Offering the finest in vintage and contemporary synthesizer design for Pulsar/Scope systems, by the man who helped develop some of the most well-respected synthesizers in history - the Prophet 5, Prophet VS, T-8, Korg Wavestation series, and OASYS PCI.
(Updated Friday, March 3, 2006)
Proph@t Plus, Pro One Available again!
The Proph@t Plus is my customised version of the Prophet synthesizer. It features a number of additional functions compared to the original hardware unit, include Highpass and Bandpass filters, effects, Wav Oscillators for sample playback, and a number of performance functions for use with Aftertouch and Velocity. For a screenshot, click here. (To see all 3 control surface pages, please check the Screen Shots section.)
Read Sound On Sound's June 2003 review of my Prophet Plus here.
To purchase the Proph@t Plus, click here. Price is 129 EUR.
Though derived from the Prophet architecture, the Pro One is slightly different in focus, and includes an arpeggiator and advanced step sequencer. Priced at 99 EUR, you can purchase the Zarg Music Pro One here.
CombPlusPro v3.0
Someone recently requested an older synth of mine, called the CombPlusPro. This synth formed the basis of the Red Dwarf product, and still retains its own interesting character, so I decided to update it with the new format preset list, Effects Bypass, Master Volume and Poly Level, and paging the many popup surfaces. It's pretty compact and DSP-efficient as well, so if you are interested, you can order the CombPlusPro v3_0 for 49 EUR. For a screenshot, click here.
I updated the Comments 2 page with a few postings from Planet Z, regarding the new Solaris v4. Check them here.
I've just completed a major upgrade to the already powerful Solaris. With over 100 new parameters, Solaris v4.0 promises to surpass anything else on the market for function and flexibility.
Incorporating the best ideas of most of my previous synths (starting with the Orion Custom), plus some additions as requested by the beta testers, the Solaris is the most full-featured synth I've designed to date. The signal sources provide a wide variety of choices: Multimode Oscs, Wave Tables, CEMs, RD Modules, WAV (sample) playback, FM Operators...even create your own with the Modular sections! And now with the new RDX section, you can mix and match all the various sound source types.
Here's a listing of the changes now available with version 4.0:
1) New linear frequency modulation option - As in Solaris Core, an added button routes the frequency mod 1 path as linear or exponential (normal).
2) New sidechain functions added - also from Solaris Core, a sidechain function allows control of the frequency or waveshape Mod 1's path by the Mod 2's path. Indicated with a special 'arrow' button.
3) All LFOs have offset now - Offset shifts the LFO's output so that it is all above zero. The SMO has an additional option under the label BIAS: Offset or Rectified. Rectified does not shift the entire waveshape up above zero, but simply prohibits any negative portion of the waveshape in the output.
4) Dynamic Mix Control changed - No longer a separate popup surface, the Dynamic Mix functions have been incorporated into the Filter Mixer as pages (same as Solaris Core), and are now called the Mix Mod controls. A red color for the Enable LED and knob markings designate these controls.
5) Expanded Hard Sync - For the FM oscs, sync is now selectable from most other sources for sync input, instead of just Free Run or Gate. I also added hard sync options for MM osc 2 and RDX2 MMosc.
6) MMosc 1 has added controls for Midi Clocking, No Tracking, and Low Freq Range.
7) The Mod Source menus for most destinations have been expanded greatly.
8) All Filters have been renamed, with additional choices - Filter 1, Filter 2, etc (or F1, F2) are the new designations, with each filter adding 25 more variations.
9) New Looping Envelope - taken from the Quantum Wave, this adds even more modulation capability to the Solaris.
10) New Control Shaper - also taken from the Quantum Wave, this allows the user to redefine up to 18 points of an interpolation table, causing the selected input signal to be radically altered for its output. (Windows systems only. At this time, Solaris v4.0 for Mac OS cannot include this function.)
11) New Envelope Segment Mod - All envelopes can now have their segments modified by a number of sources. Previously, only Velocity was the mod source.
I hope you will agree these additions make this incredible synthesizer even more flexible and powerful!
