their first Modular system, and assisted in the early work of their Prophet and Pro One emulations. His Zarg Music company is known for some of the finest plugins available for the Scope platform.

All specifications subject to change without notice. Copyright ©2007 John Bowen Synth Design."

And there you have it. ; )

John Bowen Solaris - White Model

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"Solaris Digital Modular Synthesizer - Overview We're on a mission...

From the beginning, the singular mission for Solaris has been to create nothing less than John Bowen's personal vision of the ultimate, dream-come-true synthesizer. A vision that draws upon more than three decades of experience in synthesizer design with legends like Moog Music, Sequential Circuits, the Korg Wavestation series and renowned software synthesizers for the original Korg OASYS and Creamware Scope platforms. And it's a vision to create a truly musical instrument masterpiece that is shared with some of the world's foremost synthesizer connoisseurs like film composer Hans Zimmer who is renowned for always seeking the utmost in sound creation capabilities.

OK, so what's the big idea?
The general concept behind the Solaris synthesizer is to implement something like a giant wall-sized modular system entirely in software where you can select among several completely different types of oscillators and filters, exquisitely modelled after the components culled from a variety of legendary vintage synthesizers of yesteryear and even some current virtual analog innovations of today. With up to four oscillators, four filters, four amplifiers, four four-input mixers, six envelope generators, one looping envelope generator, five LFOs, two vector mixers and still more of these software modules available in each program, the Solaris synthesizer becomes absolutely unrivalled in terms of versatility and programmability.

Aren't modular systems a complete pain to use with all those wires though?
The real wonder of the Solaris synthesizer is in how easy it is to accomplish all the routing, patching and programming of all these modules together. This is largely due to the abundant control surface of six LCD displays plus myriad knobs and buttons, and the exceptional way that they have been laid out to facilitate You'll be amazed and delighted at both the efficiency of the workflow and the wealth of feedback provided with the Solaris synthesizer for even the most complex of program configurations (and not a single patch cable in sight)!

With so much going on, what is the polyphony?
Even with a complex program utilizing all four oscillators, four filters, four mixers and healthy doses of modulation, you can still expect 10 note polyphony! This is because the powerplant inside the Solaris synthesizer that actually runs the software code consists of six third-generation SHARC DSP processors. Internally, all operations are 32-bit floating point and audio signals and busses run at 96 kHz for pristine audio quality.

Whether you are a synthesizer veteran looking for a modern musical instrument that lets you relive the majestic tones of legendary analog synthesizers or you are a sound designer exploring new sonic realms for games, film, stage or other media, we're confident that the unique and unlimited sound creation capabilities of the Solaris will be the synthesizer that lets you cut through all the clatter and instantly raises you up above the competitition. Now, isn't it time you got your hands on the Solaris synthesizer?"

Upcoming John Bowen Solaris v2.0 Update Adds Yamaha FM & Casio CZ Phase Distortion Synthesis

http://johnbowen.com

John Bowen dropped by the other day with the Solaris Desktop prototype. Not only did I get a peek at the new design, but I was able to take a look at the upcoming v2.0 OS, which adds both Yamaha style "FM synthesis" and Casio's CZ Phase Distortion synthesis. It also adds multi-part support. You'll find a few pics in this post. Apologies for the lighting but it is dark in the studio. :) Below you'll find a few angled shots of the desktop. In person it's not as large as I had expected. It's similar to an Oberheim Xpander which seems appropriate considering their similarities. Both have multiple displays and have been described as essentially modulars in a box. From what I understand, the Solaris is a bit more flexible as you can essentially re-order the signal path. It's a pretty amazing synth. John Bowen opted for a high resolution 96kHz signal path and you can hear it. The Solaris sounds absolutely astonishing. It has four oscillators with a vector joystick to morph between them. You can also cycle through oscillator waveforms up into the audio range with the unique "Rotors" feature on the Solaris. Click here for a full list of current features. Note the v2.0 features aren't yet listed.

The Solaris has four oscillators allowing for a 4-OP FM synth. If you are familiar with Yamaha FM synthesis you know you select how each operator modulates the other from various algorithms. On the Solaris, however, you can freely map oscillators any way you like, including back into each other. The Solaris is essentially modular, allowing you to freely route components of the synth engine. Aside from FM and Phase Distortion, the new OS also adds an assignable 4-part multi mode. Assignable not only by patch, but by number of voices allocated to each part. The following is what John had to say about the upcoming OS:

"v2.0 OS will add a new Oscillator Type called Phase Mod. This allows for true 'DX style FM,' which is actually phase modulation. With four oscillators, you can create 4 Operator algorithms. It also includes waveshapes emulating the CZ Phase Distortion series. The modulation destination which normally shows as LinFM changes to PhasMod when this oscillator type is selected. For the CZ series, the Shape parameter controls the amount of phase distortion.

