Mutable Instruments

Frames - Mixer/Keyframer

The heart of Frames is a 4-channel VCA and mixer under tight digital control.
Through flexible input/output mixing and normalling options, it can be patched to serve the following purposes (among others):
• 4-channel attenuator/VCA.
• 4-channel mixer.
• 4-channel programmable CV source.
• Quadraphonic signal dispatcher.

What makes Frames truly unique is the way in which channel gains/CV levels can be controlled, using a technique inspired by computer animation.
Frames allows up to 20 configurations of the 4 gain knobs to be stored and recalled throughout the course of its big Frame knob.
By rotating this knob (or sending a CV to the Frame modulation input and adjusting its amount with the attenuverter), the configurations are morphed into one another.

With a bit of patching and imagination, Frames can also be repurposed as a 4-channel sequencer, a multi-stage envelope generator or a trajectory generator for quadraphonic panning

An Analog Mixer...
4-channel voltage-controlled mixer based on the V2164 IC.
• 4 DC-coupled signal inputs.
• 1 global input, sent to all unconnected inputs, and normalized to a precision voltage reference (+5V or +10V).
• 4 DC-coupled channel outputs.
• 1 global mix output, collecting signals from all unpatched outputs, with a -6dB gain.
...Under Digital Control
• 12-bit digital control of the gains for the 4 VCAs.
• Up to 20 keyframes, each keyframe storing VCA CVs for each channel.
• Per-channel easing curve selection: stepped (no interpolation), linear, accelerating, decelerating, sine, bouncy.
• Per-channel CV/VCA response selection, from linear to logarithmic.

Specifications
• CV input impedance: 100k.
• Audio input impedance: 100k (25k for the global input in some configurations due to normalling).
• Fastest modulation rate: 15kHz.