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Plonk​ ​Manual​​ ​​

v1.01 

 

 

 

In

 

​​

AR

​​

 

mode

 

the

 

envelope

 

simply

 

goes

 

through

 

the

 

attack

 

and

 

release

 

stages.

 

This

 

is

 

suitable

 

for 

most

 

percussive

 

sounds.  

In

 

​​

AHR

​​

 

mode

 

an

 

additional

 

hold

 

stage

 

is

 

added

 

which

 

keeps

 

the

 

envelope

 

high

 

for

 

as

 

long

 

gate

 

is

 

applied

 

at

 

the

 

​​

TRIG

​​

 

input.

 

This

 

is

 

useful

 

for

 

articulated

 

sounds

 

such

 

as

 

sustained 

basses,

 

effects,

 

or

 

dynamic

 

percussion

 

sounds

 

such

 

as

 

open

 

high

 

hats

 

where

 

you

 

want

 

to

 

vary 

the

 

length

 

of

 

the

 

sound. 

Object

 

Parameters 

The

 

resonator

 

parameters

 

menu

 

is

 

accessed

 

by

 

pushing

 

the

 

​​

OBJECT

​​

 

button.  

In

 

Plonk,

 

sounds

 

are

 

produced

 

by

 

feeding

 

the

 

output

 

of

 

the

 

Exciter

 

into

 

an

 

acoustic

 

object

 

model 

called

 

a

 

resonator.  

Mathematically,

 

a

 

complex

 

sound

 

can

 

be

 

decomposed

 

into

 

elementary

 

components

 

called 

partials

.

 

The

 

relative

 

frequencies

 

of

 

the

 

partials

 

are

 

specific

 

to

 

the

 

type

 

of

 

object:

 

the

 

partials

 

of

 

string

 

will

 

follow

 

the

 

ideal

 

harmonic

 

series,

 

while

 

those

 

of

 

a

 

drumhead

 

will

 

be

 

bunched

 

closer 

together.  

The

 

material

 

of

 

the

 

resonator

 

will

 

have

 

an

 

effect

 

on

 

the

 

relative

 

decay

 

of

 

the

 

partials,

 

while

 

the 

position

 

at

 

which

 

it

 

is

 

excited

 

will

 

have

 

an

 

effect

 

on

 

the

 

relative

 

amplitude

 

of

 

the

 

partials.  

The

 

resonator

 

section

 

also

 

includes

 

an

 

embedded

 

envelope

 

generator

 

that

 

can

 

be

 

used

 

to 

change

 

the

 

pitch

 

during

 

sound

 

playback.

 

The

 

envelope

 

is

 

a

 

simple

 

linear

 

envelope

 

triggered 

each

 

time

 

the

 

exciter

 

is

 

triggered. 

Resonator

 

Type 

Selects

 

from

 

one

 

of

 

the

 

six

 

resonator

 

types: 

String

​​

 

 

a

 

plain

 

string.

 

Good

 

for

 

plucked

 

or

 

bowed

 

sounds. 

Beam

​​

 

 

a

 

rectangular

 

beam

 

with

 

constant

 

cross-section.

 

Good

 

for

 

bells,

 

chimes,

 

claves, 

woodblocks

 

and

 

other

 

small

 

percussions. 

Marimba

​​

 

 

a

 

beam

 

with

 

variable

 

cross-section,

 

producing

 

more

 

harmonic

 

overtones. 

Good

 

for

 

chromatic

 

percussions

 

like

 

marimbas

 

and

 

vibraphones. 

Drumhead

​​

 

 

circular

 

membrane.

 

Good

 

for

 

various

 

drum

 

sounds. 

Membrane

​​

 

 

rectangular

 

membrane.

 

Good

 

for

 

various

 

drum

 

sounds.

 

More

 

dissonant 

than

 

the

 

drumhead

 

resonator. 

Plate

​​

 

 

rectangular

 

plate.

 

Good

 

for

 

cymbals,

 

gongs,

 

bells

 

and

 

other

 

metallic

 

or

 

wooden 

percussions. 

 

Page

 

15 

Summary of Contents for Plonk

Page 1: ...Plonk Manual v1 01 Plonk Physical Modeling Percussion Synthesizer...

