Ambient Modular :: Faraway :: Plaits, Tides, Rings, Clouds, Peaks

Published on Apr 7, 2018 Mike Thomas

"Just a wandering/ambient exploration of some tones from Mutable Instruments new module: Plaits.

Thought I'd try using rotorvideos.com to produce the video for the piece. Pretty cool, but not sure whether I'll use it again.


Patch Notes
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Tune is in pentatonic major, set on O_C.

Leading bass tone that becomes weaving bass line is Tides sequenced by O_C with the v/oct sent through Intellijel 1U clock/random/slew. Tides Smooth shaped by the same v/oct signal (attenuated), and Shape by a slow LFO from Peaks.

"Ethereal flute" sound is Clouds in granular mode, playing back a sample of Plaits recorded from this patch. Reverb turned up high, and Position slowly modulated by Peaks. Clouds Frequency manually moved up and down an octave as the piece progresses.

'Plucking percussive mandolin' is Rings sequenced by O_C and "strummed" by Pamela's Workout. Volume modulated by Peaks and Veils.

Main voice is Plaits in Granular Formant Oscillator mode. Main output to 2hp Delay. Aux output to Ripples, with final level controlled by a channel of Peaks. Plaits Level, Timbre and Morph voltage controlled by WMD Mini-Slew in triggered/envelope mode and Harmonic by the v/oct that controls the bass line. Plenty of manual wiggling of these controls as well. Mini-Slew very lightly FM'd by a channel of Peaks, and also manually wiggled to control the envelope in certain sections.

Bass percussion is a TipTop ONE sample.

There's more VC going on here than I've mentioned. In this small-ish 'Mostly Mutable' case I have to mult and/or attenuate my control voltages in order to have enough modulation, so I end up re-using sequence VC as well as using LFOs and random to wiggle various aspects of the patch.

Sounds and submixes all routed to Intellijel Mixup, which sends stereo to 2hp Verb and on to Intellijel uJack module. Thus, in this case 2hp Verb is the final effect. It holds up pretty well, I think. You just have to be careful not to overdrive it, or it will distort.

Piece produced entirely 'in the case'. Recorded direct to digital on a Sony PCMD50 with no effects added."