Kammerl Beat-Repeat Effect for
Mutable Instrument's Clouds

Overview

This is an alternative firmware for Mutable Instruments Clouds which enables real-time slicing / beat-repeat features ported from the Kammerl Kaske VST plugin suite.

Note: The original four modes of the official firmware are still present and have not been modified. This firmware simply adds a fifth mode to your Clouds module with new real-time beat and sound manipulation features.

Video

Installation

Note: As with any firmware installation, there is a potential though probably small risk of bricking your device. Proceed at your own risk!

See release MIT License notice.

  1. Download the Clouds Kammerl Firmware WAV file.
  2. Unplug all inputs, connect the output of your audio interface to IN L.
  3. Power on the module with the FREEZE button being pushed.
  4. Playback the Clouds Kammerl Firmware WAV file - the FREEZE LED will blink.

For more details, see Clouds manual.

Enabling the Kammerl Beat-Repeat mode

Similar to the switching between the alternative modes of the original firmware, hold the B button for 5 seconds until one (or all) of the LEDs glows in orange, and then repeatedly press the button to select one of 5 functions:

  • First LED lit: Granular processor (normal operation).
  • Second LED lit: Pitch shifter/time-stretcher.
  • Third LED lit: Looping delay.
  • Fourth LED lit: Spectral processor.
  • ALL LEDs lit: Kammerl Beat-Repeat mode.

Kammerl Beat-Repeat mode

Note: This mode requires a clock signal plugged into the Trigger input. Without a clock signal, it holds the most recent slice (or outputs silence if no clock signal has been previously provided).

The Kammerl Beat-Repeat mode analyzes the incoming clock signal to enable real-time slicing of the audio input. Each slice can be played back with different loop, pitch and distortion settings.

Controls

Freeze:

Enables slice processing / beat-repeating. If not enabled, slice processing is randomly enabled based on the blend mode Slice Probability.

Loop Start:

Defines the beginning of the loop interval relative to the total slice duration. To support in-sync beat repetitions, it is quantized as follows: [0-1/64] free/unquantized, 1/64, 1/32, 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 1.

Loop Size:

Defines the size of the loop interval relative to the total slice duration. To support in-sync beat repetitions, it is quantized as follows: [0-1/64] free/unquantized, 1/64, 1/32, 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 1.

Pitch:

Defines the playback pitch. The Kammerl Beat-Repeat mode does not time-correct the pitch changes (like a tape or record running at different speeds). This allows for interesting groove effects, since audio is delayed towards the end of the slice but reset at the slice beginning. To the very left, the knob defines a zero pitch, to the very right, the original playback speed. The pitch modulation is determined by the Pitch Mode knob.

Pitch Mode:

Selects one of four pitch modulation modes:
  • (left position) Fixed pitch - no modulation.
  • Linearly decreasing pitch starting from the original pitch to the selected target pitch (Pitch Knob).
  • Linearly increasing pitch starting from the the selected target pitch (Pitch Knob) to the original pitch.
  • (right position) Simulated vinyl scratching - sinusoidal pitch modulation. The Pitch Knob defines the intensity.

Loop Size Modulation:

Defines a decreasing loop size during the slice playback. This enables a ping-pong bouncing ball effect: Tak tak tak taktak tatatatatttttttt

Blend Modes:

Slice Probability:

Defines the probability of disabling bypass and processing an incoming slice. Note that activating the FREEZE button overwrites this setting.

Clock Divider:

Selects a clock divider: 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 which changes the slice lengths accordingly.

Feedback:

Mixes to Clouds feedback loop. Since the slicer doesn't delay the signal, this actually results in something more like a phaser effect.

Warm Distortion:

Port of the Kammerl Kaske Warm Distortion effect - adds warm sounding distortion to the signal.