The new Multimode code allows for 4-part arrangement. Each part shares a common 'voice pool' of 5 pairs of voices (total of 10), and you decide how many voices can be assigned to each part, with 2 voices in a part as the minimum assignment. (Using identical presets with the new Solaris Voice Expander module adds another 10 voices.)

The Multimode structure converts old presets into a larger preset structure that holds the parameters for all 4 parts. All edits to any parameter are stored separately, so any preset used to populate a part from any other preset is not affected, and remains a separate object. Each of the 4 parts provides control over velocity and key zoning, volume level, pan position, transpose, fine tuning, arpeggiator function, and a number of other MIDI controller settings."

You can find additional posts including demos of the Solaris here.

http://johnbowen.com

CLICK FOR MORE »

JOHN BOWEN SOLARIS SYNTHESIZER PROTOTYPE DEMO NUMBER THREE

JOHN BOWEN SOLARIS SYNTHESIZER PROTOTYPE DEMO NUMBER THREE from RED MARTIAN on Vimeo.

"This features percussion sampled off of the Solaris using an MPC-1000. I did not alter those sounds to try to leave them as pure as possible. The flanging/phase shifting is actually the excellent Comb filter on the Solaris itself."

JOHN BOWEN SOLARIS SYNTHESIZER PROTOTYPE DEMO NUMBER FOUR

JOHN BOWEN SOLARIS SYNTHESIZER PROTOTYPE DEMO NUMBER FOUR from RED MARTIAN on Vimeo.

"The opening of this demo is John's own original demo that he did for the Prophet-5 in 1978. This tune uses the same Solaris generated drum kit from number three as well as more use of that excellent Comb Filter as well as Vector Synthesis using a realization of one of the Prophet VS factory patches."

Previously posted...

JOHN BOWEN SOLARIS SYNTHESIZER PROTOTYPE DEMO NUMBER TWO

JOHN BOWEN SOLARIS SYNTHESIZER PROTOTYPE DEMO NUMBER TWO from RED MARTIAN on Vimeo.

"This is the second 'All Solaris' demonstration made up of 5 separate tracks sequenced and played manually. The pseudo Deep Note was done using two virtual CEM VCOs with about 5-6 seconds of exponential glide and a virtual SSM filter. The long resonant filter sweeping is done on the SSM model."

Demo 1

John Bowen Solaris | Epic, Enormous & Expensive

video upload by Espen Kraft

"A flagship synth from 2011, the John Bowen Solaris is both vintage and modern at the same time. It's all digital, but it can mimic both old analogs as well as the 80s hybrid synthesizers and more.

Check out the synth here: https://www.johnbowen.com

The idea to use a Compact Flash card to store patches, presets, Wav-files and even the OS is a great concept in my opinion. Yes, it means you can loose everything if not careful, but as long as you have a backup of the card you can put it into another Solaris and boot it up to reveal YOUR Solaris.
Using the CF card does not mean the Solaris boots the OS from the card, you flash the Solaris from the card when there's a new OS update you want to install into the synth.
You do need to have the CF card present to have your presets and patches available though.

The demo song was made to showcase what I feel is the best part of the Solaris, the ability to mimic the classic hybrid synths like the Prophet VS, the PPG, and also synths like the Yamaha FS1R which uses formant shaping. The drum loop that comes up at the end is also out of the Solaris as you can create patches based off your own Wav-files.
The first part of the demo song is all recorded by hand, with a free flowing tempo. I also play an arpeggiated part on top of this.
The second part is recorded to tempo.
Some of the patches are part of this Solaris' preset bank, while some of the sounds are either edited presets or my own makings.
External FX used in the demo track: Valhalla VintageVerb, GFI Specular Tempus.
The demo track has been mixed and mastered using my well documented workflow and gear."

John Bowen Solaris Demo No talking

Published on May 1, 2020 Pure Ambient Drone

https://johnbowen.com

Lot's of bass in this one. Follow-up to this demo.

"John Bowen Solaris Synthesizer Demo. Hear the sounds of the Solaris Synth. No talking sound demo of the John Bowen Solaris."

Update:

John Bowen Solaris Demo 2

Published on May 2, 2020 Pure Ambient Drone

"Solaris Synthesizer Demo. Part two John Bowen Solaris Sound Demo. Here I am going through the presets of the synthesizer with no external effects. All you hear is the Solaris."

