The SynthSummitShow episode 18: John Bowen synth designs

Streamed live 5 hours ago Flux302 of Fluxwithit.com

Fascinating bit of synth history with John Bowen who started his career with synths during the early days of Moog Music, followed by Sequential Circuits. Dave Rossum in the early days of E-mu is mentioned as well. John now of course runs John Bowen Synth Design, and is the creator of the Solaris. You can find previous interviews with John at various synth events in the archives here.

Interesting little bit of trivia at 41:55 regarding John drawing some of the Prophet-VS waveforms as estimations of the waveforms on the front panel of I'm guessing either the KORG DW-8000 or DW-6000. It's interesting to know they are in there. It's worth noting all of the Prophet-VS waveforms and Waldorf, and therefor PPG waveforms, are in his new Solaris x 4, meaning four independent oscillators capable of having separate waveforms or wavetables from each. The Prophet-VS vector synthesis of course made its way to Yamaha's SY-22/TG-33, followed by Korg and the Wavestation where it morphed into vector sequencing. He also worked on the original version of the KORG OASYS which turned into the PCI card version. He then left to work with Creamware on Scope, on some of the first software models of vintage synthesizers. It's pretty incredible when you think of all the connections between synths John has not only influenced, but created over the years.

Note the Solaris 1U rackmount at 1:11:48. Two were made a couple of years ago but the idea was scrapped. John spoke with Axel Hartmann on it and they agreed that the lack of UI made it not worth it. The Solaris has over 1200 editable parameters and part of the magic behind the Solaris keyboard is the UI which makes it all easily accessible.

Funny note regarding the Yamaha DX7 at 1:23:00. John is referring to the Jellinghuas controller for the DX7 after that, and Flux is referring to the DTronics DT7 based on it.

Video description:

"The SynthSummitShow is a live streamed show dedicated to Synths, music technology and the people who make the gear we use possible.

Todays guest is John Bowen. http://www.johnbowen.com/about.html

John was instrumental in many of the products we all know and love, from the prophet 5 to the solaris John has been a staple in the music industry.

Host: Ken Flux Pierce is a sound designer, Music technology consultant and blogger you can find me at Fluxwithit.com"

John Bowen Solaris Demos by boxoftextures

Solaris general demo Published on May 13, 2012 boxoftextures

Don't miss the Rotor demo below. It's one of the unique features of the Solaris.

"A brief exploration of some of the capabilities of the John Bowen Solaris synthesizer, showing the flexibility and depth of what you can do with it. This isn't a full blown tutorial but more of a taste of how you can program the synth.

©2012 Seth Elgart - All rights reserved."

boxoftextures, Twitter, Facebook

Solaris rotor demo

Published on May 13, 2012 boxoftextures

"A demonstration of the basics of the rotors in the John Bowen Solaris synthesizer. The rotors are a somewhat unique module. They're not a sound generator on their own, but instead they let you mix and modulate several different inputs, be they sound sources or some other sort of signal. Using the rotors you can make either subtly motion-filled patches or you can go wild and make some crazy sounds.

©2012 Seth Elgart - All rights reserved."

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."

John Bowen Solaris for Auction

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

"One of a small run of pre-order units of the near legendary John Bowen Solaris. For those who don't know, John Bowen started out working with Moog and became part of Sequential Circuits with Dave Smith. From there he went to work with Korg on such luminary products as the Wavestation and Oasys. The Solaris has been years in the planning and stems from Johns work at Sonic Core/Creamware. It's not really fair to simply call it a virtual analog synth as although it has modeled oscillators from Moog, CEM (SCI) and Wavetables and filters modeled from Moog, Oberheim, SEM as well as Comb and Vocal filters, it is much more than a VA. Semi modular in design there are hundreds of parameters and possible routings. Once central display and 5 sub displays help keep track of all the parameters along with 40 rotary controller knobs and numerous buttons!

