SOLYARIS MUSIC News




Listen all my album (on bandcamp)

December 25, 2023

After more than 10 years, I've finally decided to fix my poorly made website from back in the day. But the most exciting news for a SOLYARIS MUSIC listener is that I've uploaded all of my albums to Bandcamp! This way, you can listen to all the music I've released at https://solyarismusic.bandcamp.com !




A Small annoucement: I restart making music!

December 8, 2023

Under the pseudonym SOLYARIS MUSIC, I released several (lap-steel) guitar-based ambient music albums from 2005 to 2008. After a hiatus in music creation since 2008, I've recently reignited my interest.

After many years of music-making lethargy, something is changing in my soul, and perhaps I'll be returning to ambient music composition. Following the repair of my Rhodes Mark I, done entirely by myself in 2010, I ceased making music for various life reasons.

Nevertheless, in recent months, a shift has occurred in my brain, compelling me to rekindle my musical journey. Currently lacking the space at home to reconstruct the home studio I had almost 20 years ago, I've adapted to using samples and virtual instruments. I'm prioritizing compositional ideas that are now entirely applicable with almost any up-to-date computer.

My new initial goal is to create a "decent sampler" instrument with my guitar swarms style. While I don't yet possess a DAW interface or any hardware equipement on hand, I have no shortage of ideas, as usual. For sure I'll explore usage of strings and winds orchestral (swarm sounds of course). Let's see!




Rest in peace, Oophoi

April 3, 2013

I recently learned that musician Oophoi passed away. That's very sad.
I knew Gianluigi Gasparetti personally, and below are some notes:

About the Deep Listening Review
I discovered him through the great webzine "Deep listening," an amazing magazine regarding electronic/ambient music reviews. He used to publish it every three months, initially writing it himself and collaborating with others in recent years. Perhaps not many people here know this magazine; it was written only in the Italian language and sold only by correspondence in paper format (even in the recent internet era). In our email conversations, I tried many times to convince him to translate the reviews into English because I thought the content was absolutely valid worldwide. However, he was always pessimistic about creating an English version and its diffusion on the internet through a weblog or something. We had long mail conversations about that.

About Oophoi's Music
If I remember correctly, around the year 2000 or a bit later, Stefano Musso (Alio Die) gifted me the Deep Listening magazine issue. At that time, Stefano used to sell unique music CDs in stands at fairs of used books, comics, and vinyl. It was during those times that I also discovered Alio Die's album gems. So, I started an email friendship with Gianluigi that turned into my "ambient music" CD supplier/reseller during a time when the internet was not widespread in Italy. I purchased many CDs of great unknown artists from him and really appreciated the music he created under the nickname Oophoi! I think his drones are at a very high level of "deepness," and I listened to his music for many years.

About His Discovery of My Music
In 2004, when he was also the editor/manager of "Umbra Records" CDR label, I sent him a demo CD just to get his honest opinion. He was enthusiastic and insisted on publishing that "demo". I followed his suggestion, and "Western Detunes" (my first album) was published by him. A good story: my nickname "solyaris music" came after a conversation with him because of our love for Tarkovsky's movies. He suggested using an alias like "LEM", but I decided on "SOLYARIS" as a tribute to the movie. I will always be beholden to him because I started to express myself in music in what today I call "my way!"

After the Publication of Western Detunes
I confess I had discussions with Gigi about some "commercial" behaviors on music diffusion and reselling/re-pricing of my music by certain websites (without any advantage for myself). So, we decided to separate our ways, and he suggested that I diffuse my music with a personal website. I did that with happiness and peace for everybody. I admit my relationship with Gigi stopped more or less at that time. Sometimes I had to complain about some behaviors, and the friendship ended. Yes, Gianluigi talked to me about a mysterious disease, but I admit he was so hermetic that I thought he was not so sincere. I went wrong! Mea culpa. Apart from the personal issues, the feelings I had also reading the last issues of Deep Listening magazine editorials were his big pessimism about (ambient) music diffusion, music evolution nowadays, life in our society, to such an extent that he closed the magazine forever.

About the Music He Loved and the Culture and History He Divulged
Looking back on my last years, I see how much I am at one with him now! I mean regarding his conception of ambient music, his infinite love for Steve Roach's music, and above all for Klause Wiese's Tibetan singing bowls drone music. He was a deep lover and connoisseur of Wiese's music (he met him some times, as far as I know, and they realized some albums together). Almost every Deep Listening magazine contained serialized chunks of stories around Popol Vuh, Wiese, and Sufism. Yes, I know that a big part of my musical culture started after his thoughts, his music. I have to be grateful to him.

Buon viaggio dall'altra parte Gianluigi! Che tu possa stare immerso in drones di bellezza infinita laddove sei.




Download FLAC files

March 24, 2013

From today you can get my music also as FLAC files download! All albums are available (including now Western Detunes). Discount Bundle allow to get all my discography at a cheap price. To download, go to my CDR Shipping/FLAC Download page.





