John Bowen Solaris User manual

User Guide
Version 1

2 |
Copyright 2011-2012 John Bowen Synth Design. All rights reserved.
This manual, as well as the software and hardware described in it, is furnished under license and may be used or copied
only in accordance with the terms of such license. The content of this manual is furnished for informational use only, is
subject to change without notice and should not construed as a commitment by John Bowen Synth Design.
John Bowen Synth Design assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this
book. Except as permitted by such license, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permis-
sion of John Bowen Synth Design.
Solaris is a trademark of John Bowen Synth Design. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their re-
spective owners. All features and specications subject to change without notice.
For the latest revision of this manual, visit our website:
www.johnbowen.com.
Special thanks to:
Marcos Paris, sound design Bank 1-MP
Carl Lofgren, sound design Bank 2-CL
Howard Scarr (HS), Kurt Ader (KA), and Stephen Hummel (SH), sound design Bank 3
Brent Garlow, Solaris User Guide
Scoeld Kid, Solaris Signal Path diagram
And an extra special “Thank You So Much!” to Stefan Stenzel and the directors at Waldorf for their generosity in allowing
me to use the Waldorf wavetables in Solaris!

| 3
WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF SOLARIS
Welcome to the world of Solaris!
Thank you for purchasing the Solaris keyboard! I’ve worked for years on this design, following my desire to merge the
benets of digital technology with a bit of “old school” layout and control. This approach intends to provide fairly quick ac-
cess to a very large number of parameters (over 1250!), due to the exible approach I decided to implement, however, as
with any complex system, work ow and understanding can take time, depending on your experience and interest.
Please register your purchase of the Solaris with me at [email protected]. Once I have your name and email and se-
rial number, I will send you links to some video tutorials to get you started. It is my hope that Solaris will provide you with
many hours of exploration and enjoyment. Please let me know if you have questions or need clarication on any subjects
that are not clearly explained, and I will do my best to answer.
Regards,
John Bowen
Introduction

4 | DEDICATION
I’d like to dedicate the Solaris project to the memory of my late mom and dad. They were always supportive and encour-
aging to me throughout my music career.
I’d also like to thank my wife and family for their patience and understanding, Hans Zimmer for his early enthusiasm and
support of my plugins for the Scope platform, and Goffe Torgerson for having the faith and condence in Solaris to help it
along, and whose assistance in additional graphics design and mechanical engineering we could not have done without.
Also for my colleagues at Sonic Core, Holger Drenkelfort and Juergen Kindermann. It was their early efforts that enabled
my dream to begin taking shape, and I will forever be grateful for their friendship and the many hours of unselsh dedica-
tion they contributed to bring the Solaris into the world. “Thank You” a million times over!
As well, all of the Sonic Core team who have worked so tirelessly to bring Solaris to life - Klaus Piehl, Julian Schmidt, Ralf
Dressel, Alex Zielke, Nadia Haubrich and Adriana Leonhard.
Finally, I need to express my thanks to all those initial pre-order customers who “put their money where their mouth is” -
for your unfailing faith and condence that the Solaris would be a product worth waiting for....and having the patience for
waiting! (And for much longer than any of us ever expected.) Without your support, the Solaris would have never hap-
pened.
A heartfelt “Thank You” to you all!
Dedication

| 5
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents
Introduction...............................................................3
Welcome to the world of Solaris!....................................3
Dedication ......................................................................4
Safety Precautions .........................................................7
About this Manual...........................................................8
Typographical Standards................................................8
Getting Started..........................................................9
Quick Start......................................................................9
Updating the Operating System ................................9
Calibration Routines..................................................9
Loading samples .......................................................9
There are several ways to select presets:...............10
Preset Mode: Graphic Display......................................10
About Preset Categories .........................................11
Storing Presets.............................................................11
Loading Samples..........................................................11
User Interface and Navigation...............................13
General Navigation.......................................................13
Text Displays (x5) .........................................................13
Main Mode and Mod Mode......................................13
Graphic Display ............................................................13
Function Group Shortcut .........................................14
Performance Controls ..................................................14
Performance Buttons....................................................14
Enable Part Buttons ................................................15
Assignable Performance Knobs ...................................15
Pitch and Modulation Wheels.......................................15
Joystick.........................................................................15
Ribbon Controller .........................................................15
Knob Acceleration ........................................................16
Knob Acceleration and the Shift Button...................16
Rear Panel Connections ..............................................17
Modulation Basics..................................................18
Modular-style Modulation .............................................18
Destination-based Modulation......................................18
Signal Path..............................................................21
Flexible Signal Path......................................................21
Boosting the signal of each oscillator by 6dB..........21
Classic synthesizer conguration............................21
Insert FX before the lters (Mixer → Insert FX →
Filter) .......................................................................21
Insert FX after the lters (Mixer → Filter → Insert FX)
21
Feedback loop in mixer ...........................................22
Processing External Signals .................................23
External Signals ...........................................................23
Processing External Audio Signals...............................23
Processing External Control Signals ............................23
Oscillators...............................................................24
Oscillators Osc 1-4 .......................................................24
Oscillator Parameters (Main Mode)..............................24
Page 1 Parameters .................................................24
Page 2 Parameters .................................................25
Glide (on/off).................................................................25
Oscillator Parameters (Mod Mode) .........................25
Rotors 1-2.....................................................................26
Rotor Parameters (Main Mode)....................................26
Page 1 Parameters .................................................26
Page 2 Parameters .................................................26
Page 3 Parameters .................................................26
Rotor Parameters (Mod Mode).....................................26
Mixers ......................................................................27
Mixers 1-4.....................................................................27
Mixer Parameters (Main Mode)....................................27
Page 1 Parameters .................................................27
Page 2 Parameters .................................................27
Mixer Parameters (Mod Mode).....................................27
Page 1 Parameters .................................................27
Page 2 Parameters .................................................27
Insert FX ..................................................................28
Insert FX 1-4.................................................................28
Insert FX Parameters (Main Mode) ..............................28
Insert FX Parameters (Mod Mode)...............................28
Filters.......................................................................29
Filters 1-4 .....................................................................29
Filter Parameters (Main Mode).....................................29
Page 1 Parameters .................................................29
Page 2 Parameters .................................................29
Filter Parameters (Mod Mode) .....................................30
VCAs........................................................................31
VCAs 1-4 ......................................................................31

