Elements 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!
This Elements has been upgraded with the "Ringified" firmware:
This update adds two new alternative synthesis models for the resonator section. To activate them, set the 8 knobs and 5 attenuverters of Elements’ resonator section fully CW (mnemonic: Resonator to the max!), and hold the PLAY button for 5s. The blinking pattern of the PLAY button will indicate which model is active. You can repeat the procedure to cycle through the three models:
- 1 blink: Original resonator (modal filter bank).
- 2 blinks: Non-linear string model. The resonator is a comb filter, and GEOMETRY controls the amount of three types of non-linearity in the feedback loop.
- 3 blinks: Chords. With this model, the resonator is a bank of 6 comb filters, tuned to the different notes of a chord. GEOMETRY selects the chord type.
This modular synth is in excellent condition and will ship swiftly and safely in its original box!