John Bowen Solaris - New Presets and Demo

Published on Mar 2, 2017 Stephen Hummel

"Volume 8 of the 'Circuits and Strings' series of studio jam videos from subtractiveLAD aka: Stephen Hummel.

My usual musical meanderings were pleasantly interrupted by the arrival of John Bowen's Solaris synthesizer in my studio.

I made some of the factory preset patches for when the synth was originally released years ago. Having it around again has been great and I've pretty much been lost in patch-making heaven since it got here. I thought it would be fun to show you the patches that I have made so far, with short little musical pieces to help demonstrate each preset. Some of the modulation stuff is more exaggerated than what I would normally do in a track but it is to show some of what the synth is capable of. Most of the preset demos feature music that I recorded as MIDI data which is then sent back into the synth from Reaper - just wanted my hands free for the joystick and ribbon, etc.

All sounds are from the Solaris only, no other effects or processing, with the exception of a little Verbzilla on the Blade Runner patch...

I feel like I've only scratched the surface on this thing and new ideas keep crowding my brain.

PS: The wooden end cheeks are taken off of this unit as it was being used for programming updates before coming to me."

CLICK FOR MORE »

John Bowen Solaris Demos by insanic4

John Bowen Solaris Demo 1 Published on Jun 9, 2013

"Here is a demo of the Solaris synth by John Bowen (www.johnbowen.com). I have this fantastic synt for a week now and worked with it for 6 evenings. I started building my own sounds right away and in this demo you can hear a sound that uses vector and wavetable synthesis. Everything is played live using the keyboard, the joystick, the 4 part switch buttons and the pitch and modulation wheel. This synth is the king of evolving sounds!

For better audio quality go to SoundCloud:
http://soundcloud.com/insanic4/solari..."



John Bowen Solaris Demo 2
Published on Jun 29, 2013 insanic4·15 videos

"For better audio quality go to SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/insanic4/solari...

Here is the second demo of the Solaris synth by John Bowen (www.johnbowen.com). Everything is played live using the keyboard, mod wheel, pitchbend and joystick."



John Bowen Solaris Demo 3
Published on Nov 10, 2013 insanic4·16 videos

"High quality version on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/insanic4/john-...

Another demo of the Solaris synthesizer by John Bowen. Everything is played live using the keyboard, joystick, ribbon controller, modulation wheel and assign buttons. Lots of real-time performance controls on this synth :)"

Solaris Interview at the Messe with Samples

Title link takes you to a podcast on delamar.de. Scroll to get to the player when you get there. Midway John plays a few sounds followed by talking about the synthesis engine.

Via fat eric in the comments of this post. fat eric babblefished the following off of delemar.de. Thanks fat eric! These are the first samples of the Solaris I'm aware of.

"One of the few highlights on the music fair 2007 for me is surely the Solaris, a Synthesizer, which was developed of nobody smaller than John Bowen. The Solaris began as semimodular software Synth for the Scope DSP maps of CreamWare, where it gained fast a good reputation as versatile applicable Synth. Marc and I had the large pleasure the symphatischen and still inspired Synth veterans to interviewen - the result can hear you as Podcast at the end of the article. With the Solaris it acts around a Synthesizer based on SHARC DSPs with 5 oktaven a keyboard, which with a 96kHz audio engine works. Under that about 40 buttons are 5 LCDs, which represent the button parameters. Additionally there is a graphic display, whose use us is not yet completely clear. The algorithms used in the Solaris are to be waited and improved occasionally over software updates. Also extensions are technically feasible and planned according to John Bowen. Perhaps it will also give at a later time some the Scope algorithms for the Solaris. However - John Bowen recommends to switch on and straight on play the equipment simply. The secrets reveal themselves then allegedly automatically. Who cannot allude the hippen Synth with a music shop, should absolutely clean-hear in the Podcast, because it enters or other hearing sample of the master there himself. An inspiring Synth, which by play joy and great sounds from the mass out-stings. The price will lie around the EUR3000. -. Thank you at John Bowen for the interview!"

The John Bowen Interview | Legendary Synth and Sound Specialist, New Solaris OS, Demos, & Prototype

video upload by Espen Kraft

"John Bowen is the man behind those Sequential factory synth preset sounds heard on so many classic tracks. The Prophet 5, Prophet VS, Six-Trak etc.
He later worked on the Korg Wavestation, Korg Oasys, the Creamware DSP plugin synths and finally his own hardware synth, the Solaris.
You've heard his sounds more times than you know.

In this interview you can hear how it all started, all the funny stories, and what happened in California in the 70s, at Sequential Circuits in the 80s and at Korg in the 90s. And more."

