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MUSICAL FEATURES

Plonk is a voice module that models the sounding mechanism of an acoustic instrument, and is intended for percussive sound generation that can be controlled even with a 1V / Oct pitch signal. It was developed in collaboration with Applied Acoustic Systems, which has released physics modeling based plug-ins such as Chromaphone.

In physical modeling synthesizers such as Plonk, a model of the process of hitting the object that triggers pronunciation (Exciter), And then a model of the process in which the object vibrates and becomes a continuous sound and decaysResonator) Are combined to set the tone.
There are two types of exciters: mallet and noise. There are various types of resonators such as beam, marimba, drum head, membrane, board and string. Each model of exciter and resonator has many parameters that can be adjusted to create various percussion sounds, from real to unreal. For example, traditional raw drum sounds such as kicks, toms, cymbals, claps, and congas, pitched sounds such as vibraphones, marimbas, and guitars, as well as completely different electronic percussion sounds.

Since Plonk creates a dynamic sound whose timbre changes over time, it also responds dynamically to velocity and other modulation inputs. It's easy to create a completely different tone each time you trigger. PlonkDuophonicYou can play up to 2 notes at the same time, so even if the 2nd sound is completely different from the 1st sound, the 1st sound will be the same as the 2nd sound. The timbre changes continuously.

Plonk can store 128 presets and ships with many presets (user can overwrite). You can also save the patch to your computer via MIDI SysEx through the USB port on the back.Preset can also be controlled by CVis. You can also randomize parameters with triggers and morph with CVs. Almost all synthesis parameters can be assigned to the X, Y and Mod controls.

Interface

 
The explanation of each part is displayed by mouse over

Parameters

In Plonk, there are setting parameters for each exciter and resonator. Press the Exciter button for exciter parameters and the Object button for resonator parameters, and use the encoder to select and set.
 

Exciter parameters

  • Mallet / Noise Mix: Controls the proportion of mallet and noise in the exciter
  • Mallet Stiffness: Controls the hardness of the mallet. The harder it gets, the more clicky the sound
  • Noise Density: Controls the pitch of the noise sound
  • Noise Lowpass / Highpass Cuttoff / Q: Controls the cutoff and resonance of low-pass and high-pass filters on noise
  • Noise Attack / Decay / Envelope Type: Adjusts the attack, decay, and type of the noise envelope used as an exciter. You can choose from AR and AHR types.
 

Resonator (Object) parameter

  • Resonator Type: Sets the type of resonator. Select from String, Beam, Marimba, Drumhead, Membrane, Plate.
  • Resonator Decay: Sets the decay time of the resonator
  • Resonator Low Cut: Sets the low cut frequency of the resonator
  • Resonator Position: Sets which part of the resonator the exciter strikes. This will change the frequency configuration of the resonator. The edge is 0 and the center is set to 127.
  • Resonator Tone: Changes the decay for each frequency (partial) of the resonator. This corresponds to the changing material of the resonator
  • Resonator Inharmonicity: Changes the frequency contained in the resonator. When the value is small, the frequency approaches the fundamental tone, and when the value is large, the frequency range is widened.
  • Resonator Pitch Envelope Amount: The strength of the envelope that can be applied to the pitch of the resonator can be adjusted from -64 (-1 octave) to +63 (+1 octave).
  • Resonator Pitch Envelope Time: Adjusts the envelope time that can be applied to the pitch of the resonator
  • Polyphony: If you set it to 1, it will be set like a monophonic synth, and if the second note is triggered while the first note is playing, the first note will not be heard. If you set it to 1, it will be duophonic, and you can play up to two notes simultaneously. Even if the second sound has a completely different sound to that of the first sound, the first sound will continue to change the original sound regardless of the second sound.

List of special parameters that can be assigned by mod input

With the Mod input, you can assign the following parameters in addition to the above-mentioned exciter and resonator parameters.

 

  • choking: While the Gate ON is being input to the MOD input, when the second exciter is triggered, the previous sound will not be heard instead of a new sound (it will sound like a monophonic sound). The choked sound can be selected from both resonator and noise exciter.
  • Preset Step: Each time a trigger is received, the preset specified by the voltage of the Mod input will be called and sounded. The preset range to be recalled can be specified by pressing the encoder at the time of setting and specifying A and B in the Pst A: B display to specify a preset range from A to B. (Preset A at 0V, preset B at ± 5V, intermediate voltage is in between)
  • Randomize: When triggered by a mod, it will randomly change all the parameters of the exciter and the object (when Randomize is selected, it can be randomized just by pressing the encoder).
  • Morphs: If you choose Morph from Mod, MOD CV will allow you to smoothly transition between the current preset and the specified preset. By pressing the encoder when Morph is selected, you can select the morph destination preset.
    * Resonator types cannot be changed smoothly.

Items set from the Config button

The items that can be set from the Config menu are as follows.
  • Gain: Adjusts the gain of the output sound
  • Well: Set the behavior of velocity input.AccentIs a setting that sounds when Vel has a gate,DynamicsControls the strength of the exciter in steps by the voltage on Vel.VolumeSimply uses the Vel input for output volume control.
  • Init Presets: Returns the parameters of the current preset to the initial state
  • Send Presets: Send presets via USB-MIDI. Connect the Plonk to the Eurorack power supply and at the same time connect it to the computer with USB, and launch the software capable of SysEx transfer such as Laser Mammoth, SysEx, MIDI-OX. You can send presets to your computer by pressing the encoder. If you want to send presets from your computer to Plonk, you can send the presets using SysEx Send from your software.

DEMO

firmware Update

Follow the steps below to update the firmware.

  1. Power down the module
  2. Connect the USB cable from the back of the module to your computer.
  3. IntellijelPagesOpen the updater downloaded from and select the module and version from the dropdowns.
  4. While pressing the button on the back of the module, power cycle the module
  5. At the bottom of the updaterUpdateWhen the button is pressed, the progress bar starts, and when the message “Update completed successfully” is displayed at the end, the update is complete.
  6. Restart the modular and it should work with the new firmware
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