Plankton Electronics ZAPS, Operation Manual

Page 1: ...ZAPS Digitally Controlled Percussion line Analog Synth Voice Operation Manual English Version 1 0 ...

Page 2: ...1 VCO2 COARSE changes the pitch of Oscillator 2 in increments of 1 semitone Pitch Envelope Amount section Envelopes Section Modulation Section Mixer Section Random Section Encoder Contextual Display Operation Buttons Slot Function Buttons Trigger input CV I O s Section Audio Out 4 3 Operating Controls 5 Synth 5 1 Architecture 5 2 VCOs 5 3 Envelopes Hold Control 5 4 Modulation 5 5 Mixer 5 6 HPF 6 O...

Page 3: ...6 5 Sound Settings 6 6 Random 6 7 Morph 6 8 Copy Paste 6 9 Snapshot 6 10 File System 6 11 CV Assign Bank Change 6 12 Extra Functions 6 13 Config 7 Appendix 1 List of CV Assign destinations 8 Warranty ...

Page 4: ...by Miguel Eedl Typography code BOLD GREY CAPS Used when referring to the first functionality layer of faders potentiometers and buttons Layer 1 These are white in the panel Examples COARSE FUNC XFM BOLD ORANGE CAPS Used when referring to the second functionality layer of faders potentiometers and buttons Layer 2 These are orange in the panel Examples HOLD 1 NOISE HPF SNAPSHOT Capitalization Used w...

Page 5: ...supply with enough power Be sure that the power supply is giving 12 00V and 12 00V otherwise some functions may not work properly The provided power cable must be connected as shown in the picture The connector is shrouded so there is only one possible way to connect it In case you use another cable be sure that the red stripe goes to the upper side and it corresponds to the arrow marked in the po...

Page 6: ...mance Live editing of a single or multiple slots simultaneously for expressive tweaking Generate melodic percussion or synth lines with the V O tracked oscillators CV In control of any parameter CV Out control for controlling external modules control FX sends or automate external synth parameters Where the idea comes from There s something fascinating about percussive synth lines If we listen to t...

Page 7: ...le we move through them by editing them all at once this way we can shape a rhythm as a whole and not only as individual parts About the synth architecture The synth core has a classic configuration with a special attention on the details two analog VCOs AM through zero FM a two channel mixer a high pass filter and two digital envelopes The analog generation and signal provides a sound free of ali...

Page 8: ...4 Overview illustration buttons 4 1 Illustration 4 2 Panel and control glossary VCOs Section There are two analog triangle core voltage controlled oscillators ...

Page 9: ... Envelope 1 that goes to the pitch control of VCO2 Envelopes Section Two AHR envelopes with retrigger function ATTACK 1 2 set the Attack time RETRIG 1 2 set the time between each repetition when retrigger is activated REL1 2 set the Release time HOLD 1 2 set the Hold time when it is Internal Modulation Section AM and FM modulations between the 2 VCOs and Morphing AM sets the amount of VCO2 output ...

Page 10: ... controlling the unit and navigating through menus It can be turned in both directions and pressed Contextual Display Displays information about the different modes functions and settings When moving faders potentiometers or slot buttons the display will change to show contextual information for each of them like current values and other relevant details Operation Buttons There are 3 main operatio...

Page 11: ...o control the hold time of the envelopes 5 3 Envelopes CV I O s Section The 6 connectors can be used as voltage inputs or outputs corresponding to a value of a parameter The default CV assignments are marked with grey color in the panel At 6 11 CV Assign the detailed procedure for CV assignments is explained Audio Out Audio output of the synthesizer A signal between the 4V range is outputted 4 3 O...

Page 12: ...d or triggered externally via the CV and Trigger inputs Two levels of brightness are used a brighter one for the selected Slot and a lower one for the Slot in play A Slot must be understood as the destination where a Sound is stored and can be instantly recalled It is a container associated with each button Slots can not be loaded or saved because they correspond to a physical location not to a co...

Page 13: ...ode the Encoder will behave in the following way A single click changes the screen from the fader view to VCOs A click hold erases the current slot to a init sound in the Bank selection mode it erases the whole bank This use is shared in most Functions with some exceptions i e at Random it sets all the random assignments to 0 By turning the encoder the last edited parameter will change in 1 steps ...

Page 14: ...selection by pressing FUNC While in Bank selection mode the button blinks ON and OFF TIP while in Bank selection if there is an active trigger at the input and a CV controlling the Slot selection it is possible to create sequences on the fly by switching from Bank to Bank LISTEN FUNC LISTEN switches the Listen function ON and OFF If it is ON the slot buttons act as a trigger when pressed When it i...

Page 15: ...1 AM The two envelopes are used in different ways Envelope 1 modulates the pitch of VCO1 ENV1 P1 and the FM ENV1 FM and AM ENV1 AM Envelope 2 modulates the pitch of VCO2 ENV2 P2 and controls the two VCAs MIX1 and MIX2 5 2 VCOs There are 2 triangle core VCOs They share the same structure and both are analog oscillators with digital pitch control V O tracking They can be self tuned so the note displ...

Page 16: ...nd SOUND SET VCO SYNC 1 2 ON OFF 5 3 Envelopes There are 2 AHR Attack Hold Release envelopes The Hold stage can be controlled internally or externally Both envelopes are triggered at the same time when a trigger is received Controls and features Attack time goes from 200 µsec to 22 sec Release time goes from 300 µsec to 35 sec Hold time goes from 0 no Hold to 1 5 sec Envelope 1 controls the pitch ...