For performance the Solaris sports a two output ribbon above the keyboard as well as the standard pitch and mod wheels and a joystick vector control. The keybed is velocity and pressure sensitive and the pitch and mod wheels are backlit, the colours can be changed but the case needs to be opened to do this. All internal processing is carried out at 96Khz, which means superior sound quality as well as some unusual modulations being possible, for instance the LFO's can easily go way into audio range.

There is so much more that can be said about the Solaris but it's better said on John's site.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Tech : Solaris Synthesizer Repair

Published on Jun 15, 2013 adiblasi·438 videos

Clip from the inside of a Hartmann Neuron at 11:47 (previously posted here back in 2008).

"http://www.Alfred.TV READ ME FIRST: I was very fortunate to procure a limited edition Solaris Synthesizer, designed by John Bowen. Shipping from Germany, it was unfortunate that it suffered a bump that dislodged a daughterboard, rendering half of the keyboard useless. This was soon resolved by "The Mighty Mighty AdamB", where, reprising his role as the "Synth Doctor" the Solaris was opened and the daughterboard was secured.

Was this relatively simple procedure of plugging in a loosened connector enough to make a watchable and entertaining video with a run time of 20 Minutes? I guess we will find out, based on your "likes" and comments.

Subscribe to AdamB:
http://www.youtube.com/thisisadamb

For information on The Solaris, view the link below:
http://www.johnbowen.com/solaris-over...

Follow me on Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/adiblasi

A subsequent video will follow, featuring the incredible sounds of this wonderful instrument will indeed follow. Enjoy the video!

Warm regards,

Alfred
http://www.alfred.tv

PS: The software used for "Fwing" and for the chorus of JoeyD's "Not Justin" (bonus clip after end credits) is entitled "Melodyne" by Celemony Software: http://www.celemony.com/cms/"

::vtol:: solaris

solaris video 1 from ::vtol:: on Vimeo.

"The man got to know other worlds, other civilizations, not knowing completely his own hides, alleyways, wells, blocked dark doors. S. Lem “Solaris”

Interactive installation demonstrates the field influence of the permanent magnet on the magnetic and spirit (fluorescent) liquids. Two liquids constitute the diphasic system. Due to liquids movements and their surfaces' modifications we visualize the unique processes of human brain. The spectator wears on neuro interface Emotive Epoc, the device computes a brain activity and sends information to the installation machinery

To test the project people of different ages, social groups and professional areas were invited. Test results confirmed that brain activity and mood of the man reflect on the dynamic and character of liquids movements in the sphere. Object reacts on the changes of mind and emotion states. People who spent a plenty of time with the object managed to influence the dynamic and direction of the liquids on the unconsciousness level. We also reveal that the installation visualizes the temperament of the person. The object copies your mental organization and echoes it on the liquid's surface. The object becomes a part of the participant

autors:

julia borovaya - idea curation
edward rakhmanov - robotic system, chemistry
::vtol:: - programming, electronics

consultant:

prof. alexander kaplan - neurophysiology

more - http://vtol.cc/filter/works/solaris"


solaris video 2 from ::vtol:: on Vimeo.

John Bowen Solaris V2.0 Update Released

John Bowen

Above is a quick video from John Bowen on the new Phase Mod Oscillator posted back in March. You might remember mention of it in this post from February. The update is now available. Some details via the John Bowen Synth Design forum (pic via this previous post):


"I am very happy to announce the release of v2.0 Operating System for the Solaris!

I wanted to post a huge 'Thank You' to Jim Hewes, who has been laboring for almost 4 years on the Solaris OS. Jim has fixed more than 80 bugs, and added at least a dozen of features that I have requested. During this last year, not only did he completely re-work the entire SysEx code (replacing a bare-bones NRPN system) to allow for MIDI access to all of the now over 7300+ parameters (!), but has been working overtime to get a reasonable 4-part Multimode structure working. I think you will all agree what he has done is managed to save the Solaris from early abandonment to bring it forward as a still viable current instrument. What other hardware synth has been able to do that which came out 10 years ago?

