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Koma Elektronik Chromaplane User Manual

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Summary of Contents for Koma Elektronik Chromaplane

  • Page 2 PASSEPARTOUT DUO © 2024 KOMA Elektronik GmbH...

  • Page 4: Table Of Contents

    Table of Contents Instrument Overview Unpacking the Chromaplane Getting Started Feature Overview Block Diagram Playing the Instrument Features Pickup Inputs Envelope Follower External Input Voltage Controlled Filter Delay Polarity and Phase Outputs / Interfacing with Other Equipment Tuning Electromagnetic Tuner...
  • Page 7 overview...

  • Page 9: Unpacking The Chromaplane

    Unpacking the Chromaplane Be careful when unpacking the Chromaplane so that nothing is lost or damaged. In case you need to ship or transport the instrument in the future, we recommend saving the included box with all its packaging materials.

  • Page 10: Getting Started

    Getting Started BASIC SETUP 1. Power on the Chromaplane by connecting the included power supply 2. Plug the two included pickups into the inputs marked A and B on the side of the interface 3. Plug headphones or a powered speaker into the right- most output labeled OUT in the Delay section of the instrument.
  • Page 11 The Chromaplane is an electronic instrument that produces sound through ten square wave oscillators. These ten oscillators each produce a small electromagnetic field around ten points on the instrument’s surface. The instrument is played by moving the two included pickup coils nearer or farther from any of the oscillators’...

  • Page 12: Feature Overview

    Feature Overview POWER ENVELOPE FOLLOWER Power the Chromaplane using the included 9V DC (center negative) The envelope follower converts the pickups’ audio output into a CV signal power supply. The LED indicates the instrument is powered on. that can be used to modulate/vary parameters on the instrument based on the pickups’...
  • Page 13 External input field (bass oscillator when no external signal is connected) Note: don’t be concerned if the surface of the Chromaplane gets warm to the touch. This is part of the normal operation of the instrument and the way in which it...

  • Page 14: Block Diagram

    Block Diagram Filter Output Envelope Follower Output Preamp Input Preamp / Mixer Filter Delay Delay Output Delay CV Input Filter CV Input Preamp Input Electromagnetic Pickups...
  • Page 15 High Oscillator High Oscillator High Oscillator High Oscillator Octave Switch Mid Oscillator Mid Oscillator Mid Oscillator Octave Switch Bass Oscillator Bass Oscillator Bass Oscillator Octave Switch External Input Electromagnetic Fields...

  • Page 16: Playing The Instrument

    MAKING A SOUND Sound on the Chromaplane is heard when the instruments pickup coils are near to any of the ten oscillator’s center points. Each hole on the instrument’s surface emits an electromagnetic field that can be listened to by the pickup coils when connected to the Chromaplane.
  • Page 17 Another way to conceptualize this is as an amplitude envelope. A motion above the surface of the Chromaplane like this: Will result in an amplitude envelope like this: A shape, as shown here, will result in a melody containing the six pitches that each of these passing oscillators happen to be tuned to.

  • Page 19: Features

    features...

  • Page 20: Pickup Inputs

    Pickup Inputs PICKUP INPUTS The Chromaplane includes two electromagnetic pickup coils Pickup Coils that can be plugged into two dedicated input jacks marked A and B. The two pickups are constantly listening for any and all changing electromagnetic fields, and therefore will detect every noise of every electronic device placed near the pickup, not just those produced by the Chromaplane itself.

  • Page 21: Envelope Follower

    In other words, the control voltage output marked ENV. correlates with the pickups’ proximity to the surface of the Chromaplane. This control signal can then be routed through a patch cable to modulate other parameters on the instrument, offering creative possibilities like dynamic filtering and delay modulation.

  • Page 22: External Input

    CONNECTION External Audio Signal An external signal can be sent to one of the electromagnetic fields of the Chromaplane. Connecting a mono 3.5mm jack to the external input marked EXT. automatically switches the bottom-left-most electromagnetic field from its internal oscillator to the newly connected external signal.

