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 Saturday, July 26, 2008)
THE JOHN BOWEN CHRONICLES
with John Bowen
Starting later this month, the folks at Sonic Core will run "The John Bowen Chronicles" on their website, with new installments every few weeks, leading up to the release of the SOLARIS synthesizer. I hope you find it a fun and fascinating look into the synthesizer design process, and perhaps inspire some of you to take your own adventure exploring and creating with the SCOPE design software.
Here's a copy of the text I wrote for posting on their site:
"John Bowen was involved in the development of many legends in synthesizer history - the Prophet 5, the Prophet VS and the Prophet T-8 by Sequential Circuits, and the Korg Wavestation series and OASYS project.
"Ten years ago, he left the world of hardware synthesizers to embark on a new journey, custom designing software synthesizers for the SCOPE DSP system. The freedom and flexibility of this system allowed John to explore creating tools for sound design without the usual limits of large corporate thinking, and John's plug-in synths for the SCOPE platform quickly gained a reputation of sophistication and quality, attesting to his many years of sound experience and thoughtful User Interface design. After a long journey down this path, John returns to the world of hardware design with his first keyboard instrument, the Solaris. Working with SONIC CORE's expert craftsmen, John and the team hope to create a new legend that carries on that tradition of innovation and quality.
"John Bowen's story has been documented with a series published in German Keyboard magazine some years ago, but it left off at the end of his hardware years. We thought it would be interesting to pick up the story again, with John discussing his approach in developing some of his Zarg Music plug-ins over the years, and how that has led back to the forthcoming Solaris project."
I'm currently working on the next big upgrade to the already powerful Solaris. With over 100 new parameters, Solaris v5.0 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!
Here's a listing of the changes coming soon in Solaris version 5.0:
1) Envelope time control by MIDI Clocks (BPM option) - Each envelope can be switched to select timing values based on MIDI clocks/BPM values.
2) Mixer Insert FX - Each Mixer now has a selection of effects that can be inserted into the signal path pre- or post-filter.
3) VCA Output page - Each Mixer now has a page providing flexible assignment and modulation for the Amplifier section.
4) 4 Separate Amp (VCA) sections - Related to item #3, there are now 4 separate Amp modules (previously there was only one amp module for the entire synth). This allows for even greater sound design for each mixer/filter path, giving you the architecture of essentially 4 synths within each Preset.
5) Stereo Formant Filter - Located after the polyphonic outputs but before the Flanger, Delay, EQ and Overdrive, a new Formant Filter section is provided for vowel and other formant sounds.
6) x Mult sections - New x Multiplier modules all you to multiply a selectable input source by itself up to 5 x. Great for extremely punchy envelopes!
7) VibLFO page 3 - Control of the Vibrato LFO amount can be selected from a list other than the Mod Wheel. Also, modulation of rate and depth, as with the other lfos, is provided.
8) Response Tables added for Mod Wheel and Aftertouch - Similar to the Velocity table, new controller tables have been added for Mod Wheel and Aftertouch.
9) New per Oscillator Glide - A new panel offering modulatable logarithmic glide amounts for each oscillator source. You can also control all Osc 1s or Osc 2s with the same rate. In addition, you can modulate the glide time with sources such as velocity and Mod Wheel!
10) New Global page for all Filter Keytrack controls - All 4 filter keytrack amounts are now visible and editable from a single panel.
I hope you will agree these additions make this incredible synthesizer even more flexible and powerful!
Upgrade price will be 65 Euros (about $100). To upgrade, a link will be provided here when it's ready.
New users can purchase the Solaris v4.1 here. A free upgrade to v5.0 will be offered when it becomes available. Please Note: Price is 199 EUR (about $300).
The Demo version of the v4.1 Solaris is available. Please send me an email request at johnbowen@bigplanet.com.
New v1.2 update now available for the Pro-Wave!
Now featuring both Rev1 and Rev3 Prophet filter emulations (CEM & SSM), as well as the Minimax Lowpass filter. Of course, it includes all of the v1.1 changes, such as:
1) Midi clocking of the Loop Envelope
2) Extended Midi times for sync - up to 8 bars/1 cycle
3) Note and Mod Wheel added to PolyMod Source lists
4) Enable switch and Sensitivity added for Mod Wheel
5) Panning circuit from Solaris added.
The Pro-Wave is completely compatible with the current Proph@t Plus preset lists. The price is 149 EUR. An upgrade/crossgrade is available for current Proph@t Plus owners; cost is 59 EUR. Purchase of the Pro-Wave can be done via a verified account with PayPal to my address, johnbowen@bigplanet.com, or via ShareIt here. For crossgrades or upgrades to v1.2.1, please contact me directly for details.
Here's a screenshot of the main panel showing the popup menu for the different oscillator B choices:
As you can see, the oscillator menu includes the CEM oscillator (standard Prophet sound), a WAV Osc, an RD Slot, and all of the Waldorf waveshapes. Graphics for each appear (and disappear) as needed. The PolyMod section has been expanded in 2 ways - there are 2 mod paths, but now are not fixed Source (only Filter Env and Osc B in the Prophet), with a popup list selecting a number of sources. Also, the destinations have been expanded to match the LFO (Wheel Mod) section, as with Creamware's Pro-12 ASB. You can also see that I've added the Wave Envelope (called Looping Env here) from the Quantum Wave and Solaris v4.x synths. I am calling it a synthesizer system, because for the purchase price, you get both the standalone device and a version that works in the Creamware Modular system. This Modular version has an extended patch bay of the most useful patch points, and also allows you to use Pro-Wave as your controlling system within the Modular domain.
v3.0 update now available for the Pro One!
I had a customer contact me about buying the old Pro One plug-in I made (for Wine Country) some time ago, and shortly after I sold it to him, he wrote to ask if I could add some highpass and bandpass filters. I asked him did he want 24dB or 12 dB slope filters? He came back with, "yes"....for both! So, I added the filters, including the SSM and Minimoog emulations, plus a new filter select parameter, and sent it off, asking only that he create some new presets using the added filters. 3 days later, he sends, not only a bank of 100 great new presets, but a completed Demo Song showing them off! And I have to tell you, I was very, very impressed!!
So, here I present Mika Hasanen and his music creation, and his notes about it:
"Hi John,
here is now a few new Pro-one hp/bp sounds (100) and a demo song you can use if you want. These sounds work with unison mode, and i use 5 voices/sound. All the sounds used in the Demo song come from the pro one, except for the bass drum, which is a sampled sound. I used about 15 pro-ones in this demo!
The Preset Bank name is Zigma_Android ....."Zigma" is my old band name. Maybe they are a little rare sounds...but useful in synthesizer music, i think. "
GREAT work, Mika - Thanks!
To get this new version of the Pro One (v3.0) for the Scope platform, click here: Purchase Pro One. Price is 99 EUR. Current Pro One owners can purchase the update for 45 Euros here: Upgrade to v3.0.
Solaris as hardware
Yes, it's true! I've finally introduced a hardware version of my popular Solaris synthesizer! Production is set for September/October, with initial ordering to be arranged soon. Please click on this link John Bowen Synth Design for further information regarding this new direction for me. As well, Zarg Music will continue to represent the finest is Scope/Pulsar related software plug-ins, whereas the Bowen Synth Design site will be focused primarily on hardware products (however, the forums there will cover both hardware and Scope software designs).
See the Additional Product News page for more information on Zarg Music products.
This pulsar dsp-based audio card webring site owned by John Bowen.
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