6 | DEDICATION
VCA Parameters (Main Mode) .....................................31
VCA Parameters (Mod Mode) ......................................31
LFOs ........................................................................32
LFOs 1-4 and Vibrato LFO ...........................................32
LFO 1-4 Parameters (Main Mode) ...............................32
Page 1 Parameters .................................................32
Page 2 Parameters .................................................32
Vibrato LFO Parameters (Main Mode) .........................32
Page 1 Parameters .................................................32
Page 2 Parameters .................................................33
LFO Parameters (Mod Mode) ......................................33
Envelope Generators .............................................34
Envelope Generators 1-6 .............................................34
EG Parameters (Main Mode) .......................................34
Page 1 Parameters .................................................34
Page 2 Parameters .................................................34
EG Parameters (Mod Mode) ........................................34
Page 1 Parameters .................................................34
Page 2 Parameters .................................................34
Graphic Display Functions....................................35
Graphic Display ............................................................35
Soft Menus ...................................................................35
Soft Menu Group Organization................................35
Arpeggiator (Arp) .........................................................35
Sequencer (Seq) .........................................................36
Ribbon Controller .........................................................37
Output...........................................................................38
Effects Channel (FXChan) ...........................................38
Chorus/Flanger (ChorFla) ............................................39
Phaser ..........................................................................39
Delay ............................................................................39
EQ ................................................................................40
Vector Synthesis (VS) ..................................................40
Amplitude Modulation (AM) ..........................................41
Looping Envelope (LoopEG) ........................................41
Key Tables....................................................................42
Lag Processor ..............................................................43
Envelope Follower (EGFoll) .........................................43
System Menu ...............................................................44
MIDI Menu....................................................................44
Home Menu..................................................................45
Sample Pools ...............................................................58
Warranty Regulations ...................................................60

| 7
SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
ÂAvoid exposing your Solaris to moisture, dust or dirt.
Do not place open liquids anywhere near the unit.
If any substances get into the Solaris housing, you
should switch it off, disconnect the power supply and
contact a qualied service technician.
ÂAvoid exposing the unit to excessive heat or direct
sunlight. Ensure that relatively cool air can circulate
freely around the unit.
ÂAvoid exposing the unit to physical shock or vibrations.
Make sure it is placed rmly on a at surface.
ÂOnly use the external power supply that was included
with the unit. Never connect the Solaris to a power
outlet that does not fully comply with national safety
regulations. Never use an external power supply which
wasn’t designed to match the local voltage require-
ments.
ÂDisconnect the power whenever you are unlikely to
use the Solaris for a long period of time. Always pull on
the plug itself, not on the cord. Never touch the mains
plug with wet hands.
ÂThe Solaris is capable of generating levels that can
cause irreversible damage to your ears, either via an
external amplier or when using headphones connect-
ed directly to the unit. Please keep levels reasonable
at all times! Make sure that the equipment you connect
the Solaris to matches the Solaris’s requirements.
Safety Precautions

TYPOGRAPHICAL STANDARDS8 | ABOUT THIS MANUAL
Typographical Standards
The following typographical standards are used in this
manual:
ÂWhen referring to a physical button or other control
on the Solaris’s front panel, the name of the control is
formatted like this.
ÂWhen referring to a parameter, the name of the param-
eter is formatted like this.
ÂWhen referring to the value of a parameter, the value is
formatted like this.
ÂWhen referring to a panel’s Main mode versus
Mod(ulation) mode, the mode name is formatted like
this.
ÂSidebar notes, hints, etc. are formatted like this:
This is a sample of how hints and notes are format-
ted.
ÂWhen describing one of Solaris’s panels or soft menus,
the name of the parameters are often used as section
headings. In those cases, the name of the parameter is
formatted like this.
This is a sample parameter heading
About this Manual