I would also like to thank Hrast for coding the new Phase Mod oscillator type, and Sonic Core for providing the code for the CZ waveshape set. You can view Hrast's work under the name Hrastprogrammer and his wonderful software synth Transiztow: http://www.hrastprogrammer.com/hrastwerk/index.htm...

The biggest structural change is that each Multi Preset now is actually 4 layers deep, making it four times the size of a previous preset. All older presets will load as 4-part Multi Presets. Loading an older preset file automatically converts it into the new Multi Preset format. The new Multi Preset will populate Part 1 with all the parameters, including the Master FX, Output settings, Performance knob assignments, stored joystick position, SamplePool, arpeggiator settings, Assign switches, and BPM. As before, when the Preset LED is on, you are in Preset Mode. Touching any parameter knob will immediately jump out of Preset Mode and put the Solaris into Edit Mode. When in edit mode, the bottom line of the center display will display the current selected parameter, which now includes the part number as P1, P2, etc.

New Oscillator Type: PhaseMod (PhsMod)

In addition to all of the new Multimode features, a 7th Oscillator Type has been added. This features both “DX7-style FM” (otherwise known as Phase Modulation or PM) and Phase Distortion (PD, from the Casio family of CZ synths). The waveshapes provided are as follows: For PM – Sine, Morphing Saw (Morph1), Morphing Square (Morph2) For PD – CZSaw, CZSquare, CZPulse, CZSawPulse, CZReso1, CZReso2, and CZReso3.

For Phase Modulation, use PMod as the mod destination. For Phase Distortion, use the Shape knob and destination. (You can have both types of modulation going on, of course.) On the oscillator’s page 2, you will find Sync and Quant(ization) parameters. For the PhaseMod Type, the only sync value is Gate. For certain PM sounds, you need to ‘lock’ the start of the phase to make sure you have a consistent attack to the sound, or you don’t want to have phase cancellation with stacked oscillators. Gate works with the Phase setting, to restart the phase at a specific point for every note-on event.

Quantize reduces the bit resolution of the PhaseMod oscillator. The range is 0-31 (with 31 = 1 bit). Results are very subtle until you are in the 27-30 range.”

Solaris Synthesizer Sound Demo

Published on May 8, 2020 Pure Ambient Drone

"Part three of my Solaris Synthesizer sound demos. This is a long demo of the John Bowen Solaris synthesizer. I am going through the presets of the synthesizer with no external effects. All you hear is the John Bowen Solaris."

Pure Ambient Drone Solaris posts

Black Octopus Sound - Event Horizon (128 Presets for the John Bowen Solaris)

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

Published on Oct 15, 2013

This one in via Soviet Space Child.

Download Here: http://blackoctopus-sound.com/product...

"Black Octopus Sound presets Event Horizon - 128 high quality presets for John Bowen Solaris created by Toby Emerson. This soundset offers everything from huge epic pads, long evolving textures, vintage analog style sounds, deep thundering basses, and many other classic leads and keyboard style sounds.

The John Bowen Solaris is simply one of the most fantastic instruments I have ever worked with. Everything about it screams class. From amazing sounding filters to countless oscillator types, I feel after several months of using it I still have not even scratched the surface. The architecture and programming behind it allows for huge sounds which can range from very organic and analog sounding to crisp and precise digital style sounds. The sound quality of this synthesizer is absolutely exceptional and I would highly recommend this synthesizer to any sound designer or professional musician that can budget for it.

All patches are mapped with the joystick controlling the filters. They are best auditioned by leaving the joystick in the middle position and then adjusting it to taste.

I have spent several months creating these patches for the Solaris users and offer them as a free download. However if you feel like they are of value to you I would love a donation or please pick up one of our sample packs as a way to say thanks and to support the creation of future sounds.

A little bit of compression and additional reverb by Valhalla Room has been added."

