Mutable Instruments Shelves, Clouds, Streams & Elements

This series of videos, via DivKidMusic, offers a preview of new Eurorack modules from Mutable Instruments

The first video takes a look at the Mutable Instruments Shelves module:

Shelves brings to Eurorack modular systems something we are all very familiar with: the 4-band parametric EQ typically found in console channel strips. But this time, there’s CV control! The first band is a low-pass shelving filter, the fourth band a high-pass shelving filter, and band #2 and #3 have full-blown parametric controls with bandwidth (Q) adjustment. All analog.

The next video, above, takes a look at the Mutable Instruments Elements – a full-blown synthesis voice based on modal physical modeling synthesis:

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!

This video is a preview of the Mutable Instruments Clouds Texture Synthesizer.

This video takes a look at the Mutable Instruments Streams Dual Dynamics Gate:

Here’s the first overview video for Streams, I’ve stuck to the main four modes (there’s 5 more, video to follow!) and tried go through these in detail using audio at the input, CV and the input and also taking CV generated by the module out around the modular. As always fire away with any questions. You can skip to the following times for each section

Mode 1 – Envelope Generator
– Audio Input 00.27
– CV Input 01.24
– CV Output 02.00

Mode 2 – Vactrol Emulation
– Audio Input 02.36
– CV Output 04.51
– CV Processing 05.33

Mode 3 – Harmonic & Amplitude Envelope Follower
– Audio Input 06.27
– Siamese Twins Mode 07.54
– Gate / Expander FX 09.27
– CV Output 10/15

Mode 4 – Compressor / Limiter
– Audio Input 11.24
– Siamese Twins Mode 13.17
– CV processing 14.18
– CV Processing with sidechain 15.27

See the Mutable Instruments site for more details.

2 thoughts on “Mutable Instruments Shelves, Clouds, Streams & Elements

  1. The divkid demos are probably the most comprehensive demos ive seen (they cover what i want to see and hear at least). I misread the article title breifly. I thought mutable were shelving the clouds streams & elements modules! The cv compressor has my attention!

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