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Plankton Electronics ZAPS Operation Manual

Digitally controlled percussion-line analog synth voice
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ZAPS
Digitally Controlled Percussion-line Analog Synth Voice
Operation Manual
English Version 1.0

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Summary of Contents for Plankton Electronics ZAPS

  • Page 1 ZAPS Digitally Controlled Percussion-line Analog Synth Voice Operation Manual English Version 1.0...
  • Page 2 Index: 1 - About 2 - Installation 3 - Introduction What is zaps Where the idea comes from A different approach than that of a classic Drum Machine About the synth architecture 4 - Overview / illustration + buttons 4.1 - Illustration 4.2 Panel and control glossary...
  • 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 1 - About First and foremost, thank you for buying Zaps. Development Eloi Flores (Winter Modular ): concept, engineering, software. Àlex Ballester (Plankton Electronics): concept, engineering, hardware/synth engine. Miguel Eedl: concept, interaction design, user interface. Jeremy Bernstein: engineering, software. About this manual Written by Àlex Ballester, Miguel Eedl, and Eloi Flores.

  • Page 5: Installation

    By not doing so there is a risk of electrocution and/or damage to the modules. ZAPS is a Eurorack module that needs 24HP of space in a proper Eurorack system. It consumes 235mA at +12V and 93mA at -12V. Use a Eurorack power supply with enough power.
  • Page 6 3 - Introduction What is zaps Zaps is a percussion-line synth voice designed for creating organic sequences that can mutate over time. It uses a combination of techniques like controlled randomness, morphing, and storing (or locking) of synth-voice parameters in slots that can be externally sequenced.
  • Page 7 With Zaps, we have the ability to address, control and change all of the parameters of the analog synth through time, by saving its different states on memory slots. You can think of it as step automation or parameter locking.
  • 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 VCO1 COARSE: changes the pitch of Oscillator 1 in increments of 1 semitone WAVE: changes the waveform of Oscillator 1 FINE: finetunes the pitch of Oscillator 1 PW: changes the pulse width of the rectangular pulse wave. VCO2 COARSE: changes the pitch of Oscillator 2 in increments of 1 semitone WAVE: changes the FM modulator waveform of Oscillator 2 FINE: finetunes the pitch of Oscillator 2 WAVE: changes the AM modulator waveform of Oscillator 2...
  • Page 10 MORPH: sets the crossfade point between two Slots. Mixer Section Mixer for both VCOs and high pass filters. MIX: sets the amount of VCO1 output amplified with Envelope 2 that goes to the output. HPF1+2: sets frequency cutoff of the HPF on both VCOs. MIX: sets the amount of VCO2 output (FM WAVE) amplified with Envelope 2 that goes to the output.

  • Page 11: Operating Controls

    Audio output of the synthesizer. A signal between the +/-4V range is outputted. 4.3 Operating Controls ZAPS has different control modes. The Main mode is used to switch between Slots and to edit each Sound individually. The Bank selection mode is used to switch between Banks.
  • Page 12 A Bank contains 12 Sounds and the Morph settings (MORPH). The 12 Banks are selected in the Bank selection mode (BANK) and the 12 buttons. A Bank is saved and loaded via the File System (FILE). A Sound contains all the synthesizer parameters accessible via the faders, potentiometers and options in the Sound Settings Function (SOUND SET).
  • Page 13 The brighter level indicates that the fader is in the same position as its associated parameter. The medium level indicates that the fader is in a different position than its associated parameter. The lower level (the LED is OFF) indicates that the Fader is not associated with any parameter (i.e.: ENV1>P1 Fader when Layer 2 is selected).
  • Page 14 OLED, the screen header background turns white (1) and the icon followed by the number on the right side (2) indicates the current layer. BANK/LISTEN BANK LISTEN has 2 functions: BANK gives access to the Bank selection. It is a toggle button and it must be pressed again to go back to Slot selection.
  • Page 15 5 Synth 5.1 Architecture The sound is generated in the 2 VCOs. VCO1 goes to VCA1 (MIX1) and VCO2 goes to VCA2 (MIX2). Both VCAs are going through the HPF and to the OUTPUT. VCO2 modulates the frequency of VCO1 (FM) and VCO1 modulates VCO2 (XFM). VCO2 also modulates the amplitude of VCO1 (AM).
  • Page 16 ● VCO1 waves: sine, triangle, sawtooth, variable width pulse. ● VCO2 waves: sine, triangle, sawtooth, square, and white noise. ● White noise on VCO2 has a dedicated high-pass filter (NOISE HPF). ● COARSE changes the pitch in the range of semitones. The pitch is displayed in the OLED.
  • Page 17 When it is Internal the Trigger input will respond as a trigger, starting the envelope at the rise of the trigger. The length of the trigger is not taken into account and the Hold time will be set with HOLD1 and HOLD2.
  • Page 18 Retrigger The Retrigger function sets a determined number of repetitions for each envelope. It is accessible via [SOUND SET > RETRIGGER]. Controls and features: Time distribution [DISTR: LIN; LOG; EXP]. Determines how the time is distributed. With LIN (linear) each step distance will be the same. With EXP (exponential) the beginning steps will be more spread than the latest ones.
  • Page 19 5.4 Modulation There are two kinds of modulation: Amplitude Modulation (AM) and Frequency Modulation (FM):...
  • Page 20 The AM goes from VCO2 to VCO1 (VCO2: carrier, VCO1: modulated) via AM. The process is made after the VCOs and before entering the HPF and VCA stages. The FM is through Zero FM. It is from VCO1 to VCO2 and vice versa and it is controlled via faders.