A FEW THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND | 9
QUICK START
Quick Start
This section is designed to get you up and running with
Solaris as quickly as possible. However, Solaris is a very
sophisticated device, and I highly recommend you spend
the time to thoroughly read the entire user guide. The Get-
ting Started section is especially important, as it introduces
some concepts that are unique to Solaris, as well as famil-
iarizing you with the general layout of the synthesizer and
tips and tricks for navigating its user interface.
A few things to keep in mind:
ÂUnlike every other synth on the market, there are no
presets or preset memory inside the Solaris! What
this means is that ALL preset data (as well as the OS,
samples, factory patterns, and the Global init le) re-
side on your CompactFlash (CF) card. DO NOT LOSE
YOUR CF CARD! It is highly recommended you get a
CF card reader and back up your card to a computer.
You do not need a CF card to get sound from the So-
laris; without a CF card inserted, a simple default patch
using a Square wave should sound.
ÂFor most listening applications, Outputs 1 & 2 or the
headphone out are all you need. The factory presets
are designed for listening from Outputs 1 & 2, or the
headphone out. Outputs 1 & 2 act as Left & Right as
well. If you want to use the S/PDIF output, you must
change a System setting.
ÂYes, the power supply is outside of the synth. This
avoids noise in the audio, and makes things simpler in
the design.
So, to get started, plug in the power supply and audio
cables, insert your CF card, and turn on the Solaris. Also,
it’s always a good idea to have you system volume down
when turning on gear. The ve text displays should say,
“Booting...”, and the graphics (gfx) display will eventually
also show a number of ‘opening credits’ screens, the last of
which is the gracious support message from Waldorf Music,
giving permission to use their Wavetables.
Your keyboard comes with a CompactFlash card that pro-
vides organization and editing of presets, arpeggiator and
sequencer patterns, storage of samples, and several other
basic setup les. In addition, there are a few ‘hidden’ com-
mands to call up system diagnostics and calibration.
Updating the Operating System
There are two ways to update Solaris’s operating system
(OS).
1. There is a le in the OS folder of the CompactFlash card
that came with Solaris, called, “doFlash.txt”. There is a
single value in the text le, either a 1 or a 0. A value of
“1” will cause Solaris to automatically load the OS le in
the same folder. Once the operating system is loaded,
the value doFlash.txt le is rewritten as a 0, prevent-
ing Solaris from updating the OS every time you turn it
on. You will see a progress screen, and a message to
reboot Solaris when the OS is nished loading.
2. If you hold down Enter during boot up when the graph-
ics screen rst shows an image, you get a special menu
that offers a menu option to load the OS from the card.
Calibration Routines
You can re-initialize the Joystick, wheels, ribbon, and after-
touch sensing by accessing Solaris’s Self Test menu. Press
1, 3 and 8 on the numeric keypad simultaneously and fol-
low the instructions shown in the main display. See “Appen-
dix 6- Self Test Menu” on page 59 for details about the
Self Test menu.
Loading samples
Samples can be in .raw or .wav format, and have a text
le that describes each sample in a group (sample pool).
Refer to “Appendix 5- Sample Specications” on page 58
for details about creating sample pools. To load an exist-
ing sample pool from the CompactFlash card, access the
System soft menu on the Graphic Display. Press the Enter
button, and select from the available sample pools, as
shown in Figure 1.
Samples are loaded into RAM, so the CF card can be
removed while Solaris is on.
Figure 1. Loading a Sample Pool
Rotate the knob beneath the Poolname parameter to se-
lect a sample pool, then press Enter again to load. You will
see a progress menu as samples are loaded.
Move off of the System soft menu to avoid reload-
ing the sample pool if you hit the Enter key inad-
vertently.
Selecting Presets
About 30 seconds after the system is turned on, the Preset
screen should be shown on the graphic display. You should
Getting Started

PRESET MODE: GRAPHIC DISPLAY10 | QUICK START
get a short message about the CF card, and the Preset
LED should be lit, as shown in Figure 2. If it isn’t, press the
Preset button.
Figure 2.
Store
Numeric Keypad
Figure 3. Data Wheel
There are several ways to select presets:
3. Use the Inc/Dec buttons right above the Data Wheel as
shown in Figure 3. This automatically loads each preset
as you step one by one through the bank.
4. Use the Data Wheel to scroll through presets. When
you see the one you want, press Enter to load.
5. Use the keypad to directly enter a Preset number. You
must press Enter to load the preset.
6. Use the knobs below the Graphic Display to dial up dif-
ferent Presets or Banks. You must then press Enter to
load the preset.
A more convenient way to select various Banks is to use
the keypad, as follows:
Any number pressed on the keypad that is followed by the
decimal point button (dot) will be used as the selected Bank
number. Any number following that will be used to select
the Program number. If no new bank number is entered,
i.e., you do not press the dot, then any number entered will
be used as a Program number for the current bank. So, for
example, to select Bank 3, Program 12, you would press
3.12 then Enter.
Preset Mode: Graphic Display
Preset Mode is enabled when you press the Preset button
(above the numeric keypad) on, so that its LED is lit. This
must be on to select any presets. As soon as an edit is
made anywhere on the front panel, the Solaris will automat-
ically leave Preset Mode to allow for editing, so when you
want to play through the presets, make sure this Preset
button is lit.
You must have a CompactFlash (CF) card inserted
to select presets!
For most all of the Graphic Display functions there will be
a pair of numbers on the lower right-hand corner. These
indicate which page of the current functional group you are
on, out of how many total pages there are for that functional
group. For Preset Mode, there are 3 such pages, shown as
1/3, 2/3, and 3/3. (You can read these as page 1 of 3, page
2 of 3, page 3 of 3.) You use the up/down buttons to the
left of the display to access these pages. Note: these are
always working in ‘wrap around’ mode.
Figure 4. Preset Mode, page 1
The rst page of Preset Mode, as shown in Figure 4, dis-
plays the preset name, MIDI Bank and Program number,
and the Category logic and Filtering. The bottom line of the
Graphic Display will always show you current information
when any knob is selected. The initial data displayed when
selecting a Preset is the preset name and the two pro-
grammed categories (if there are any programmed), shown
as C1: and C2:

