John Bowen Solaris - Modulating the Decimator with Envelope Generator

Published on Aug 6, 2013 zibbybone·124 videos

"So I went to GC today to 'test drive' the King Korg to get my free T-Shirt. I was having lots of fun controlling its decimator in real time. I asked the sales person if you could control it from an EG and the reply was 'I don't think so'.

Ah, but you can with the Solaris. Here's a simple patch using the 'Jaws' waveform (supersaw) while I tweak EG2 to modulate the decimator. Not anything super musical, but just a quick demonstration of just a taste of the Solaris' modulation capabilities."

130806 Music Idea

Published on Aug 6, 2013 zibbybone·126 videos

"Sorry about the distortion. I've got the John Bowen Solaris playing a slow arpeggio which has a bit crusher being modulated by a slow LFO while I improv on the Roland JD-800."

SOLARIS (John Bowen) Synthesizer - 100 Brian Kehew Presets

Published on Apr 2, 2018 OFR

"Here is a quick demo of the 100 custom sounds I programmed for John Bowen's amazing synthesizer, the Solaris. It's a fascinating system, a brilliant design with astounding sonics (although YouTube audio won't represent the full audio quality.)

I was finding so many people were doing 80s analog-synth type sounds (which are common elsewhere already) so I wanted to show a wider range of the possibilities it offers. I still don't understand all of what the Solaris can do - I'm still learning it - so there is more to come for sure. There are NO samples used, just pure synthesis modes. Enjoy!

** Thanks to Curt Anderson for the camerawork and Todd Lampe for editing..."

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Update: For the month of April, John Bowen Synth Design is offering a $500 discount on the Solaris. You can find details here.

Roland JD-990 in box w/manual SN ZE71170

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

via this auction

"One of Roland's high marks of the early 90s, the flagship rack mount beast: the JD-990.

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Roland JD-990 demo by Don Solaris

Published on Apr 5, 2013

"This is an old demo from 2007 back from Sealed's deepsynthesis.net which is no longer active. The sounds you hear in the demo and many others will be available in NI Kontakt format. I will update the info right here once they are commercially available - so please don't msg me or ask where to get them. SYX files will not be released or sold - sorry."

Roland JD-990s on eBay

John Bowen Solaris SN 0364

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

via this auction, also on Reverb

Update via Z in the comments: "That first photo of the Solaris with the SCI gear is MY PHOTO of MY GEAR."

Note the Solaris has four oscillators, not 3 as stated in this listing, and they are digital, not discrete. I'm guessing by discrete, they mean fully featured, routable, independent oscillators. The Solaris is about as close as it gets to a fully modular poly synth. It's more flexible than most. You can freely assign and route the different components of the synth vs. being stuck on a set path. Check out http://www.johnbowen.com for details.

"Groundbreaking audiophile digital poly, 3 [4] discrete full-range DCOs per voice.

- 7th-generation, this unit is less than one week old.
I received this unit today from Germany.(8.19.19)
- The unit is still sealed in the factory box and has NOT
been opened (see photos #4 & 5)
- John Bowen has assured me the warranty on this unit is transferable and will be 100% honored. I will provide his contact info if you need to confirm.
- This unit's serial # 0364
- This black-faced unit has the optional backlit pitch/modwheels and newly offered OLED screens.(those options cost extra $$)

The entire 2019 run is sold out. I rarely ever see these for sale. I waited 13-months for this one. Don't miss out on a rare opportunity."

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Soviet Solaris Estradin 314 demo proj3

Published on Jan 11, 2018 Paul Curreri

Update: this one is currently for sale on Reverb here. Pics captured here.

"A bit of a meander through this fascinating and wild analog poly / organ.

As you can see, it’s in excellent cosmetic condition. Sliders all slide fairly smoothly. A proper power cable was professionally installed, as the one it came with didn’t fit snugly. It still uses 220V though, so a converter is required.

Now, much as I love it, I can’t say for certain that this Soviet-Era instrument is functioning 100% optimally. After all, I don't speak Russian, and I've never encountered another! You can probably hear the slight hum -- though the signal-to-noise ratio easily masks that when playing. Perhaps it could use a tune-up?

I’ve always found the unit perpetually intriguing. One minute it’s a 60s compact organ (w. a filter!), the next a 70s string machine, then a growling 80s analog synth bass, and then blammo: a rocket ship. I mean, c’mon.

If your path in life leads you to encounter a Solaris Estradin 314, maybe bring it home?
Thanks for watching.

