Mutable Instruments Elements Modal synthesizer

Mutable Instruments Elements

Modal synthesizer

The Mutable Instruments Elements Modular Synthesizer is a full-blown synthesis voice based on modal synthesis – an under-appreciated flavour of physical modelling synthesis with a strange and abstract feel.

Elements combines an exciter synthesis section generating raw, noisy sounds characteristic of bowing (filtered friction noise), blowing (pitch-controlled granular noise), or striking (stick, mallet, hammer or brush sample playback… or bursts of synthetic impulsions). These sources, or external audio signals, are processed by a modal filter bank – an ensemble of 64 tuned band-pass filters simulating the response of various resonant structures (plates, strings, tubes…) with adjustable brightness and damping. A stereo ambience reverberator adds depth and presence to the sound.

All parameters have a very meaningful and well-delimited impact on the sound. When designing Elements, great care has been taken in selecting parameter ranges and control curves, producing a large palette of sounds – often beyond physical realism – but always well controlled and stable. The “dark spots” of noise and feedback are reached gradually, and they do still react to controls. The module is deliberately menu- and switch-free – what you dial/patch is what you hear!

The main features of the Mutable Instruments Elements Modular Synthesizer include:

Three generators with mixer: bowing noise, blowing noise, percussive impulses.
TE/HP: 34 (172.7mm)
Envelope contour for bowing and blowing.
Bowing noise generator: particle-like scratching noise with 2-pole low-pass filter.
Blowing noise generator: granular pitched noise with wavetable-like scanning between various tone colors.
Percussive impulse generator: interpolates through a collection of impulsive excitations – including sampled sticks, brushes and hammers, and models of damped mallets, plectrums, or bouncy particles. 2-pole low-pass filter and pitch control.
Internally uses 64 zero-delay feedback state variable filters.
Coarse, fine and FM frequency controls.
Geometry: Interpolates through a collection of structures, including plates, strings, tubes, bowls.
Brightness. Specifies the character of the material the resonating structure is made of – from wood to glass, from nylon to steel.
Damping. Adds damping to the sound – simulates a “wet” material or the muting of the vibrations.
Position. Specifies at which point the structure is excited.
Space. Creates an increasingly rich stereo output by capturing the sound at two different points of the structure, and then adds more space through algorithmic reverberation
All exciter and resonator parameters have a dedicated CV input with attenuater.
1V/Oct input for controlling main resonator frequency.
FM input.
Gate input.
Strength input, for amplitude control of the exciter section.
Pre- and post- exciter envelope external audio inputs.
Stereo audio output, with adjustable width/reverberation. It is also possible to output the raw exciter signal on one channel, and the raw resonator signal on the other.
Input impedances: 100k.
CV range: +/- 8V. CVs outside of this range are simply clipped.
Audio acquisition and restitution: 16-bit, 32kHz (Kindly note that Elements’ synthesis method is inherently band-limited; and that the module synthesizes “full-bodied” sounds – the choice of 32kHz is deliberate and should not be seen as a limitation).
Internal computations on 32-bit floating point numbers.
Open-source hardware and firmware.
Easy firmware updates through an audio interface.
Cortex-M4 ARM processor.
Current consumption: +12V: 130mA ; -12V: 10mA.