The John Bowen Chronicles: Part 2

Dark Star

The 2nd design was an extended version of a bass synth idea – not really like what the SB-404 became, but something that would have more extensive filtering, and a greater variety of oscillator types. I was starting to think about greater complexity in my designs, and so the ‘Dark Star’ was born. This was my first synth to have 4 separate filter sections, which, as you will see, was brought over into what eventually became the Solaris. The Dark Star had separate outputs, and an elaborate way of routing all the filters, both in series or parallel.

The Dark Star today…