* * * * *
Wonderful description from the web:

Vintage rare soviet analog polyphonic synthesizer - SOLARIS Estradin-314. Produced in the USSR on "Estradin" factory in Zhitomir city (famous for its Estradin-230 & Altair-231 synths) in 1988.

SOLARIS uses organ style drawbars to create the basic tone, and has a analog filtering as well. Inside it has 12 voice boards that correspond to each key in an octave, and then uses a divide down system to get to the other octaves. The filter is really extreme and sounds fantastic, as well the envelope is really punchy, so you get great synth stabs, sweeps and percussive organy sounds.

If you use the envelope and filter sections carefully you can get great moogy leads out of it, warm organ sounds, flying ambient textures, in the high resisters it can sound like a string machine, or even a theremin if you crank the resonance.It has tons of character and can sounds amazing!"

YAMAHA CS-15 w/ SOLARIS MODS

images via this auction

Not the best shots, but there you have it.

Mod 1 - Extended LFO precision
Mod 2 - Filters in series
Mod 3 - White Noise routed into VCF2

You can find full details on the Don Solaris Mods for the Yamaha CS15 here.

John Bowen Solaris Test Drive by Carbon111

via Carbon111, via this VSE thread where you will find more images and info.

"I was privileged today to have given John Bowen's Solaris a test drive in my studio! Though its not quite finished yet and there are some re-designs in progress, I can honestly say its a programmer's as well as a player's dream!

It sounds absolutely wonderful and is very powerful! It took a few minutes for the interface to sink in, but once it did...wow! Flexible, deep and yet relatively easy to program due to the excellent UI despite the huge number of available parameters and choices. Most parameters are not buried in menus and are easy to access and tweak.

There are a ton of audio-rate modulations available on this thing, none of which generate any artifacts or aliasing at all...lots of FM possibilities, linear as well as exponential. The Moog-style filter was as warm and squelchy as one could want and could be run in other modes besides LP! The "Obie" clone was a good state-variable emulation. The oscillators were plentfull in both quantity and variety. Each patch has a unique architecture, essentially a massively parallel yet integrated "multi" unto itself.

I was suprised at how organic and non-digital it sounded! A one-on-one "taste test" against my analog gear proved this thing has that elusive low-end "beef". Its no slouch as a complex wavetable synth either, holding its own easily against my Waldorf Microwave XT and Ensoniq Fizmo.

You can do FM, physical modeling, subtractive, wavetable and vector synthesis on it as well as the warmest VA I've yet heard.- I'm really blown away! Time to start saving...or figuring out what will have to go"

Also check out the official John Bowen Synth Design.

Some specs via this thread on the John Bowen Synth Design Forum (BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE THREAD FOR MORE including clarifications):
"The hardware Solaris has the equivalent of approximately 6 Scope boards (the 14 DSP cards), so 6 x 14 = 84 Scope generation DSPs - but remember, you would have to be running your Scope Project at 96 kHz as well...

We have lots of software to finish, so I can't report exactly as to the polyphony count, but here are some of the other specs:

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Spectral Audio Neptune 2 - Blue Analog Rackmount Synth

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
Published on Dec 8, 2010 Don Solaris

"Spectral Audio Neptune II multi-tracked. No effects, just plain raw recording."

via this auction

"It is a 3 OSC true analog monosynth in a rackmount package with MIDI and CV control. It has a very nice vintage voicing. The filter sounds great, particularly the bandpass, and the built in fuzz and distortion makes this synthesizer go from mellow and smooth to aggressive and in your face. Check out the video for a sample of what it can do."

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Building synth shelves and some gear pr0n

Published on Jul 18, 2014 Don Solaris

"Finally built myself a synth wall. Still under construction, these are just some of the shots from the progress."

Waldorf Quantum Totally Unofficial Demo

video upload by Don Solaris

Bad Gear - Roland JV-1080

video upload by AudioPilz

"Become a Patron and get access to music clips from the show, additional content, Bad Gear samples and even more AudioPilz madness

https://www.patreon.com/audiopilz

Welcome to Bad Gear, the show about the world's most hated audio tools. Today we are going to talk about the Roland JV-1080. Is this classic Roland rack synth the Roland Cloud of the 90s? Can these sounds still be used in modern music production or do we have to subscribe to Zenology? Can it hold up with analog synths?