STORING PRESETS | 11
LOADING SAMPLES
Figure 5. Preset Mode, page 2
The second page, shown in Figure 5, allows you to assign
5 knobs as Performance Knobs for any preset parameter in
the synth. The third page, shown in Figure 6, allows you to
view 10 presets at a time, to get a better overview of where
you are in the bank. Use the Data Wheel to scroll through
the preset names here. Note that the example shown has
category ltering enabled, so the list of presets displayed
on page 3 is limited to those that match the selected criteria
of C1:Arpeggio OR C2:Bright.
Figure 6. Preset Mode, page 3 with Category Filtering on
About Preset Categories
When you save (store) a preset, you have the option of
assigning two categories to the sound. These categories
allow you to search for matching presets when you use the
Category logic on the Preset Mode’s page 1. When you set
the logic to one of the three choices, scrolling though pre-
sets will be limited to only those that satisfy the conditions
of the search. The categories are:
Category 1: Arpeggio, Bass, Drum, Effect, Keyboard, Lead,
Pad, Sequence, and Texture
Category 2: Acoustic, Aggressive, Big, Bright, Chord, Clas-
sic, Dark, Electric, Moody, Soft, Short,
Synthetic, and Upbeat.
More categories will be available in the future!
If the Category logic is set to AND, both categories must
be valid to select a preset. If the Category logic is set to
OR, either category will be used to select a preset. If the
Category logic is set to NOT, all presets that do NOT have
the 2 categories listed will be available to select. If the logic
is blank, then all presets are available.
Storing Presets
As soon as you edit any parameter, the Preset LED will
go off, putting you in live edit mode. Once you have made
changes that you want to keep, press the Store button
above the numeric keypad.
Figure 7. Storing Presets, page 1
This gives you the rst Store screen, as shown in Figure 7,
and lets you select a new bank and preset location in which
to store your preset. If you just want to store it in the same
location, you don’t need to change anything. If, however,
you want to listen to the new location to see if you don’t
want to keep what’s there, you can press Compare, which
will load the new location’s preset and allow you to play it.
Compare will stay lit when you are listening to the Com-
pare buffer. Turn it off when you are ready to store your ed-
ited preset. You can also select category types here. Simply
scroll through both categories using the knobs below the
Cat1 and Cat2 soft labels to select.
Figure 8. Storing Presets, page 2
Press Store a second time, and now you will be taken to
the Naming page, as shown in Figure 8. Each Preset name
can be 25 characters long, and you must use the Data
Wheel and the Inc/Dec buttons above it to select the posi-
tion and character you want to use. Using the Inc/Dec will
shift the current letter position left or right through each of
the 25 positions, and scrolling the wheel will select through
the entire character list. Press Store a third time, and this
time, you are done! Turn on the Preset LED and Inc/Dec
the preset, then go back to your newly edited preset, to
check and make sure all is saved as you wanted.
Loading Samples
The factory CF card comes with a folder in it labeled,
“Samples”. Inside here you will nd 9 glockenspiel samples
and one harpsichord sample in .raw format, and two text
les called SamplePool-001.txt and SamplePool-002.txt.
These text les describe the name of the sample set, the
number and name of each sample in the set, and various
other aspects, such as root key, ne tuning, and low/high
key mapping.
Any new SamplePool must be numbered in the next avail-
able ascending number, otherwise the Solaris will not
recognize it! So, for the current factory CF card, one would
need to create a SamplePool[b]-003[/b].txt to describe the
next set of custom samples to be used. (You can, however,
re-number the factory SamplePools, so that the glocken-
spiel would be numbered -003, and your new le -001,

STORING PRESETS12 | LOADING SAMPLES
for example). Subsequent SamplePools would have to be
-004, -005, -006, etc.
And nally, the SamplePools will not automatically load
when you turn on the Solaris, or plug in the CF card! You
must go to your SYSTEM soft key group (in the center
graphics display), and activate the process by turning the
lower left most knob (for the parameter labeled “Sam-
pImg”). Once you turn the knob, you should see a mes-
sage in the bottom line that says, “Press Enter to select im-
age le.” You then press Enter, and the Solaris will go out
to the CF card and look for any SamplePool text les in the
Samples folder to load in the Sample Pool names. Once it
has all of the names loaded from the card, you can turn the
same lower left knob and now see a number and a name of
each SamplePool that is on the card. Once you see the one
you want to load, you press Enter again, and wait until the
Solaris is nished loading the samples, at which point you
should see the message, “Finished sample transfer...”.
To avoid any accidental reloading of the SamplePool
names and/or samples themselves, it’s best to move off of
the SYSTEM screen to some other screen (you can go to
the MIDI screens, or any other soft key group).
Now you can go to any Oscillator, select the WAV type, and
you should be able to hear your loaded samples as you
scroll through the Wave numbers.
The rst time you load a brand new sample pool
into your Solaris, a special ‘map’ le is created from
the SamplePool.txt le. This will take a little bit of
time, depending on how many samples are in the
Sample Pool, and you will nd that, when trying to
select the new pool, you will not see it immediately
in the screen. You do need to attempt to select it,
however, to tell the Solaris to ‘build’ the .map le.
Once it’s done, you will have the SamplePool num-
ber available to load.
The format of SamplePool les is described in “Sample
Specications” on page 58.

