Solar 42 - More Than an Ambient Machine?

The Solar 42 from Elta Music is marketed as an ’Ambient Machine’. It certainly fulfills that description. However, I wanted to see what else it can do and how it performs when coupled with a DAW (Ableton 12) and a few, simple backing loops. THE SETUP This video features an Ableton arrangement (out of shot) played in the background while I played live over the top of the arrangement. The Solar performance is a single live take, recorded into Ableton as I played it. The setup here is Ableton running an arrangement of synth and drum loops with Solar 42 clocked to Ableton via gate and reset CV. Im pleased to report that the sync worked flawlessly. The Solar 42 is a semi-modular synth and definitely shines with additional modulation (over and above its internal LFOs etc). I added modulation from my Eurorack rig. Mainly from Acid Rain Maestro and Pams New Workout to create a little more variation to the voices. THOUGHTS & FUTURE VIDEOS This video is not meant to be a tutorial or a comprehensive review of the Solar 42. I thought it would be interesting to hear how it sounds and performs with a more uptempo piece of music. I have to say I am very impressed with how easy and quick it is to get some very useable sound out of the Solar. The sequence used in the video was the very first, randomly input sequence that I created and the transposition (to major scale) made it interesting to perform. My next exploration will focus on how well Solar integrates with other equipment. I will explore sound via the ’external input’ and how well the ’envelope follower’ works. My plan is to sync and modulate the Solar with two new but already classic analogue synths - The Erica Synths Syntrx II and The Intellijel Cascadia. If you enjoyed this video or found it useful please subscribe to this channel and check out The Aefonic on Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp & Spotify LINKS THE AEFONIC