You can find v2.0.3 update details here: https://forums.johnbowen.com/viewtopic.php?t=17189.

The following are a couple of videos featuring the Solaris, the first featuring on the John Bowen site.
video upload by synthhaft

"Improvisation with a 'Noodle'-Sound, done with the SOLARIS.
One Sound, one take, no external fx."

And one more with a Nonlinear Labs C15 and Waldorf Quantum:
"Heizfläche"

video upload by

And last but definitely not least, some pics of the Solaris prototype via the John Bowen Synth Design forum where you'll find additional pics:

"I came across some of the old Solaris prototype photos, and I thought people might enjoy seeing them!

We introduced the Solaris at the Frankfurt Musik Messe at the end of March 2007. The original design features 2 rows of knobs below the Envelope section, so that you could easily adjust filter and amp envelopes without having to select them individually. (Note there are only 3 EG select buttons, as the idea was to select them in pairs.)

The wood sides were more rounded, as you can see these were quite nice, but a bit too expensive for production. The graphics of the front panel featured a design from my childhood friend, John Heisch (viewable on the left side). Also, the original silk screen for the front panel was not to my liking, so I requested an 'emergency' job from Axel Hartmann to revise the graphics look for the show (which he did just 2 weeks prior to the show!).

We went through 5 prototype stages, arriving at the production version you know now. It was quite the journey!"

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Musikmesse: John Bowen Solaris Videos

YouTube via delamartv — March 29, 2010 —

"The Synthesizer Solaris from John Bowen is an exceptional piece of hardware. We could interview John Bowen during the Musikmesse 2010 in Frankfurt and ask him about the new features in Solaris.

John Bowen shows us all the good stuff about Solaris and even a new filter he finished few days before the show.

If you like more information on John Bowen and Solaris, watch the second part of this video either on our YouTube Channel or on www.delamar.de"

Solaris John Bowen Synthesizer Part 2 Musikmesse 2010 Video


Also see this thread on the John Bowen Synth Design forum.

http://www.johnbowen.com/

John Bowen SOLARIS Demo of tweaking, sound design and some patches

Published on Aug 30, 2019 synthlegends

"The John Bowen Synth Design SOLARIS is almost 8 years on the market. Since 2012 there were approximately 380 units produced. The 7th production run just finished and is sold out.

The SOLARIS is a very sophisticated digital virtual analog synthesizer with 4 oscillators, 2 so called rotors, tons of waveforms, filters, mixer routing possibilities, 5 LFO and 6 envelopes. It contains about 1200 parameter and countless routing possibilities. It is like a polyphonic modular synthesizer which is capable to recreate all classic vintage synthesizers and also never heard digital stuff. With the SOLARIS a programmers dream became true. The GUI is quite logical thanks to 5 text displays for each section in the signal path plus a big graphic display.

My new purchased SOLARIS with Serial Number 356 has a new hardware feature, OLED Text Displays. In the meanwhile the OS is "grown up" and there are also more than 2000 user presets programmed by a big community of sound designers.

In this video I only scratch on the surface. In the beginning I want to demonstrate a bit the different sections (oscillator, filter, envelops, LFO) by tweaking an anlog sounding JUPITER style Pad. Then I demonstrate a couple of typical analog leads, bass, sync sounds and some digital sounds to show the wavetable section. In the end I play a gorgeous string patch demonstrating some further routing capabilities in the mixer section, where you can layer 4 parts.

I did not use any additional effects, mastering, compression or eq. You hear only the SOLARIS from Out 1 and 2 directly to the audio interface.

I hope, you enjoy this video, which only shows a very little part of this unbelievable flexible synth. I am very happy to read your comments.

Cheers, Rüdiger"

John Bowen Synth Design Introduces New Solaris Voice Expander

via John Bowen Synth Design

Note this is addressed to existing Solaris owners:

Dear SOLARIS owners,

We are pleased to let you know that we are ready to ship the SOLARIS Voice Expander. The unit adds another 10 voices of polyphony, using the PolyChain function. The price is 1839 EUR net (currently around $1950) plus shipping. The unit's dimension is 37 x 370 x 125 mm (1.46 x 14.6 x 5.0 inches).

Sales and production are handled by Sonic Core. Please contact Sonic Core at office@soniccore.de for more information.

--- DEUTSCH ---

Liebe SOLARIS-Kunden,

Wir freuen uns, Ihnen mitteilen zu können, dass wir bereit sind, den SOLARIS Voice Expander auszuliefern. Das Gerät fügt weitere 10 Stimmen Polyphonie hinzu. Der Preis beträgt 1839 EUR netto (aktuell ca. 1.950 $) zzgl. Versand. Die Abmessungen des Geräts betragen 37 x 370 x 125 mm (1,46 x 14,6 x 5,0 Zoll).