  • Page 21: Operation

    6 Operation 6.1 Func Button The FUNC button must be held to access any of the functions below. Pressing FUNC again will exit the current function. 6.2 Listen It sets the behavior of a pressed Slot. If listen mode is ON the Slot will send a trigger when pressed.
  • Page 22 TYPE: sets the destination of the accent. By default is in MIX 1 & 2 HEADROOM: sets the parameter difference when ACCENT is HIGH and when it is LOW (ACCENT is HIGH when there is a trigger in the ACCENT input). If HEADROOM is positive (1 to 127) the value with the ACCENT HIGH will be the higher of both.
  • Page 23 In the Random main screen, the bars will represent the range of randomness applied to each parameter. The arrows indicate the current position of the fader. The LAYER button is used to change between the two layers of faders. In the MAIN mode, the RANDOM fader is used to attenuate the total amount of randomness applied to each parameter.

  • Page 24: File System

    MORPH fader sets the amount of morphing, being 0 no morphing (sound of A) and 127 100% morphed (sound of B). : When used in Edit All the Morph function can be a creative way to create new banks, as all the slots will be morphed between them. 6.8 Copy / Paste The COPY function is used to copy and paste a Sound of a Slot to another Slot.
  • Page 25 By entering the function [PROJECT; BANK and SOUND] will be displayed. After selecting the category, the [LOAD and SAVE AS] options will appear. 6.11 CV Assign The CV ASSIGN Function is used to address the CV connectors to their destination. The assignments are made in CV Groups.
  • Page 26 Bank Change It is possible to change the Bank via CV. This option is not available in the WHAT menu because it affects all the Banks and Groups. On the third page of the menu (3/4) the BANK CHANGE option is available: BANK CHANGE: selects the CV input that will be used.

  • Page 27: Extra Functions

    The fourth menu screen (4/4) is used to assign each Bank to a group. By selecting a Bank with the Slot buttons and rotating the encoder the assignments are made in a quick fashion. 6.12 Extra Functions EDIT SLOT SELECTED (default) or TRIGGERED. It determines the behavior of the parameter edition when there is a SLOT address on the CV input.
  • Page 28 6.13 Config This section is used to set some of the machine configurations. These configurations will affect any newly loaded Project and they will not be saved with it. FADER Sets the behavior of the faders. JUMP (default) or PICK UP. With JUMP mode the value of the current parameter will change to the fader position instantly.
  • Page 29 It fixes the noise of some Eurorack PSUs 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 7 Appendix 1: List of CV Assign destinations. SLOT SEL CROM: Changes the slot depending on the note received at the CV input. 12 notes, 12 SLOTS. Note that attenuation must not be applied here if the user wants consistent results. SLOT SEL RANGE: changes the SLOT depending on the voltage received.

  • Page 31: Warranty

    8 Warranty Winter Plankton warrants this product to be free of any defect in the manufacturing or materials for a period of two years from the date of purchase. This warranty does not cover any damage or malfunction caused by incorrect use – such as but not limited to, power cables connected backward, excessive voltage levels, or exposure to extreme temperature or moisture levels.