Page 17: ...d time will be set with HOLD1 and HOLD2 The Hold will start as soon as the Attack has completed its cycle see Figure 1 When the Hold is controlled externally the Trigger input will act as a Gate input The envelope will start at the rise of the gate and the Hold time will end when the Gate goes low If the Attack time is longer than the Gate time no Hold will occur see Figure 2 ...

Page 18: ...atest steps will be more spread than the beginning ones Retrigger pattern RETRIGGERS Sets the step pattern that will be executed after the initial envelope If only the first retrigger is ON there will be 2 envelopes the normal and the retriggered one There are 12 possible retriggers and the Slot buttons are used to configure the pattern Time RETRIG1 and RETRIG2 Sets the time between each repetitio...

Page 19: ...5 4 Modulation There are two kinds of modulation Amplitude Modulation AM and Frequency Modulation FM ...

Page 20: ...system This process can be used to make portions of a sound with modulation while the rest without it It is available via ENV1 AM and ENV1 FM only from VCO2 to VCO1 The signal flow is illustrated below 5 5 Mixer This is a two channel mixer that sets the volume of VCO1 and VCO2 after all the modulation processes and VCA amplification V1 MIX sets the level of VCO1 which includes the FM and AM proces...

Page 21: ...apshot of the Bank is taken when entering EDIT ALL By pressing the encoder an UNDO will take place restoring the values to the initial capture By exiting the mode any changes made will be fixed While in EDIT ALL the slot LED buttons will be ON or OFF This indicates which SLOTS are being affected It is possible to activate deactivate them with a simple click 6 4 Freeze Revert The FREEZE function ma...

Page 22: ...ch control will affect the HOLD time on Envelope 1 With INTERNAL the fader HOLD1 is used With EXTERNAL the time will depend on the Gate length at Trig input HOLD 2 CONTROL idem for envelope 2 SLOPE ENV 1 changes the slope of the envelope It can be linear LIN or logarithmic LOG SLOPE ENV 2 idem for envelope 2 RETRIGG 1 it activates the Retrigger function on envelope 1 A detailed explanation can be ...

Page 23: ... while at 127 it will be at its maximum position A new randomization will occur each time that the SLOT is triggered 6 7 Morph The MORPH function is used to cross fade from one slot A to another B Each parameter will change depending on the A value the B value and the MORPH parameter I e if FM A is 10 FM B is 20 and MORPH is 63 50 the result of the FM parameter will be 15 The main screen of MORPH ...

Page 24: ...ore doing the Copy Function 6 9 Snapshot The SNAPSHOT function works like the COPY one but instead of copying the Sound it will sum the parameter values the random variations the changes from the CV inputs the morphing stage and copy it to a new Slot in the form of the synth parameter values with no MORPH or RANDOM It is a way to copy what the user is listening to during the current trigger The ra...

Page 25: ...orresponds to the configuration of the connector CV select the physical connection from 1 to 6 I O configures it as an INPUT or an OUTPUT RANGE the voltage range being used 0 10 0 5 or 5 5 This configuration is common to the whole Project The second screen of the CV assign 2 4 menu will show the different parameters to be changed on each Group and CV GROUP select the Group to be edited from 1 to 1...

Page 26: ...CV on all the Groups When selecting the affected CV in the second screen GROUP SETTINGS a disclaimer will alert of the Bank Change use It is possible to go back to the previous state of that CV by setting the Bank Change to none or to another CV ATTEN attenuation of the input From 0 to 127 no attenuation default TYPE selects the type of CV control CHROMATIC or RANGE Chromatic will assign each note...

Page 27: ...here Using SELECTED during SLOT CHANGE will make changes in all SLOTS being sequenced if any parameter is changed manually during that time It can be useful but also destructive It is recommended to perform a FREEZE before EDIT BANK SELECTED default or TRIGGERED The same behavior as before but with BANKS Used when BANK CHANGE is addressed to any CV input RANDOMIZE SOUND A parameter randomization o...

Page 28: ...efault is PICK UP mode SELFTUNE 1 and 2 It is used to tune the VCOs They should be in tune but if the user feels that they have lost tune with time or different power supplies or cases the operation should be performed FINE DETENT Used to calibrate the position of the faders and potentiometers This procedure is made at the factory TUNE CV IN Used to calibrate the CV inputs This procedure is made a...

Page 29: ...SUs that can produce some jumps in faders and potentiometers By default it is on NORMAL for a quiet PSU With NOISY it will avoid these step jumps but it will also have a slight delay when moving a parameter We recommend using propped PSUs ...

Page 30: ...AVE Selects the VCO1 wave VCO PW Changes the Pulse width of VCO2 square wave FM WAVE Selects the VCO2 FM MIX2 wave AM WAVE Selects the VCO2 AM wave VCO1 COARSE Changes COARSE at VCO1 VCO1 FINE Changes FINE at VCO1 ATTACK 1 Changes ATTACK1 RELEASE 1 Changes RELEASE1 SLOPE 1 Changes the SLOPE of ENVELOPE 1 MIX 1 Changes MIX1 VCO2 COARSE Changes COARSE at VCO2 VCO2 FINE Changes FINE at VCO2 ATTACK 2 ...

Page 31: ... power cables connected backward excessive voltage levels or exposure to extreme temperature or moisture levels The warranty covers replacement or repair as decided by Winter Plankton Please contact our customer service for a return authorization before sending the module info planktonelectronics com winter modular winter modular com Winter Plankton implies and accepts no responsibility for harm t...