  • Page 23: Voltage Controlled Filter

    The Chromaplane’s filter is also capable of self-oscillation, meaning that when the resonance is turned above 80%, feedback generates a sine wave at the cutoff point of the filter.
  • Page 24 The delay effect reproduces the original sound after a short time interval, creating a series of repetitions. The delay can add a sense of spaciousness, texture, and rhythmicity to the Chromaplane’s default sound. Adjusting the time parameter changes the amount of time before a repetition of the input signal. The time parameter can vary between 40ms and 400ms.

  • Page 25: Polarity And Phase

    POLARITY Just like any other magnet, all the electromagnetic sources on the instrument have a positive and negative pole. On the Chromaplane, the negative pole faces the ground, while the positive faces the ceiling. Similarly, the pickups themselves have polarity too. When the suction cup side of the pickup faces the instrument, the polarity of the detected field is inverted.

  • Page 26: Outputs / Interfacing With Other Equipment

    WAVEFORM The waveform of the Chromaplane begins as a square wave. However, because it is transmitted as an electromagnetic field, and picked up again by a pickup coil, the wave is transformed multiple times. The aluminum enclosure first reduces the high frequency content originally present in the sound, and the pickup instead reduces some of the low frequencies.
  • Page 27 tuning...
  • Page 28 Tuning TUNING THE INSTRUMENT The ten tuning adjustment screws each correspond to one oscillator. A pattern of ten small Row 3 holes cover the surface of the instrument. Each of those ten holes represents the center point of each 70Hz - 2600Hz of the ten oscillators’...
  • Page 29 Electronic components’ properties depend on the ambient temperature, and while efforts can be made to internally compensate for changing temperatures, no analog machine is perfect, including the Chromaplane. When the instrument first turns on, it is cold and the oscillators are flat.

  • Page 30: Electromagnetic Tuner

    Chromaplane. Switch the tuner on (LEDs will illuminate), and place it directly on top of one of the points on the Chromaplane’s surface. It will display information about the detected note including the closest note, cents off, and octave. Using the tuner and screwdriver, it’s possible to retune the instrument without playing it or listening to its sound.

  • Page 31: Reading The Display

    Reading the Display INTONATION METER This displays the deviation in cents from the nearest detected note. When the note is in tune, the green light in the center of the meter will be lit. The reference pitch for the tuner is A = 440Hz. OCTAVE 3 Blinks: Oct.
  • Page 32 Some Basic Tips If you’re finding yourself a little lost tuning up your Chromaplane, try out some of these basic tips. KEEP IT SIMPLE, FIRST The outer ring of the keyboard-like display represents all the white keys, and the inner ring represents the black keys. Try to start by sticking to either just white or just black keys.

  • Page 33: Changing The Battery

    Changing the Battery 1. Use a coin to rotate the 2. Press a small flathead 3. Place a fresh CR2032 battery 4. Place back the cover and battery cover, and remove it to screwdriver in the gap near the in (+ side up) so that the top side screw it in clock-wise with a coin.
  • Page 35 Example Patches, Tunings and Musical Ideas...

  • Page 36: Example Patches

    Example Patches 1. Delay Feedback output pickup coils Connect the delay output into the external input. The filter’s output is the final output. Pickup placement over the external input field determines both how much the delay is heard in the output signal, and the amount of feedback present in the delay.
  • Page 37 modulation source (optional) 2. Filter Feedback pickup coils In this patch, a cable connects the filter’s output output into the external input. This causes a feedback loop anytime a pickup is placed over the external input field. The pitch of the feedback will be determined by the distance of the pickup, polarity of the pickup, and the cutoff...
  • Page 38 Example Patches 3. Auto-Wah pickup coils output Connect the envelope follower output into the filter CV. The filter’s cutoff will be modulated based on the volume of the input signal. By using two pickups, you can have dynamic control over filter cutoff by moving the position of one pickup while the other is left in place.
  • Page 39 4. Sighing Delays pickup coils output Connect the envelope follower output into the delay CV. The delay time parameter will be modulated based on the volume of the input signal. The pitch variation heard when the time parameter changes is more intense during sudden changes than it is during slow ones, therefore dynamic control is given to the player based on the speed of their movements.