John Bowen Solaris Synthesizer SN 00213

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

via this auction

"For sale is a John Bowen Solaris synthesizer. This Solaris was custom made for me with detent encoders as opposed to the endless. If you are considering this synth then you should already know what it is. What you cant know unless you have played one before is the extreme high quality of construction. This synth is solid with the a beautiful keyboard that feels fantastic to play. It is built to last. The Solaris is made to sculpt sound.

The condition of this Solaris is like new, taking it out of the box you might well think you ordered it new. It comes with power supply, manual and the original shipping box."

CLICK FOR MORE »

John Bowen Solaris Sound Demo

Published on Mar 31, 2020 Pure Ambient Drone
Update: Re-Published on Apr 28, 2020

https://johnbowen.com

"John Bowen Solaris Demo. No talking of some Solaris preset patches.

The general concept behind the John Bowen 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."

John Bowen Solaris v2 0 Video Guide & Solaris Multimode Demo

John Bowen

"I explain the new user interface of the v2.0 operating system for the Solaris synthesizer."

Solaris Multimode Demo
John Bowen

"A short video explaining the new Multimode setup in the forthcoming Solaris v2.0 OS."

Follow-up to this post.

MATRIXSYNTH NAMM 2013: John Bowen Solaris Booth Pics & New Editor

Some pics of the Solaris at the John Bowen Synth Design booth.  See a screenshot of the upcoming software editor below.  This is one powerful synth, and you could argue the most powerful and flexible digital synthesizer to date.   It has a number of unique features not found on other synths including "Rotors" which are special 4-step waveshape sequences which act as oscillators. You can select any four sound sources, cycle through them in a Rotar and create a new complex sound source. Via the John Bowen website: "We all know that an oscillator basically takes a waveshape and cycles it continuously. The more complex the waveshape used, the more interesting the resulting cycles will sound. Now select four sound sources (including the external inputs and all the oscillator types mentioned previously) and play these repeatedly in a looped sequence one after the other. This is what a rotor is and Solaris has two of these as additional sound sources that can then be further mixed, filtered and modulated. Still can't imagine what a rotor sounds like? Check out this example: WeirdRotor1Poly"

The Solaris has four oscillators per voice. Along with standard waveforms, you have the Prophet VS waveforms, and wavetables from Waldorf available. There really is too much to cover in this post. If you haven't already I encourage you to check out John Bowen Synth Design for the full feature set, demos and testimonials.  And of course also see the John Bowen label below.

John gave me a sneak peak at a software editor for the Solaris.  You'll see a screenshot of the Arpeggiator editor below.

CLICK FOR MORE »

John Bowen Solaris - Analog Imitations 2016 by F5D

"A short track consisting of my custom Solaris patches, most imitating analog synthesizers. Includes also tracks with Waldorf wavetables. Some tracks have additional analog chorus and BBD delay in use + Relab LX480 as reverb. Limiting with Sonnox limiter."



"Some of my custom Solaris programs recorded in mono with and without fx, through modified Toft ATB analog mixer. Musically not very interesting, but to give an idea of how close to an analog synthesizer the fully digital Solaris can sound. Most sounds have been recorded without fx, but after 2:40 I introduce some analog Electro Harmonix guitar pedal fx (commented in the timeline). In the last two sounds I used the Waldorf wavetables and 'Jaws' (JP-80x0 supersaw) waveforms with logic digital stereo delay and Relab LX480 reverb. Some of the sounds utilize the built-in eq of the Solaris, but not the fx."

Epic Prophet X Sample Bank Out Now

video upload by Espen Kraft

"A new patch bank for the Prophet X. Hundreds of samples from over 20 different classic vintage synths. Multi-samples, Velocity layered samples, one-shots and stretched (for authenticity).