GRAPHIC DISPLAY | 13
GENERAL NAVIGATION
General Navigation
This section introduces some very important con-
cepts that will help you easily dive into the depths
of Solaris. It’s well worth your time to read this
chapter!
The Solaris is organized so that you can get to a number of
parameters rather quickly. That’s why I’ve decided to use
six displays: ve text displays and one Graphic Display.
Even so, with over 1200 parameters, inevitably there is
going to be the need to ‘page’ the displayed parameters. All
synthesizers have several basic sections to create sound;
the ve text displays are used to handle the parameters for
seven of these sections (2 of the 5 displays are ‘shared’).
These sections are: Oscillators, LFOs, Mixers/InsertFX,
Filters/VCAs, and Envelopes. The sixth display is called the
graphics (gfx) display, and is used to handle all remaining
parameters of the instrument.
Text Displays (x5)
Figure 9. Typical Text Display
Main Mode and Mod Mode
Figure 9 shows the layout of a text display, this one from
the Oscillators section. For each of the text display sec-
tions, you have 1 pair of buttons stacked vertically. The pair
of buttons to the left of the displays are Inc/Dec buttons.
Below those is the sub-group toggle button. The upper
subgroup is called Main, the lower one Mod. For each
section, you will nd general settings under the Main
pages, and all possible modulation to that group under the
Mod pages. Typically there are 2 Main pages and 4 Mod
pages per group, although this does vary a bit.
Throughout this manual, we will refer to a panel’s
Main Mode and Mod Mode. Those modes, or sets of
menus, are access by the sub-group toggle button
(or by using Wrap, as described below).
There are several ways to step through the pages. The
user can decide to step through all pages with the Inc/Dec
buttons, and then stop at the end, or to be able to continu-
ously ‘wrap around’ from the last to the rst page.
Figure 10. System Tab in Graphic Display
This function is called Wrap, and is set on the System tab,
as shown in Figure 10. The System tab is found in the
softkeys sets on the graphic display by pressing the More
button a few times. Also here is Split, which allows you to
stay within the boundaries of either the Main or the Mod
sub-group. This is handy when you want to switch quickly
back and forth between two related pages, say Shape in
the Main pages and a modulation of Shape in the Mod
pages.
If you want to quickly reach the topmost page of any object
(Oscs, LFOs, Mixers, Filters, VCAs, Envelopes), just quick-
ly ‘double click’ that object’s select button. You can also use
the object select buttons to do a “copy & paste” operation -
simply hold down the button of the object you want to copy
until it starts blinking, and then select the button where you
want to paste the data. Of course, this only works with like
objects - LFOs to other LFOs, Filters to Filters, etc.
Graphic Display
Figure 11.
Home
Shift
Graphic Display
The center section with the graphic display is the softkey
functional display area. It also has a Preset Mode when
the Preset switch is on (at the top of the numeric keypad
User Interface and Navigation

