John Bowen Solaris, User Manual

SEQUENCER (SEQ)

36 | GRAPHIC DISPLAY

tor and the Hold button, then while holding down the first 

note you want with the left hand, play any series of notes 

with your right hand (even repeating note selections) to cre-

ate a long series of a ‘custom’ pattern. 

Random

 randomly 

selects the next note to play from the notes being held.

Octaves

Determines the number of octaves (1-4) over which to play 

the arpeggiator pattern. 

Pattern

Solaris can store 64 arpeggiator patterns. The values are 

1-63, and User. Arpeggiator patterns are stored on the So-

laris CF card, in the Factory/Arp folder. Only 5 patterns are 

currently shipped with the Solaris CF card.

A software editor for sequencer and arpeggiator 

patterns is planned. Please refer to the website for 

more information. 

Resolut.

The MIDI clock division that determines the length of each 

step in the arpeggiator pattern.

Length

Adjusts the gate length, or duration of each note played in 

the sequence. 

BPM

When Solaris is using its own MIDI clock, the 

BPM

 knob 

can be used to change the playback speed of the arpeggia-

tor. When synced to an external MIDI source, this value will 

show the BPM of the incoming clock.

Velocity

The velocity of each note played in the arpeggiator pattern 

can be controlled by the velocity values stored in the arpeg-

giator 

Pattern

, by the velocity at which the notes were 

played on the 

Keyboard

, or 

Both

.

Hold

Allows the arpeggiator to be latched on.

PatLen

Sets the number of notes (1-32) used in the arpeggiator 

pattern.

Swing

Introduces a delay of every other (or every even) note trig-

gered, evoking a swinging or rhythmic feel to the playback.

Sequencer (Seq) 

Solaris’s Step Sequencer allows you to develop complex, 

pattern-based sequences that can be used to control the 

vast modulation possibilities of the synthesizer. The Step 

Sequencer comprises four separate rows (SeqA, SeqB, 

SeqC, and SeqD), each programmable with up to 16 steps, 

and parameters that determine how the rows are triggered 

and synchronized, and what pattern the row will play. Solar-

is’s sequencer is essentially one step sequencer with four 

rows of parallel control outputs, or four “layers”. Each row 

can have a different loop point (step length), but the overall 

timing is controlled by the first row (SeqA), and everything 

retains the overall feel of the timing, or “reset” intervals, are 

set on SeqA. 

Note that the sequencer in Solaris is not hardwired to 

control the pitch of the oscillators, though that is a common 

use. Solaris’s Step Sequencer can be used as a modula

-

tion source for any other parameter in the synthesizer, 

which allows very complex, evolving, and/or rhythmic ma-

nipulation of sounds.

The INIT patch that ships with Solaris is designed to 

make it very easy to set up a typical patch in which 

the step sequencer(s) control the pitch of the oscil

-

lators. Check the modulation sources for each oscil-

lator in the INIT patch. One of the sources should 

be set to one of the four sequencer rows (probably 

SeqA for Oscillator 1, SeqB for Oscillator 2, etc.). 

Note that the Amount  of the modulation source is 

set to the maximum value of 120.00 semitones. 

This setting makes the pattern step values corre-

spond to semitones. Using values less than 120 will 

cause the steps in the pattern to translate to less 

than full semitone values.

Solaris has 4 exponential lag processors that can be used 

to produce a slowing or “gliding” effect on the sequencer’s 

control signal. See “Lag Processor” on page 43.

All four sequencer rows are activated by pressing the 

Seq 

On 

button below the LFO control panel. When the se-

quencer is synchronized to Solaris’s internal MIDI clock, the 

Tempo

 button can be used to set the sequencer’s playback 

tempo. See “Tempo” on page 15.

Figure 60. 

Sequencer Menu, page 1 of 3

Mode

Normal

Each step in the sequence retriggers the 

envelopes. Each new key press restarts the 

sequencer from the first step, and retriggers the 

envelopes.

No Reset

The sequencer is free running in the back

-

ground. A key press will retrigger envelopes, but 

the sequencer will not restart from the first step. 

It will play whatever step it is currently active. 

Each step retriggers the envelopes.