MATRIXSYNTH: Search results for John Bowen Solaris


Showing posts sorted by date for query John Bowen Solaris. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query John Bowen Solaris. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Sunday, January 07, 2024

John Bowen Solaris 2019 - White

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via this auction

Sunday, August 27, 2023

John Bowen Solaris SN 00062

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via SYNTH CITY Reverb

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"Serious synthesizer designed for the musician/performer. In fantastic working and cosmetic condition overall. Includes compact flash card and power supply.

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."

Sunday, August 13, 2023

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.

Friday, June 02, 2023

John Bowen Solaris SN 00143

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via this auction

"Got this #143 Solaris synthesizer in 2018 and sadly has mostly sat unused under its dust cover in that time. Tremendously deep digital synthesizer that can be programmed to make just about any sound you might be able to imagine, including convincing emulations of classics that are near impossible to tell from the real deal. It just ended up being a whole lot more machine than I need, literally everything can modulate everything else inside this machine."

Saturday, February 25, 2023

New John Bowen Solaris Sequencer In Depth


video upload by John Bowen

"More details on the new Sequencer and Arpeggiator for the next Solaris update."

Thursday, February 09, 2023

New Sequencer & Arpeggiator for the John Bowen Solaris


video upload by John Bowen

"Coming OS update with new sequencer and arpeggiator functions!"

https://www.johnbowen.com

Friday, November 04, 2022

John Bowen Solaris SN 00275

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


via this auction

"John Bowen is a prolific sound designer with contributions with Moog, Dave Smith and Sequential Circuits. The Solaris is a 2007 creation of his making and design. The Solaris features 4 oscillators, 10 note polyphony, 4 Filters, each with selectable inputs, 4 free LFOs, 1 Vibrato LFO, 6 ADSR envelopes and 1 loopable 8-stage envelope, 16-step sequencer and much more."

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Synth excerpt from Always Rivalled (@No Man's Island)


video upload by Rune Flobakk

"Small excerpt from a new song, Always Rivalled, I am performing with my band @No Man's Island . Wanted to test out my recently acquired LinnDrum, and perform a multitrack one-take by routing the individual outs from the drum machine through a (also recently acquired) @Erica Synths Matrix Mixer, in order to flexibly assign drums to their own input channels. The polysynth parts are played on an Oberheim Matrix-12, and the bass on a John Bowen Solaris. All sounds and effects is generated 'outside the box' (not using any plugins), and only some mixing levelling and EQ is done post-recording.

The pink pedal you get a glimpse of in the beginning is a @Poly Effects Beebo, which I also use for live playing. Recording is done with an Allen & Heath Qu-16 into Logic on Mac.

The full song also includes vocals, guitars, electric bass, and drums."

Thursday, July 14, 2022

Black Model John Bowen Solaris SN 00320

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


via this auction

Thursday, June 16, 2022

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."

Friday, May 27, 2022

John Bowen Solaris Limited Edition Synthesizer

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via this auction

"John Bowen Designs Solaris Limited Edition synthesizer keyboard in excellent condition with power supply. Incredible sounding synthesizer with numerous synthesis and modulation capabilities. This is not the OLED screen version."

Saturday, April 30, 2022

"Waschtag"


video upload by synthhaft

"Having fun with the laundry? It is possible."

Featuring the John Bowen Solaris and Moog Minimoog Model D.

Friday, April 01, 2022

What can you do with 1 synth and 1 drum machine? You can have some fun.


video upload by Espen Kraft

"One drum machine and one synth, doing all the work. The John Bowen Solaris set up to use 3 independent arpeggiators, each one mapped out to the mid- and lower part of the keys, while a regular patch is left to be played, at the upper part of the keys. The Isla S2400 provides the drums with some samples I made of the Roland DDR-30.
The Solaris makes it possible to set the arps up with different resolutions, modes etc, which can be a lot of fun.
One patch is overdubbed later, for a little more texture. In a "real" live setting that would have been played by a sequencer."

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

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!"

Friday, February 04, 2022

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?"

Thursday, January 27, 2022

Solar Plexus - TAL sampler pack | The Digital Collection Vol.5


video upload by Espen Kraft

"Solar Plexus Sample Pack for Togu Audio Line (TAL) Sampler.
These patches are made from sounds created on the John Bowen Solaris synthesizer from 2011.

Find the patches here:
https://thepatchbay.co.uk/product/tal...
https://sound7.co.uk/products/solar-p...

The Solaris has some very unique features, like 4 separate oscillators that can use waveforms from different classic digital synthesizers like the Prophet VS, PPG, the Casio CZ series, as well as analog classics.
It also has different filter-types, like Oberheim and SSM filters.
Combined this makes the Solaris very powerful, lush, warm and big, but it can also sound crude and gritty.
I've taken the best of how I see the Solaris and put together this pack that captures the essence of how the Solaris would have sounded, through an old school sampler. That's what the TAL sampler is about.

All sounds in this pack are recorded from the physical outputs of an original Solaris, through SSL Superanalogue preamps for the best audio quality.

Apart from a couple of drum sounds in the audio demo track, the audio demos features only 100% sounds from this pack. Some external reverb has been used on some of the sounds.

*The TAL sampler plugin is not included in the pack. That can be found here:
https://tal-software.com/products/tal...
I have no affiliation with the the company. I just like their plugin."

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

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."

Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Korg Synthesizer brochures - Early 90s


video upload by Espen Kraft

John Bowen Solaris in the background.

"A big thanks to all my friends around the world, that keep sending me vintage ad brochures. I love these old ad magazines and brochures. This time we focus on early 90s Korg. Wavestation, M1, 01/W, T1, A1 etc."

Thursday, October 28, 2021

10 Horror Movie Themes That Scared The World!


video upload by Espen Kraft

"10 Horror Movie Themes That Scared The World!

Do you have a horror movie theme that really scare you? Please let us know in the comments below! Here are my 10 iconic thrills for this Halloween :

00:00 Intro
00:30 Jaws (1975)
01:11 The Exorcist (1973)
01:42 A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
02:31 Rosemary's Baby (1968)
03:22 Zombie Flesh-Eaters (1979)
04:56 Hellraiser (1987)
05:33 Suspiria (1977)
05:52 Halloween (1978)
06:33 Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
08:26 Psycho (1960)
08:40 Outro

All themes are multitracked and recorded live, by hand. Sequencing only done on Cannibal Holocaust (taken from my Yamaha QX3 video)
These versions must all be considered "cover" tracks as I deliberately has done them differently that the originals, for obvious reasons.

Synths, keyboards, drum machines and samplers used:
Roland Juno-106, JX-8P, JX-3P, Alpha Juno 2, SP-700, Jupiter-8, TR-808
Yamaha: DX7, TX802, TX81Z, RX11, KX88
Korg: Poly-61, EX-800, KR55
Oberheim Matrix-12
Sequential Prophet VS, Six-Trak
John Bowen Solaris
Kawai PHM
Crumar BIT01
Casio RZ1
Elka OMB5
*and one VST synth that shall remain nameless

Support this channel on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/espenkraft"

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Black Model John Bowen Solaris Digital Synthesizer

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


via this auction

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