Page 2: ...rt Installing Your Module Quick Start Front Panel Controls Inputs and Outputs Parameter Menus Pitch Parameters Octave Quantize Exciter Parameters Mallet Noise Mix Mallet Stiffness Noise Density Noise...

Page 3: ...Tone Resonator Inharmonicity Resonator Pitch Envelope Amount Resonator Pitch Envelope Time Polyphony VAR X and Y Destinations MOD Destinations Choke Resonator Noise Both Preset Step Randomize Morph C...

Page 4: ...Plonk Manual v1 01 Downloading Presets to a Computer Uploading Presets from a Computer Calibration Technical Specifications Firmware Changelog 1 0 July 20 2017 Page 3...

Page 5: ...t being struck which vibrates resonates and creates the body of a sound Plonk offers several types of resonators beam marimba drumhead membrane plate and string Plonk provides numerous parameters that...

Page 6: ...nd banks of patches may be transferred via MIDI System Exclusive over Plonk s built in mini USB port to facilitate offline storage by programs or websites that support this capability Plonk was develo...

Page 7: ...apacity or upgrade your power supply You will also need to ensure you have enough free space hp as well as free power headers in your case to fit the new module You can use a tool like ModularGrid to...

Page 8: ...s that serve other purposes so ensure the cable is connected to the right one The other end of the cable with a 16 pin connector connects to the power bus board of your Eurorack case Ensure the red st...

Page 9: ...seated on both ends and that all the pins are correctly aligned If the pins are misaligned in any direction or the ribbon is backwards you can cause damage to your module power supply or other modules...

Page 10: ...Run the sequencer you should hear the Plonk make noise 4 If your sequencer has a secondary CV output connect it to the VEL input for velocity control Switch between sounds 1 Connect a sequencer track...

Page 11: ...Plonk Manual v1 01 Front Panel Page 10...

Page 12: ...odulating the VAR X destination 8 Y Knob Bipolar control for manually modulating the VAR Y destination 9 LOAD Button Accesses the LOAD menu which is used for loading presets from the onboard flash mem...

Page 13: ...by a gate then any voltage above 1 5 V is sufficient C DECAY CV offset for the DECAY control The accompanying attenuverter can be used to scale and flip the incoming voltage Range of 5 V D Y CV offset...

Page 14: ...se The mallet is a momentary impulse while the noise is white noise that can be shaped by a lowpass filter highpass filter and amplitude envelope The filters are applied in series so together they can...

Page 15: ...ate envelope and filter settings a noise density between 50 and 100 can be good for bowed sounds or snares Noise Lowpass Cutoff Sets the cutoff frequency of the lowpass filter applied to the white noi...

Page 16: ...a drumhead will be bunched closer together The material of the resonator will have an effect on the relative decay of the partials while the position at which it is excited will have an effect on the...

Page 17: ...he partials Perceptually this parameter affects the object s material Depending on the resonator type lower values may evoke wood nylon or plastic while higher values may evoke metal or glass Resonato...

Page 18: ...n the modulation destination selection screen you can push the X or Y button a second time to set the DEPTH of the respective control The DEPTH allows you to configure how much the full range of the m...

Page 19: ...5 will select another preset in the range proportional to the amount of voltage applied Selecting a preset in this way is subject to the following conditions All exciter and object parameters will be...

Page 20: ...esonator type assigned to the destination preset However all other resonator and exciter parameters do morph CONFIG Settings Gain Adjusts the overall gain of the current patch from 20 dB to 12 dB This...

Page 21: ...other modules in a larger system its panel knobs are always live That is when you recall a preset every parameter is set to its saved value however any value presently under the control of a front pan...

Page 22: ...will be indicated by a star next to the preset number Saving To enter the preset save menu click the SAVE button Turn the ENCODER to find a slot in which to save the current module settings The last l...

Page 23: ...ck the CONFIG button Turn the ENCODER till the display reads Send Presets Click the ENCODER If you haven t yet connected the USB cable to the back of the module the display will read Connect USB Once...

Page 24: ...zer to the PITCH input Ensure nothing is connected to any of the other inputs 5 Set the voltage source to 0V The number on the display should be around 52000 6 Click the ENCODER The screen will indica...

Page 25: ...Plonk Manual v1 01 Firmware Changelog 1 0 July 20 2017 Initial release Page 24...

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