Mutable Instruments Plaits Macro Oscillator

Plaits is the spiritual successor of Mutable Instruments’ best-selling voltage-controlled sound source, Braids. Not just a mkII version: its hardware and software have been redesigned from scratch. Just like its predecessor, it offers direct access to a large palette of easily tweakable raw sonic material, covering the whole gamut of synthesis techniques.

Gone are the screen, menu system, hidden settings, and the long list of somewhat redundant synthesis models. Thanks to additional CV inputs, and to the use of three timbre-shaping parameters per model, Plaits is straightforward to use, and much closer to the ideal of one synthesis technique = one model. What were fragmented islands of sound in Braids are now part of a continuum of sounds.

Patch a trigger generator or sequencer into Plaits’ trigger input and instantly use the module as a percussive source thanks to its built-in virtual low-pass gate (LPG). An internal D (decay) envelope generator is normalled to all unpatched CV inputs. Just turn the corresponding attenuverter to add pitch, timbre or morphing modulation. And if plucks and snappy hits are not your thing, patch your own envelope or CV source into the LPG CV input.

Plaits shares no hardware or software with Braids! Floating-point DSP code written from scratch or inherited from Elements, Warps and Rings. Band-limited synthesis used almost everywhere, producing aliasing-free results at the base sample rate of 48kHz (Braids ran at 96kHz and used naive oversampling). High-quality Sigma-Delta ADC for CV acquisition, approaching a resolution of 16-bit (12-bit for Braids). ADC reads are interpolated in software to eliminate zipper noise. DC-coupled audio output, extending the range of the module to very low frequencies (Braids could not reach LFO ranges).

• All inputs: 100k impedance, DC to 2kHz.
• FM, MORPH, TIMBRE input range: +/- 8V.
• HARMO and MODEL input range: +/- 5V.
• LEVEL and TRIG input range: 0 to +8V.
• V/OCT input range: -3 to +7V.
• 16-bit CV capture.
• Audio output: 48kHz, 16-bit, DC-coupled.
• Internal processing: 32-bit floating point.