  • Page 40: Example Tunings

    There’s no better place to start then here. Because it’s very common to hear the overlapping of adjacent notes on the Chromaplane, it’s good to consider the relationship between adjacent notes harmonically. Of course, something pentatonic will give us a nice a result.
  • Page 41 2. Miyako-bushi This tuning can be perceived as a minor alternative to the pentatonic, offering a darker and more nostalgic ambience. Like the pentatonic, the scale can be quite ambiguous in terms of its tonal center, despite the emphasis of A in three different octaves. Octave doublings on E, F, B, and A, also allow for textural beatings between notes, especially (1046.5 Hz)
  • Page 42 Example Tuning 3. Mode Mixing This tuning highlights ideas from both A major and A minor. The sweetness of the flat six (F), the vagueness of the diminished triad in the top row (C#, E, G), alongside strong octaves on foundational notes (A, B, E), all work together to make some beautiful melodic and harmonic ideas possible.
  • Page 43 4. Quintal Harmony Quintal harmony is all based on fifths, just like the name suggests. Different patterns will emerge depending on which geometries you choose to trace, and different harmonies emerge from different areas of the instrument. This is one arrangement which turns out to be quite chromatic, since it features 10 of the 12 (739.9 Hz) (1108.7 Hz)
  • Page 44 Musical Idea 1. Pendulum Music Hold a pickup coil in each hand, and let them dangle above the instrument. As they swing back and forth, different rhythmic patterns will form in counterpoint with one another. As their momentum slows, they begin to rest above a single diad.
  • Page 45 field. Our cellphones are a great source for glitchy rhythms, background noise, and quirky effects. Try placing your phone near the Chromaplane with one of the pickup coils on top of it, then react to the rhythms of the phone with melodies.
  • Page 46 Musical Idea 3. Karaoke Play along to a pre-composed track, or other audio. Maybe even let it modulate and be modulated by other signals by raising the filter output pickups...
  • Page 47 4. Metastaseis Tune the instrument while playing multiple notes. Tune until you reach almost the same frequency between the two sounding oscillators, then switch oscillators and proceed in the same way. If all the oscillators converge on the same note, detune one away from the others.
  • Page 48 Note to Self You can make a copy of the following page to keep track of your own tuning and patching ideas on the Chromaplane.
  • Page 49 __________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________...
  • Page 50 Instructions on Safe Use THESE DIRECTIONS SHOULD BE FOLLOWED WHEN USING ANY ELECTRONIC DEVICE. 1. Always read the user manual and follow the instructions carefully before using the device. 2. Keep the device away from water and moisture to avoid electrical hazards. Care should be taken to avoid any liquids spilling into the device’s openings. 3.

  • Page 51: Technical Specifications

    Technical Specifications Synthesis Type: Analog Polyphony: Fully polyphonic (ten voices) Dimensions: 30 cm x 21 cm x 2 cm (L x W x H) Net Weight: 1050g Included Power Supply: 9V DC (center negative) Audio ConnectionType: 3.5mm Audio Output Voltage: 6 volts peak to peak Current Consumption: 620mA...

  • Page 52: Service And Support

    Once you have received the RMA number, write it on a sheet of paper or a note on the inside of the package and carefully pack and ship the product to KOMA Elektronik with transportation and insurance charges paid, and include your return shipping address.
  • Page 53 Credits ABOUT KOMA ELEKTRONIK KOMA Elektronik was founded in 2011 by a group of artists, engineers and synth enthusiasts. KOMA is interested in selling instruments that challenge you to experiment, to try out new things, and to explore. Gear that is fun to play together with friends, and that pushes your music forward.
  • Page 54 Imprint KOMA Elektronik GmbH is a subsidiary company of KOMA Elektronik B.V. Managing Director: Christian Zollner Registered Office: Berlin, Germany Court of Registration: Amtsgericht Berlin-Charlottenburg Registration Number: HRB 145453 VAT ID: DE285522050 WEEE-Reg. Nr: DE97459400 KOMA Elektronik GmbH Koloniestrasse 29...