PERFORMANCE BUTTONS14 | PERFORMANCE CONTROLS
panel). Other functional buttons located here are Home
and More. The graphic display handles all of the remain-
ing parameters that are not covered in the dedicated text
display sections. There are 6 soft key buttons, whose labels
change depending on which functional group is selected.
The top row of knobs operate the upper line of parameters;
the bottom row, the lower line. Sometimes either the up-
per or lower knob will adjust the same value (only for the
BPM at this time). You may nd yourself at times operating
a knob that is not the correct one for the parameter line
you are wanting to adjust - something you have to learn to
watch!
The bottom line of the graphic display will always show the
active parameter, i.e., the last knob touched. It will show
the current parameter value, waveshape names, sample
names, etc. The Data Wheel will always affect the active
parameter.
The bottom row of the graphic display shows the
active parameter, i.e., the last knob touched. This
is especially handy when working with the wavet-
able and VS oscillators, since you can see the full
wavetable or waveshape name, respectively, in the
graphic display.
Function Group Shortcut
There are currently ve functional groups, which are se-
lected by repeatedly pressing the More button. For direct
access to these 5 groups, you can also hold down the
More button for 2 seconds to change the soft key labels
to display the 5 functional groups, as shown in Figure 12.
Pressing one of these will take you to the associated set of
soft key labels. LED above the More button will ash when
you are viewing the Function Group Shortcuts.
Figure 12. Function Groups shown in Graphic Display
Arp/Seq
The controls for the arpeggiator, sequencer, and ribbon are
here.
FX
The output assignment, effects bussing, and effects con-
trols are here.
VS/AM
This page has 2 each of Amplitude Mod and Vector Mixer
sections; also Looping EG.
KeyTab
The 4 Key Tables and 4 Lag processors are here; also the
Env Follower.
SysMid
All other system parameters and MIDI controls are here.
This data is not stored in a preset, but as a glo.ini le.
You can tell how many pages of information are
available for each section of the Graphic Display by
referring to the bottom right corner of the display.
For each of the soft key graphic displays, there may be
more than one page of information. You can tell by the
small numbers in the lower right of the gfx display if there
are additional pages. For example, if you see 1/4, this
means you are looking at page 1 out of 4 possible pages.
Use the up /down buttons to the left of the gfx display to
move through the pages.
Performance
Controls
Solaris provides a number of performance-oriented controls
that give you tremendous control over the expressiveness
of your playing. These controls are described below at a
high level. For further details about how to congure and
customize these controls, please refer to the appropriate
sections in the Solaris User Guide.
Performance Buttons
Figure 13. Performance Buttons
On the left side of the unit, between the LFOS panel and
the Ribbon Controller there are 9 performance-oriented
buttons.
Assign 1 and 2
These buttons can be set to momentary or toggle mode.
This is done in the Home menu, page 2, as shown in Figure
14. You also can assign the desired function for each but-
ton on this page. The choices are: Keyboard Glide on/off,
Oscillator Glide on/off (for an individual oscillator or for all of
them), start/stop Seq, start/stop Arpeg, and Arpeg Trans-
pose. When selected in the Mod Source list, the assignable
buttons generate full value (+Max value) when pressed,
and a zero value when not. For details, refer to “Figure 85.
MIDI Menu, page 2 of 2” on page 45.
Figure 14. Assignable Button setup

RIBBON CONTROLLER | 15
PERFORMANCE CONTROLS
Octave (Transpose) Up/Down
These buttons should be self explanatory. They change
the range of the keyboard, but must be pressed before you
play to get the transposed values. They will not transpose
keys currently held.
Unison
Activates Unison mode, which is congured in the Home
menu, page 4.
Seq On
Activates the Sequencer, which is congured in the four
sequencer tabs (SeqA, SeqB, SeqC, and SeqD) on the
graphic display.
Arp On
Activates the Arpeggiator, which is congured on the Arp
tab on the graphic display.
Hold
Has the function of a sustain switch. It does not work with
the sequencer, as this is a ‘gated’ sequencer, which only
works when keys are held down. This control can be used
to “latch” the arpeggiator on.
Tempo
This button is actually a Tap Tempo button as well. Holding
it down will allow a pop-up on the screen to show the cur-
rent BPM, and allow you to change it with either left most
knob of the Graphic Display. Tapping the Tempo button will
determine an average BPM after 2 taps, and will continue
to average the tempo for subsequent taps. Tempo is stored
with the preset, but can be overridden (ignored) by setting
this in the System page. Select ‘Load BPM - ON’ if you
want the presets to load their programmed tempos.
Enable Part Buttons
Figure 15.
Enable Part
Enable Part Buttons
These buttons allow you to disable, or mute, the signal
coming from each of the four mixers. A lit LED above any of
the buttons means that mixer’s output will be heard. Enable
Part settings are stored with presets.
A number of Solaris’s presets have been pro-
grammed to take advantage of the Enable Part
buttons to alter the preset in a desirable way. When
creating your own presets, experiment with using
the Enable Part buttons to allow you to alter your
sounds on the y, without having to select a differ-
ent preset.
Assignable Performance Knobs
Even though you have ve text screens to edit parameters,
doing so will immediately take you out of Preset Mode.
Also, there are parameters in the graphic display for many
different functional groups, and you might want to have ac-
cess to these. To give you quick access to any parameter in
the system, the bottom ve knobs below the graphic display
can be assigned. You use the Shift button (to the left side
of the lower row of knobs) to assign these knobs.
Figure 16. Performance Knob Assignment
1. Holding down the Shift button, select which of the 5
Performance Knobs you want to assign by giving it a
turn.
2. Continue to hold down Shift, and select the parameter
you wish to associate with the Performance Knob.
3. Release the Shift button. You should see a descriptive
text string for the assigned knob at the bottom of the
screen.
As shown in Figure 16, you will also see a +/- % value. The
Performance Knobs are relative to the programmed value.
They can add or subtract from the parameter value. Only
a one-to-one assignment is allowed (one parameter per
knob). Since the parameters in the text displays are fairly
easy to reach, usually these Performance Knobs will be
selected from one of the many soft key pages, but they can
be any stored Preset parameter you want, to provide quick
access, and keep the synth in Preset Mode. Performance
Knob assignments are stored with presets.
Pitch and Modulation Wheels
These function as you might expect. The range of the pitch
wheel--both up and down--can be set independently using
the parameters PW Up and PW Down in the Home sec-
tion, page 3. Note that since these parameters are bipolar,
the pitch ranges for up and down movement can be inde-
pendently adjusted and reversed.
Joystick
The Joystick is a springless controller designed to be used
with vector synthesis types of sounds. Its X and Y position
are available in most modulation source lists, so it can be
used as a real-time controller for most of Solaris’s param-
eters.
Ribbon Controller
The Ribbon Controller outputs 2 separate control signals.
If you use a single nger, the output signal for Rib1 and
Rib2 are the same. If you use two ngers, the control signal
associated with the right most nger is output as Rib2.

