John Bowen Synth Design

I had the opportunity to use the Solaris to create music for a Robot installation at Living Computer Museum in Seattle WA.

I made a short video in which you can see the video kiosk with plays the Solaris music as well as the Rethink Robotics BAXTER staring at the camera.

https://www.instagram.com ...

It would be very nice to be able to adjust multiple parameters with a single control.

It never had a keyboard. John knows, Stanley Steamed.

The SixTrak did that too, right?

Check out page #59 of the manual. You can calibrate the analogue controls by pressing 1, 8 and 3 simultaneously,
then pressing 4 and following the instructions on the main screen. Use the 'exit' button to leave the Self Test Menu.

There are quite a few calibration and testing functions. My ...

While adjusting the arp clock (while running, holding a chord) I noticed that the closer you get to '1' the more likely the arpeggiator will stop completely even if you turn the clock speed back up. The arpeggiator will sometimes start backup once you increase the speed, and will always restart if ...

#19 is here .. just going through the presets and I'm really impressed with not just the clarity and sound quality, but also the aggressive grittiness most digital synths (in my limited experience) lack. I had the privilege of having a prototype in my studio on two separate occasions and made a few ...

Got a UPS info notice .. will pick it up tomorrow (doubt I can sleep)

Yes, there is a thread where each owner follows up once they have received their Solaris. Check it out here:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=859

Nice to see all the Solari with custom color wheels

Two weeks ago John suggested that I needed to make some new demos .. I'd be honoured to do that, but I think I would need to wait until my unit is built rather than tie up time with one of the prototypes.

Was it easy to access the dip switches to change the wheel colors? If it were a production deal it would have been neat to have software control for that .. but there are far more pressing issues :)

I like the new features a lot and glad to see the unison glide trick is there.
The Prophet '08 doesn ...

BTW - when are you coming by for more beer? :D

Since we've hijacked the thread I can bring it back to the topic: I'll come by for more beer at the first practice of the John Bowen Solaris Band featuring two live action Solaris synthesizers. Though I wish I could get a cask of the lovely marriage ...

You too, huh? :D

Yes, the Jupiter-6 is at Mike Perkowitz's house at the moment. With Europa is a great synth, but its not a good midi controller.

Lucky bastard. :P

Fortunate more like it. Plus I had dibs on it for 15 years, it would be great to have the Solaris as its controller since it was ...

I will probably finish up those 4 or 5 tunes I made with the prototype in 2008 and 2009. (Search 'solaris prototype demo' on youtube.com) I've had a spot free in one of my stands for it. It will also be my primary controller which will also permanently routed to my keyboardless Prophet T-8.