After Later Audio Quarks

A 22hp version of Mutable Instruments Elements

It is functionally equivalent and therefore runs all firmware options and having identical sound characteristics. This version is great compromise between the tight spacing of Atom and full size original, which is a bit large.

Elements is a full-blown synthesis voice based on modal synthesis - an under-appreciated flavour of physical modelling synthesis. With Elements, a sound is designed by specifying a resonant structure (plate, string, tube...), the properties of the material it is made of (stiffness, absorption...), and how the structure is excited to produce sound - struck, plucked, blown, bowed...

Elements is raw. The sounds of scratching scrape metal, or the wind in a PVC tube, not a symphonic orchestra.

Excitation signal generator

• Three generators with mixer: bowing noise, blowing noise, percussive impulses.
• 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.

Modal resonator

• Internally uses 64 zero-delay 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.