KNOB ACCELERATION16 | PERFORMANCE CONTROLS
More details can be found in “Figure 61. Sequencer Menu,
page 2 of 3” on page 37.
Knob Acceleration
Due to the enormously exible nature of Solaris’s design,
there are often times when the physical knobs will control
parameters with greatly differing value ranges. For ex-
ample, the 4th knob in the Oscillators section controls the
oscillator frequency either in semitones (-60 to +60), MIDI
clock divisions, or absolute frequency, from 0Hz to 20kHz.
A sort of “acceleration” scheme has been implemented that
ensures the user is able to interact with a given parameter
in a way that makes the most sense for the parameter--pro-
viding ne adjustment for an LFO’s rate, for example--while
still allowing the full range of values to be accessed without
endlessly turning the knob. In order to accomplish this,
several default knob behaviors have been developed. For
example, the range of the Cutoff frequency of a lter is 10
octaves 6 semitones. This is listed in the Cutoff parameter
as 0.0 to 126 semitones. The default knob behavior ap-
plied to Cutoff is to increase or decrease the frequency by
1 semitone as the knob is turned. There is a small amount
of acceleration programmed in, to ensure the entire range
is available with only a couple of full turns. In this case, the
default knob behavior is to compress the range of values,
which allows faster access to the range of values, but by
making larger “steps” along the way. In contrast, the LFO
Rate parameter uses the opposite scheme. In order to al-
low ne adjustment of LFO Rate, the knob is programmed
to increase or decrease in steps of 1/100th of 1Hz as the
knob is turned. Clearly, this scheme would require many full
rotations of the knob to reach 500Hz.
Knob Acceleration and the Shift Button
Pressing and holding down the Shift button as you turn a
knob will invert its default acceleration scheme. Holding
down the Shift button while turning the LFO Rate knob will
cause the value to jump by 1Hz, making it much quicker to
access values at either end of the range. The exact oppo-
site happens for Cutoff, allowing for very ne control over
the frequency.
The Data Wheel is not affected by the Shift button.
It always scrolls at the nest resolution available for
the parameter.

KNOB ACCELERATION | 17
REAR PANEL CONNECTIONS
Rear Panel Connections
The illustrations below show the rear panel connections of the Solaris. The illustration is too long to t on a single page of
the manual, so it is represented by Figure 17, which shows the leftmost connections on the rear of the unit, and Figure 18,
which shows the rightmost connections.
Figure 17. Leftmost rear panel connections
Figure 18. Right most rear panel connections
PEDALS The pedal inputs are described in “Home Menu” on page 45.
SPDIF Optical S/PDIF capable of 48kHz in/out when in Master mode. Solaris will operate at 96kHz in Slave mode.
ANALOG OUT The analog outputs are described in “Output” on page 38.
ANALOG IN See “Processing External Signals” on page 23 for more information about the analog inputs.
MIDI Solaris provides standard MIDI In, Out, and Thru connectors. MIDI conguration is covered in “MIDI Menu” on
page 44.
COMPUTER Solaris can transmit and receive MIDI signals over the USB port.
CF CARD CompactFlash port. See “Quick Start” on page 9 for more information about the CF card.
POWER Power Switch.
POWER Jack for the external power supply. The power supply that ships with Solaris has the following specs:
Input: 100-240V ~1.0A max 50-60Hz (groundless)
Output: +12V DC 2.5A, 30W max
(2.5 x 5.5 x 11.0)mm center positive
Table 1. Rear panel connections

DESTINATION-BASED MODULATION18 | MODULAR-STYLE MODULATION
Modulation Basics
Modular-style
Modulation
Destination-based Modulation
Unlike many hard wired synthesizers which use a modula-
tion matrix to select a modulation source, and assign where
to send it, Solaris uses a destination-based scheme just
like a big modular synthesizer. In Solaris, you start with a
destination--oscillator pitch, for example--and select which
modulation source you want to use to modulate that pa-
rameter. Solaris provides four modulation sources for each
major component (each oscillator, lter, etc.), except for the
LFOs, which have three. These modulation sources can be
accessed by pressing the Mod button--or pressing the Inc/
Dec buttons if Split and Wrap are set appropriately in the
System menu--to the left side of the module you want to
modulate.
Let’s use Solaris’s Oscillators section as an example. Imagine that each
of Solaris’s oscillators is an oscillator module in a large modular system.
Figure 19 depicts Solaris oscillator 1, which currently holds a Multimode
Oscillator, as an imaginary oscillator module in a modular synth. The typi-
cal oscillator controls, waveform, shape, coarse and ne tuning, map 1:1
to our imaginary modular oscillator. Figure 19.
Waveform
Wave Shape Coarse Fine
Exponential FM Side Chain Linear FM
-120
0
+120
-60
0
+60 -100
0
+100
0%
0
100%
Ctrl In
-100%
0
+100%
-100%
0
+100%
Ctrl In
Strength
Side Chain
-100%
0
+100%
Ctrl In
Strength
Multimode OSC
Pulse
Sine Saw
Ctrl In Ctrl In
Side Chain
-100%
0
+100%
Ctrl In
Strength
Solaris Oscillator imagined as a modular synthesizer oscillator
module.
Next, let’s modulate the wave shape of the oscillator using
some modulation source, such as LFO1. If we were to do
this on our modular system, we would connect a patch
cable from the output of our LFO module to the oscillator’s
wave shape control input. To see what is modulating any
particular parameter on any particular module of a modu-
lar system, you simply follow the patch cable back to its
source. On Solaris, all you need to do is look at the Mod
mode pages for that module.

