Mutable Instruments Braids User Manual

Algorithms overview

Classic analog waveforms

Wave Description Timbre Color

CSAW

/\/|-_-_

/|/|-_-_

SYNC

FOLD

CS-80 imperfect
saw

Variable
waveshape

Classic saw­tooth/square

2 square VCOs
with hardsync

Sine/triangle into
wavefolder

Digital synthesis

_|_|_|_

/|/| x3

-_ x3

RING

/|/|/|/|

/|/|_|_|

TOY*

2 detuned
harmonic combs

Triple saw and
triple square

3 ring-modulat­ed sine waves

Swarm of 7
sawtooth waves

Comb filtered
sawtooth

Low-fi, circuit­bent sounds

Notch width Notch

polarity

Waveshape Distortion/

filter

Pulse width Saw <->

square

VCO fre­quency ratio

Wavefolder
amount

Smoothness Detune

Osc. 2
detune

2/1 frequen­cy ratio

Detune High-pass

Delay time Neg./pos.

Sample
reduction

VCO
balance

Sine <->
triangle

Osc. 3
detune

3/1 frequen­cy ratio

filter

feedback
Bit toggling

ZLPF

ZPKF, ZBPF, ZHPF are variants of ZLPF with peaking,

band-pass, and high-pass filters

Direct synthesis
of low-pass fil­tered waveform

Cutoff
frequency

Waveshape

Vocal synthesis and formants

VOSM

VOWL

VFOF

FM

FBFM

WTFM

Sawtooth with
2-formants

Speaking-toy
vowel synthesis

Vowel synthesis a, e, i, o, u Gender

2-operator FM Modulation

2-operator FM
with feedback

Chaotic
2-operator FM

Formant 1
frequency

a, e, i, o, u Gender

index
Modulation

index
Modulation

index

Formant 2
frequency

Frequency
ratio

Frequency
ratio

Frequency
ratio

Physical simulations

BELL,
DRUM

PLUK

BOWD

Bell and
metallic drum
simulations

Plucked string Decay Plucking

Bowed string Friction Bowing

Decay Inharmo-

nicity

position

position

BLOW
FLUT

Reed and flute
simulations

Wavetables

WTBL

WMAP

WLIN

WTx4

21 wavetables Smooth

16x16 waves X position Y position

Linear wavetable
scanning

Quad wavetable
synthesis

Noise

NOIS

TWNQ

CLKN

CLOU

PRTC

QPSK

Tuned noise
(2-pole filter)

Noise sent to 2
resonators

Clocked digital
noise

Sinusoidal gran­ular synthesis

Droplets granu­lar synthesis

Modem noises Bit-rate Modulated

Air pressure Instrument

geometry

Quantized
wavetable
position

Wavetable
position

Wavetable
position

Filter
resonance

Resonance Resonators

Cycle length Quantization

Grain
density

Grain
density

wavetable

selection

Interpola-

tion quality

Chord type

Response,

LP to HP

frequency

ratio

Frequency

dispersion

Frequency

dispersion

data

Braids

Macro oscillator

Installation

Front panel

Settings

Braids requires a -12V / +12V / +5V power supply (2x8
pin connector). The ribbon cable connector must be
aligned so that the red stripe of the ribbon cable (-12V)
is on the same side of the module’s power header as the
“Red stripe” marking on the board.

The power consumption is as follows:

-12V: 15mA; +12V: 15mA; +5V: 85mA.

Online manual and help

The full manual can be found online at

mutable-instruments.net/modules/braids/manual

For help and discussions, head to

mutable-instruments.net/forum/

Calibration

Calibrating Braids is as easy as playing a C2 and a C4
note from an accurate MIDI>CV interface or CV source.
Read more about this in the online manual!

Controls

A

B

E

C

F

D

G

A. Display and encoder - when the module starts, they

show and modify the oscillator model.

B. C. Fine and coarse frequency controls.

D. FM attenuverter. Adjusts the amount and polarity of

frequency modulation from the FM input.

E. F. Timbre control, and timbre modulation attenu-

verter. Principal dimension of sound motion and wave-

shaping.

G. Color. Secondary dimension of waveshaping. The

function of Timbre and Color depends on the oscillator
type. Refer to the table on the other side!

Inputs and Outputs

1. Trigger input. Resets the oscillator phase. For the

physical modeling algorithms this input needs to be
triggered to “excite” the oscillator (or it won’t produce
any sound).

2. V/Oct. Main frequency control input, with V/Oct scale.

3. 4. 5. Frequency, timbre, and color modulation CV

inputs.

1

2 3

4

5

6

6. Audio output.

Click the encoder to display a list of settings. Scroll
through the settings and click to modify one of them.
Once the value has been modified, click to confirm and
get back to the menu. Selecting the first option (WAVE)
saves all the current settings in memory and brings
you back to the module’s initial state (oscillator model
selection).

An overview of the available settings:

BITS / RATE is the bit-depth and sample rate of the
audio output, for digital grit and crunchiness!

QNTZ applies a semitone or quartertone quantization to
the V/Oct input.

FLAT/DRFT/SIGN create various VCO-like instabilities.

TRIG allows a simple AD envelope (6 preset shapes) to

shape the sound whenever a trigger is received on the
TRIG input.