The samples and patches I've created is originally meant for MY Prophet X, for my live needs. A way of having all my vintage synths in one keyboard when doing live gigs doing MY own songs as faithful as possible to my albums.
It means that all of these sounds are "ready to go" production pop synth sounds. If you're looking for experimental synth sounds or spiky industrial sounds etc, you won't find that here. I never set out to do that. Nor will I. Every sample in here has been recorded by me personally and sounds exactly how I want them to sound.
Many of the samples are velocity layered multi samples, some upwards of 30-50 samples per sound, while other sounds are just ONE sample, stretched over the entire keyboard. It all depends on how I want the sound to sound. 80s samplers always stretched the samples which gives it a characteristic sound and sometimes I want THAT sound to come through.

If you want to purchase this bank, please send me an email and I'll give you the download details.
The pack is about 1.5Gb in size.
My CONTACT email address is this: espenkraft69@gmail.com
Price is $35 USD. This price is a steal. PayPal only. * The above email is NOT the one to use for payment. That will be given upon ordering.

Included in the download is an instruction on how to install this bank, but I do assume you already know this if you have a Prophet X.
I will take no responsibility if you've accidentally deleted or erased any user samples on your own PX (that you had on from before) after installing my pack.
I will not engage in any "one to one" tutorial sessions on how to install the pack after purchase.
If you have a PX, you should know how to operate it. If not then this pack is not for you.

The installation, import and patch bank transfer has been tested out, and verified to work, by another PX user and owner.

If you want the pool of samples for another platform, I might be able to convert it for you. Send me an email and we'll see.

CLICK FOR MORE »

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 Analog Programs - Part1

"Some of my custom Solaris programs recorded in mono with and without fx, through modified Toft ATB analog mixer. Musically not very interesting, but to give an idea of how close to an analog synthesizer the fully digital Solaris can sound. Most sounds have been recorded without fx, but after 2:40 I introduce some analog Electro Harmonix guitar pedal fx (commented in the timeline). In the last two sounds I used the Waldorf wavetables and "Jaws" (JP-80x0 supersaw) waveforms with logic digital stereo delay and Relab LX480 reverb. Some of the sounds utilize the built-in eq of the Solaris, but not the fx."

SOLARIS Estradin 314

via this auction
"rare soviet analog polyphonic synthesizer - Estradin 314 SOLARIS. It was manufacture on the same "Estradin" military radio plant in Zhitomir city where was produced power moog-type synths Altair-231, Estradin-230 in eighties. 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. Because of this the sound of the oscillators are really thick and meaty. 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 really unique!


Estradin 314 Solaris CONTROL PANEL:
-Pitch bend
FILTER section: Envelope amount, Cutoff, Resonance, Attack, Sustain, Release.
REGISTERS section: Harmonics 1-5 (8",4",2", 2 2/3", 1").
VIBRATO section: Lfo speed, Lfo pitch amount, Lfo filter amount.
-Amplifier release
-Brilliance ( Filter blend )
-Tune
-Power On/Off

CONNECTIONS: output 1/4 jack, pedal 5-din input, power plug, fuse.

The supply voltage - 220-230V/50Hz. For use with 110/127V, a voltage converter is necessary."

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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..."

---

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

John Bowen Solaris Synthesizer w/ Memory Cards

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

via this auction

"Up for sale is the very amazing chameleon of a synthesizer… the Bowen Solaris.
As you may already know, the Solaris can really cover some serious synth territory.

It can deliver the most authentic analog sounds I have ever heard from a digital synth ( and i've tried them all ), but it also gives the most unique and amazing digital textures as well.

I personally feel that it is a VERY evolved Prophet VS, Wavestation, PPG, Waldorf engine but as stated above, It REALLY gets into the Oberheim OBXA, Xpander, Matrix 12 territory. Also competent to give Prophet, Juno, Moog sounds as well. Very much the "synth chameleon". Not to mention the amazing sequencer / arpeggiator, a stunning full panel of knobs to tweak for days and a VERY solid OS to insure you can use this synth for years and years to come.

This Solaris is in full working condition. NO operational issues. There are a few scratches underneath / sides where it was placed on stands. But the top panel is in great condition, as it most of the synth, really. Just stating things for full disclosure."

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