"Solar Bears give us a detailed tour of their complex live set-up.
Dublin duo John Kowalski and Rian Trench, better known as Solar Bears, share a name with an NHL hockey team, but none of that sport’s fast-tempo explosiveness. Instead, their new album Advancement floats by in a slow-drift of synthy beauty, from the sparkling ‘Wild Flowers’ to the majestic ‘Man Plus’.
It’s an analog-heavy album, and that’s true of their live set-up too, we found out when we caught up with them at London’s Ace Hotel for an intimate look at their sonic toy box. Check it out below. Solar Bears’ Advancement is out now.
"Just a patches video with no talking from me to predate a full overview coming in the future. Full patch notes from me then some points from Allan at AJH Synth he said I could share with everyone too.
PATCH NOTES - DUAL MELODIES
This patch is two triangle wave melodies sequenced by the Audio Damage Sequencer 1. Both oscillators are AJH Synth MiniMod VCOs. You first here both sequences are the Ring Mod’s X & Y can be sent through to the mixer. You then hear the Ring Mod output, then back to X input and the sub oscillators which create sine like (slightly skewed and imperfect - perfect for low end thickness but no muddiness). Final part of the patch is a mix of the various stages into a VCA which is the AJH Synth MiniMod VCA.
PATCH NOTES - SATURATED XYZ
This patch shows the saturated and X, Y and Z inputs of the Ring Modulator. The saturated is based on the Moog CP3 Mixer circuit. You can saturate any channel or build up saturation with multiple channels clipping. You have a sine wave and a triangle wave (one pitch modulated) going into the X and Y inputs on the Ring Modulator which come from the Sputnik Modular Dual Oscillator. The Z input is the Noise Engineering Loquelic Iteritas which has it’s pitch swept manually in part of the video.
PATCH NOTES - SAWMANIA
This patch uses three AJH Synth MiniMod VCOs all with the saw outputs going into the X, Y and Z input. You hear the X and X inputs and then both together before hearing the Ring Mod output with just the X and Y inputs to the Ring Mod. Then the X input and Z inputs mixed into the Ring Mod output as well (which is great for adding in weight back to the signal). Then the sub generators which you can hear are very clean compared to your standard square wave sub generators. The third saw wave is mixed into the Ring Mod circuit on the Z input before taking the final output into the AJH Synth MiniMod Transistor Ladder Filter which has it’s cut off modulated by a modulated envelope (attack and decay CV is modulated on the envelope for movement).
PATCH NOTES - WAVETABLES
You first hear the X input which is a modulated wavetable from Mutable Instruments Braids. Adding in the -1 octave sub you can hear that move around with the varying harmonics in the wavetable changing. Note no pitch changes happen through this patch. The changing sub is awesome for create moving low end that changes with the wavetables. Mixing in the -2 octave sub you can hear the thick imperfect sine tone of the subs. You then hear the Y input which is the Noise Engineering Loquelic Iteritas which has it’s morph and fold modulated before hearing the X and Y sent into the Ring Modulator. The moving subs and Ring Mod works great for added movement and extra grit in the sound. Taking out the subs and the Y input I then use the Z input which is an LFO from Mutable Instruments Tides. Tides has it’s frequency and shape modulated for evolving flutters and gestural LFOs. The patches plays out with various levels going into the Ring Mod and mixing in the subs and original X and Y inputs."
"Up for consideration is a gorgeous and highly rare Moog MemoryMoog Plus Synthesizer. Model 345P, serial number 3514.
The synth is in great cosmetic condition, with minimal wear from age, and missing three knobs.
Functionally, the synth is in good condition, with all patches and knobs working. Needs a slight refurbishment, as some of the keys are intermittent in their tone creation. These synths are notorious for little bugs, but a little TLC should have this one up and running in perfect working order in no time."
Created (C), (PH) by al l bo with Roland MKS-80 Super Jupiter Synthesizer Rev. 5 (100% sounds, except drums and acoustic piano), 2015. All rights reserved."