DESTINATION-BASED MODULATION | 19
MODULAR-STYLE MODULATION
Figure 20.
Waveform
Wave Shape Coarse Fine
Exponential FM Side Chain Linear FM
-120
0
+120
-60
0
+60 -100
0
+100
0%
0
100%
Ctrl In
-100%
0
+100%
-100%
0
+100%
Ctrl In
Strength
Side Chain
-100%
0
+100%
Ctrl In
Strength
Multimode OSC
Pulse
Sine Saw
Ctrl In Ctrl In
Side Chain
-100%
0
+100%
Ctrl In
Strength
Solaris oscillator mod source 1 (LFO1) controlling wave shape
Figure 20 shows the Mod mode display of our Solaris
oscillator, directly beneath the imaginary modular oscil-
lator. The Mod window is currently displaying modulation
source 1, one of four modulation source slots available for
the oscillator. We can see that modulation Source1 is set
to LFO1, and modulation Dest is set to Shape. This means
that LFO1 will modulate the oscillator’s wave shape pa-
rameter with an Amount of 56%. Follow the green “patch
cable” in Figure 20. You can imagine that the current setting
of Source1 is the modular equivalent of patching the con-
trol output of LFO1 to the control input for wave shape on
our modular oscillator.
Figure 21.
Waveform
Wave Shape Coarse Fine
Exponential FM Side Chain Linear FM
-120
0
+120
-60
0
+60 -100
0
+100
0%
0
100%
Ctrl In
-100%
0
+100%
-100%
0
+100%
Ctrl In
Strength
Side Chain
-100%
0
+100%
Ctrl In
Strength
Multimode OSC
Pulse
Sine Saw
Ctrl In Ctrl In
Side Chain
-100%
0
+100%
Ctrl In
Strength
Solaris oscillator mod source 1 (LFO1) controlling wave shape,
and Poly Aftertouch providing sidechain modulation.
All of Solaris’s modulation sources have an additional Con-
trol, or “sidechain” circuit. This allows a modulation source
to itself be modulated by another control signal, resulting in
very interesting and complex control signal shapes. Figure
21 expands on our previous example by adding a Control
signal to modulate the LFO signal coming in as modulation
Source1. In this case, we have a virtual patch chord run-
ning from the output of the PolyAT module on our modular
synth into the sidechain control input of our modular oscilla-
tor’s wave shape parameter.

DESTINATION-BASED MODULATION20 | MODULAR-STYLE MODULATION
Waveform
Wave Shape Coarse Fine
Exponential FM Side Chain Linear FM
-120
0
+120
-60
0
+60 -100
0
+100
0%
0
100%
Ctrl In
-100%
0
+100%
-100%
0
+100%
Ctrl In
Strength
Side Chain
-100%
0
+100%
Ctrl In
Strength
Multimode OSC
Pulse
Sine Saw
Ctrl In Ctrl In
Side Chain
-100%
0
+100%
Ctrl In
Strength
Figure 22. Solaris oscillator with 3 of 4 available modulation sources active
and “wired” to the oscillator.
Figure 22 further expands on our example by activating
three of the four available modulation sources for Osc1.
Source1 and its Control signal modulate the oscillator’s
wave shape. Modulation Source2, LFO3, is providing
exponential (Pitch) modulation of the oscillator, and LFO4
is providing the sidechain Control signal to modulate the
signal from LFO3. Modulation Source3, LpEG1 (Looping
Envelope), is modulating the LinFM (Linear Frequency
Modulation) parameter of the oscillator, and sidechain
modulation is coming from AT (Aftertouch).
Figure 23.
Waveform
Wave Shape Coarse Fine
Exponential FM Side Chain Linear FM
-120
0
+120
-60
0
+60 -100
0
+100
0%
0
100%
Ctrl In
-100%
0
+100%
-100%
0
+100%
Ctrl In
Strength
Side Chain
-100%
0
+100%
Ctrl In
Strength
Multimode OSC
Pulse
Sine Saw
Ctrl In Ctrl In
Side Chain
-100%
0
+100%
Ctrl In
Strength
Modulation Sources 2 and 3 modulating oscillator pitch
Figure 23 shows an example of two modulation sourc-
es modulating the same parameter. In this case, both
Source2 (LFO3) and Source3 (LpEG1) are connected to
the oscillator’s Exponential Frequency (Pitch) input.
Finally, in all of these examples, the oscillator’s modula-
tion Source4 slot is empty, meaning we could create even
more chaos with this oscillator by maybe adding a third
modulation source to the exponential Pitch control input, or
Dest.