Check out Don Solaris' webpage for in depth knowledge on the 1080:
http://www.donsolaris.com

Chapters:
00:00 Intro tune
01:06 Overview Roland JV1080
01:49 Wave Generators (Waveforms, Samples)
03:02 General Midi
03:12 Synth Engine (Cross Mod, Filter, LFOs, Envelopes, Modulation)
03:47 Patch Structure (Booster, Ring Mod)
04:06 Presets
04:29 Effects (Insert, Send, Reverb)
04:41 Rhythm Kits (Drums)
04:51 Performance Mode (Multitimbrality)
05:02 Expansion Cards - "The 90s Cloud"
05:35 Manual, Build Quality, Outputs, Pricing
05:55 Hate
06:22 Jam 1 (Classic Sounds)
07:11 Jam 2 (Synth Tweakery)
08:04 Finale
08:34 Verdict"

Custom Side Panels for The John Bowen Solaris & The Final Production Run?

Gorgeous side panels, custom made by Jean-Pascal. You can reach Jean-Pascal at jppouyet at hotmail.com if you have any questions.

If you have ever been interested in picking up a John Bowen Solaris, now might be the time. They are taking orders for 2018 and it's looking like this will be the final run.

via John Bowen Synth Design:

"Join In With These Owners

What do the following entertainment industry veterans all have in common?

•J.J. Abrams (Alias, Lost, Star Trek, Star Wars 7&9)
•Harry Gregson-Williams (The Martian, all Shrek films, Wolverine)
•Dave Porter (Breaking Bad, The Blacklist)
•Ty Unwin (UK composer for BBC, ITV, TLC and Discovery)
•Matt Johnson (The The)

They all purchased a Solaris! Don’t be left out - get yours ordered today before the last production round is sold out!"

Roland JV-880 and JV-80 Editors Added to Patch Base

via Coffeeshopped

"Patch Base 3.2 adds 2 new editor/librarians for the Roland JV-880 and JV-80. These synths were the beginning of the family tree that led to the JV-1080 and eventually the powerful XV-5080 (which I'm working on support for!). Don Solaris has a great article and diagrams of the evolution of Roland's sample-based synths.

These new editors give you quick access to the 4 Tone layers of each voice, plus the Chorus and Reverb sections, with copy/paste and randomize features as usual. The Rhythm editor allows the construction of 61-part drum kits, each with their own Pitch and Filter envelopes. And in the Performance section, you can set up your 7-part voice performance, plus a Rhythm section. And of course, each of the banks (Voice, Rhythm, and Performance) can be backed up, swapped out, and rearranged in the app, as well.

Thanks to Paolo Di Nicolantonio for the beautiful JV-880 picture. And here are some screenshots of the new editors."

Pictured in order:

JV-880 Voice Editor
JV-880 Rhythm Editor
JV-880 Performance Editor

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Ensoniq ASR-10 synthesizing organ sounds

Published on Aug 31, 2013 Don Solaris·17 videos

John Bowen Solaris Gets An Update - v2.1 OS Adds New Functions to the Sequencer and Arpeggiator

via John Bowen Synth Design

"Here is my documentation describing the new functions in v2.1 OS for the sequencer and arpeggiator. I know many people don’t bother to 'read the manual', but in this case, I think it will really be of value. There’s some special applications of a few functions you need to know about, such as the ‘note pool’ used for random note values, or how the modulation paths work."

The images below are from the PDF documentation John shared with owners of the Solaris. You can click on the images to read. With four oscillators, vector joystick, classic analog models, wavetable synthesis, phase distortion, unique rotors, and a completely modular design, all running at 96 kHz for pristine audio quality, the Solaris remains one of the most powerful synthesizers to date.

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Don Solaris - Tau Ceti

YouTube Uploaded by DonSolaris on Jan 30, 2012

"Made with Yamaha TG-33 synthesizer and an Akai S-1100 (drums)."

Airplane (track not finished yet)

Uploaded by DonSolaris on Jan 30, 2012

"Notice: this track is currently under construction. This is a small excerpt from it. Made with a Yamaha DX-7II FD and an Akai S-1100 (drums)."

Waldorf Blofeld - Analog Voltage Soundset

Published on May 9, 2014 Don Solaris·23 videos

"Available at Waldorf store: http://www.waldorfmusic.de/

128 patches total:
60 analog synth style patches
35 analog bass patches
33 additional patches ranging from ambient, classic FM to special FX

By category:
36 Bass type patches
22 Pad type patches
17 Atmo type patches
14 Poly type patches
11 Keys type patches
10 Arpeggio type patches
9 Lead type patches
4 FX type patches
4 Perc type patches"

Nord Wave - Vintage Digitals Vol1

Published on Feb 11, 2014 Don Solaris·21 videos

available at: http:///donsolaris.com/nord


Nord Wave - Vintage Digitals Vol1 Part2

Roland SR-JV80 expansion - important fix(!)

Published on Feb 9, 2018 Don Solaris

Music: Suit&TieGuy