Vertrieb und Produktion werden von Sonic Core übernommen. Bitte kontaktieren Sie Sonic Core unter office@soniccore.de für weitere Informationen."

Black Octopus Sound - Event Horizon 3 (128 Presets for the John Bowen Solaris) by Toby Emerson

Published on Feb 16, 2020 Black Octopus Sound

http://johnbowen.com

This one was spotted and sent in via Soviet Space Child.

See my post on the upcoming V2.0 OS update.

"Get it here: https://blackoctopus-sound.com/produc...

Event Horizon 3 for the John Bowen Solaris has arrived. Created by Toby Emerson, this bank of 128 presets will take you on a journey of endless evolving pads, deep subsonic basses, cutting edge leads, nostalgic keys, and inspiring synth plucks. The sound capabilities of the Solaris are extremely deep, and Event Horizon 3 explores new sonic territories with the Solaris, utilizing some of its unique features such as rotors, amplitude modulation, feedback routing, wavetable modulation, Linear FM, and more. If you are looking for a huge bank of timeless and inspiring sounds for any genre of electronic music then look no further than Event Horizon 3 for the John Bowen Solaris – one of the greatest synthesizers ever made.

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Modal 002 vs John Bowen Solaris - quick example

Published on Jul 20, 2019 synthlegends

"Only a quick example of one string patch in reminiscence of the Oberheim OBXa with the Obie 12 dP LP Filter in Solaris and 12 dB LP Moog Ladder Filter in the 002.

Both patches use 2 oscillators slightly detuned with a simple saw wave.

On both I used minimal LFO for slightly modulation, but the 002 modulates itself because of the phase shifting of the detuned oscilators. Maybe it is also because of the NCO in the 002, which are a bit out of tune instead of the digital Oscillators in the Solaris.

In both patches I did some portamento/glide.

Both patches are dry with no internal or external effects. Other than in the video described, the Modal 002 has no 12 dB Filter, only a 6 dB Filter with Slope 12 dB BP to 24 LP. Sorry for the wrong description. Please Note: this small comparison is not representative to make a full opinion about both Synths. The differences are very huge. Some people are of the opinion that the 002 sounds more analogue. I agree with that because it has also an analog filter whereas the Solaris uses digital emulated filter. The Solaris sounds very Hifi, the 002 is unique thanks to NCO, DeRez (sort of PPG like resonance), the very warm slope filter and the Drive-Pot.

The Solaris is a modulation beast and maybe you can match the 002 patch in this video with some more tweaking better.

I did this video because there are some discussions about the sound comparison of these two high end synthesizers.

Thanks for watching!"

v1.3.1 OS Update for The John Bowen Synth Design Solaris Synthesizer

via John Bowen Synth Design

"I am really excited to announce our first major OS "feature upgrade" for the Solaris synthesizer in quite a while - v1.3.1!

There's a number of new features and changes added with v1.3.1 OS:

1) Joystick position is now stored in the preset.
2) Assign buttons and Unison Chord stack now stored with the Preset.
3) A Random Tune parameter both in a preset and at the global level. This works per voice, and only affects the whole voice’s tuning.
4) Preset names and categories of the current bank are now loaded into a memory cache, making selection and viewing of them faster.
5) New MIDI Realtime on/off in the global MIDI page to send/receive Start/Stop commands.
6) Ribbon now outputs MIDI controller on CC18 & CC19.
7) Solaris remembers the last presets selected when you turn it off, so it will resume where you were.
8) Global override parameters added for Sustain and Expression Pedals.
9) Changed the Mod Source listing of Ped1 and Ped2 to "ExpPed and "SusPed" to make it more clear.
10) The ribbon Offset parameter now works differently. It adjusts the "neutral" point from the left end to the right end of the ribbon.
11) FX Bypass now does not alter the on/off state of the Preset’s effects parameters, but truly bypasses the FX bus, and stays bypassed when selecting through presets or using the Compare feature.
12) All remaining system bugs fixed. These include numerous display-related issues (parameters not being refreshed, wrong pages appearing where they shouldn’t, etc..)

This new OS works with both detented and non-detented encoder front panels. If you are a Solaris owner, this is a 'must have' update! You can download v1.3.1 from the Data Files section of the Solaris Forum (for Owners only).

More general information available at http://forums.johnbowen.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16506. If you have not yet registered your Solaris in the Forum, please send a request to info@johnbowen.com."