Paypal Cart

December 16, 2012

Now You can get my music via Paypal payments using Paypal Cart; You can also get some discounts if you decide to purchase bundles (more than 4 CDRs) and you can add a "Donation Integration". Please use Paypal purchase buttons ('add to cart') on my CDR Shipping/FLAC Download page.




Yamaha DX7II 393 original patches collection

December 15, 2009

I have just released a collection of 393 original patches for the Yamaha DX7II, available for purchase here. The collection is titled "Exploring FM soundscapes is an inner trance around the consciousness".

Introduction to my Synth Programming Modus Operandi:
All the patches in this collection are original Yamaha DX7IIFD patches that I programmed myself between 1993 and 1996. I dedicated numerous nights to working with the synth and an old Mac patch editor. While I can't recall the exact number, I estimate that I spent almost three hundred days of my life on this endeavor. The sounds in this collection are a result of my exploration of the synthesizer's capabilities. Sometimes, I would begin with an existing patch (downloaded from the internet or shared by friends) and modify the soundscape over time. In many cases, I started from scratch (status zero), also utilizing some controlled random features of the computer editor.

About the Kind of Sounds:
During my exploration of soundscapes with the DX7II years ago, my goal was to achieve very slow-motion evolving sounds. However, my work is imperfect in this regard. Only in some of these patches have I achieved what I had in mind. I particularly love soundscapes with very low attack and release, featuring smooth tonal evolving and morphing. It was during this time that I discovered musicians like Robert Rich, who have mastered slow-motion evolving music at artistic levels.
All the SysEx patches are organized in a DX7II "bundle" of three banks: a performance bank (32 performances), a voice bank (64 voices), and internal microtuning banks (2 sets). I have compiled all my work into 15 bundles, each named and detailed below. Performance names and some notes are provided in a description text file (.txt) associated with the SysEx file (.syx).

I believe my patches offer unique soundscapes, especially for the DX7II synth. The soundscapes cover genres such as Techno music, dark-Ambient music, Electronic-Experimental music, and Psychedelic music. Additionally, I aimed to emulate acoustical and vintage electronic synths, including beloved brass sounds (e.g., trombones in "brassonerie.syx," electric organs in "orgiaorgani.syx," cembalos in "tastierebarocche.syx," etc.). It's intriguing that a digital synth like the FM DX7II can emulate strings, brass, and percussion so realistically. Upon re-listening to my patches many years later, I find that the psychedelic, analog-sounding, fuzzed-freak sounds are well-suited for TECHNO music contexts. Real-time controllers programmed in many patches add the finishing touch for techno-dance live performances!

Important Note:
I am no longer actively programming the DX7II, and I may have difficulty providing technical assistance on using the DX7II, managing sounds, etc. Please purchase these sound patches only if you already have good skills in personal computer usage and basic DX7II programming. Additionally, note that the ".txt" files and README files may contain obsolete references to my email and website. Please refer to the website and email address specified here for contacting me.




Rest in deep Peace my dear friend, Gordon

May 20, 2008

I learned that Gordon Danis passed away some days ago (in the middle of May, though I'm unsure of the exact date). Gordon was a friend of mineā€”an email friendship, as I live in Italy, and he resided in New York.

He discovered my music in 2005, following the release of my first CDR. He wrote to me enthusiastically, suggesting we meet at a sort of gathering (at Jim Cole's or Jeff Pearce's home, if I recall correctly)... After that, we became friends over these past years, engaging in lengthy email conversations. We discovered our shared roots in Jazz music, and we had similar tastes from the '70s era. For instance, we both admired artists like Alice Coltrane, John Coltrane, John McLaughlin, and others.

Gordon possessed a vast musical culture and knowledge, with an open mind to all kinds of art music, not just limited to ambient music. He loved many unknown independent artists in jazz, pop, and ambient genres. Gordon connected me with great artists like Laraaji and Mathias Grassow, offering numerous suggestions for new explorations in my music. He frequently gave me valuable advice. Just a few days ago, I started playing some cymbals, and thoughts of past conversations with Gordon about expanding my musical horizons came to mind. I had intended to share this news with him quickly...

Overall, Gordon was a very generous person with a pronounced sensitivity to spirituality. I hope all he shared will be something useful for his journey now. He faced some serious health problems, and in his last email on April 7th, he complained about a severe new illness and some family issues (possibly involving his daughter). Does anyone know the cause of his death? Regardless, perhaps the specific reason doesn't matter.

In our last conversation, I joked about the recent string of bad luck he had shared with me. I teased him about the possibility of listening to some good music to ease the physical pain and spiritual sorrow. His response (his final email to me) was a message with the simple sentence: "Thank you, Giorgio." Now I must say to him: "Thank you, Gordon."




Listeners' comments section added

March 15, 2006

How you discovered my music ? I always happy to keep in touch via mail and know listeners/musicians around thw world, so please feel free to contact me. Add Your comment!




Copyrights notes

February 1st, 2005

I distinguished two different policies: Creative Commomns licence for free MP3s, but my music supplied with other media is copyrighted; for details please read here.




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Last Updated: January 4, 2024.