Upgrade price is 49 Euros (about $60). To upgrade, click here.
New users can now purchase the Solaris v4.0 here.Please Note: Price for the month of February is 199 EUR (about $250). Price will increase March 1 to 229 EUR.
The Demo version of the latest v4.0 Solaris is not yet available. Please send me an email request at johnbowen@bigplanet.com.
Solaris Core
I'm excited to introduce a new version of my acclaimed Solaris synth, the Solaris Core. This synth consists of the core elements used in most of the original Solaris factory presets. It also is presented in a size that easily fits 1024 x 768 screen resolution. There are 4 of my RDX Oscillator sections, each of which can select from six different oscillator types. Here's a screen shot showing the RDX2 oscillator's type menu.
Although Solaris Core has but 2 filter sections (reduced from 4 on the regular Solaris), the filter types have been expanded. Here's a link to a second screen shot showing the filter types list: Solaris Core filter types.
If you've been waiting to buy the full Solaris, the Core version is a great alternative choice, with the ability to play approximately 90% of the original Solaris presets - and, at a price that makes it easier than ever to own a Solaris product - 129 Euros!
In the future, Solaris Core owners will be able to upgrade to the full Solaris v4.0 (for an additional 99 Euros). For a Demo version, or more information, please contact me at johnbowen@comcast.net.
Solaris Core Price is 129 EUR. To purchase, click here.
Quantum Wave
Here is a screen shot of the Quantum Wave. Price - 179 Euros.
To purchase, click here. If you'd like to receive a Demo version to try out, just send me an e-mail request.
Many thanks to all those who participated in the naming contest - the name was contributed by Carl Löfgren, who also created a number of fine presets for the instrument. (Also, I want to apologise to Till Kopper, who recently contacted me about the use of 'qwave'. He maintains a Web site dedicated to Waldorf products, www.unofficial.waldorf-wave.de, and uses the name 'qwave' as a page for his music www.qwave.de, and as his forum nickname. I honestly had no idea about this!! And after searching so long for a name...I obviously didn't check thoroughly enough - Sorry!).
My thanks also to all those who participated in the development of this product: Stephen Hummel, Benoist Guitton, Carl Löfgren, Celmar Engel, Brent Garlow, Christian Schellschmidt, and Paul Kuchar.
Originally a custom project for Hans Zimmer, it is based on the functional design of the Waldorf Wave, using the Creamware Waldorf oscillators and the LP filter from the Pro One emulation (with an additional 12 dB HP filter). It is structured as a 4-part synth, meaning there are 4 individual synths inside the device (this being my first multi-timbre synth project). Potential customers should note that the Creamware version of the Waldorf oscillator does not produce the same quality of aliasing as the original, and therefore you should not expect the Quantum Wave to produce a faithful emulation of the Wave's sound.
It is not meant to be a 1:1 emulation of the Waldorf Wave, though I was able to get most of the Wave's functions implemented, adding or removing some things as necessary with a softsynth design. (For example, there was no need to emulate the way the Wave's display screen showed the parameter values; rather, I organised the surface to have parameter displays close to each knob.)
Other additional features:
1) you can use any RD compatible oscillators or filters with the Q-Wave to expand sonic capability. (These include my RD modules II, and the full line of satellite modules by SpaceF).
2) Both oscillators can be used as audio rate modulation sources, and also appear processed through a ring modulator in the mixer section.
3) Stereo Flanger and Delay effects have been added.
4) Each of the 4 parts are available at separate aux outputs.
There are two caveats - one, the amount of DSP usage can be very high, especially if all 4 synths are enabled; two, the surface is not as 'paged' as I usually would make it, as I wanted to have more information visible at once, so the surface is large, making it optimal for only higher resolution settings (1280 x 1024 is recommended).
For this version, no user-editable waveshapes or tables are possible, however, a future update could provide this, depending on sales and user demand. This is also true for other factors of the original Wave's sound, such as the extreme amount of 'stepping' found in LFO frequency modulation or the envelope generator outputs, which was not implemented as a matter of choice.
See the Additional Product News page for more information on Zarg Music products.
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